Board of Trustees

The People 1st Board of Trustees consists of nine experienced executives from the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector.

The board is responsible for overseeing the overall performance of the business and ensuring that the charity's governance is of the highest possible standard, and its trustees deliver a balance of entrepreneurial, operational, marketing. financial, legal and people management skills

The board meets at least four times a year to:

• Set the overall strategic direction for the company (in consultation with the members);
• Take responsibility for the governance of the SSC;
• Ensure the company complies with its statutory obligations;
• Advise and oversee the executive team, including limits to its authority.

All trustees also sit on the Council of Members.

Trustees:-

Natalie Bickford

HR Director UK and Ireland, Sodexo Ltd.

Natalie joined Sodexo in March 2008 as HR director for UK and Ireland. She is the guardian of tone and culture for the UK & Ireland business, working with the executive team to create and drive its people priorities.

Natalie began her career as a graduate trainee at Barclays Bank, where she developed an interest in the relationships with customers and trying to understand their needs. She was drafted into the HR change programme at Barclays and ran the graduate development programme for the corporate bank.

From Barclays, Natalie joined the Kingfisher retail group, where she spent time in both UK and international roles. She then spent two years as the UK HR director at AstraZeneca before joining Sodexo.

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Richard Carrick

Chief Executive, Hoseasons Holidays Ltd

Richard is chief executive of Hoseasons Holidays, the self-catering holiday specialist.

Previously he has held general management and marketing director positions at MyTravel, Airtours, Forte Hotels and Restaurants, Saga Holidays and the International Leisure Group.

On joining the People 1st board, he said: “There is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that the UK tourism industry makes the most of the opportunities offered by the 2012 Olympic Games.

"As part of the People 1st board I look forward to taking a more active involvement in this work, and ensuring that the needs of UK tourism are accurately represented throughout.”

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David Fairhurst (Chairman)

Senior Vice-President, Chief People Officer, McDonald's Restaurant's Ltd.

At McDonald's (whose 67,000 staff serve more than 2 million people in the UK every day) David is responsible for training, customer service and human resources teams and has been faced with the challenge of dispelling the "McJob" image to promote valuable careers within the organisation.

Previously, he has worked for Tesco, Heinz, and what was SmithKlineBeecham.

David sat on the board of People 1st for two years prior to becoming chairman. On his appointment, David said:“The hospitality sector, with its job creation and continued investment in training, is showing the rest of the country how to emerge from the downturn. More than that, it is the key industrial platform for social mobility in Britain today, providing a genuine meritocracy for people development.

“As Chairman of People 1st, I will use my experience to accelerate and increase the qualifications available to entrants to the sector so that individuals benefit from the considerable opportunities it offers. A more skilled workforce will be essential to take advantage of the growth opportunity offered by London 2012 and to ensure hospitality and tourism continues to be a huge driver of our economy.”

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Nick's career started in hotels with the Anchor Hotel Group, after which he joined Sutcliffe Catering as a trainee manager.

He developed to area management in the London area and in 1989 joined Baxter & Plats Ltd where he was Operations Director until 1997 when he formed Holroyd Howe Ltd with joint MD Rick Holroyd.

In its ten years of independence, Holroyd Howe's business grew to a turnover of £50m with some 135. Employing some 1,400 people when it was sold, the company was Cost Sector Contract Caterer of the Year in 2004 and was a Sunday Times Top 100 Company to Work For in 2005 and 2006.

In December 2007, the business was acquired by Baxter Storey Ltd, along with Benugo's, at which point Nick became a shareholder of a newly created company called Westbury Street Holdings. This is the holding company for 5 separate operating companies - Baxter Storey Ltd, Benugo's, Holroyd Howe Independent Ltd, Cater Link and Portico. The combined business currently turns over approximately £300m, with growth anticipated to take it to £350m by December 2010.

Nick is also on the committee of 'One and All,' working to improve the numbers of ethnic and minority managers currently working across the catering industry.

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Robin Mills

HR Director, Compass Group UK and Ireland

Robin Mills joined Compass Group in March 2008 as HR director for the UK & Ireland business, which has nearly 66,000 employees.

Reporting to group managing director, Ian El-Mokadem, Robin leads a 100-strong team who oversee all HR policy, recruitment, training and development, internal communications and health, safety and the environment activity.

Previously group human resources director for Woolworths Group PLC, Robin also worked for Kingfisher PLC from 2000, moving to Woolworths when the two companies de-merged in 2002.

He has also worked for Diageo plc and started his career at Scottish & Newcastle plc.

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Stephen is chairman of Springboard UK, a charity he established in order to promote careers in hospitality, leisure and tourism.

Stephen has been involved in the tourism and hospitality industry for over 20 years, as proprietor of Drakes English Restaurant in Chelsea and then as director of 190 Queens Gate with Antony Worrall Thompson and Roy Akerman.

He also held the position of managing director at BCP, the UK's market leader in airport parking and travel services, and is chairman of his family's property investment company.

Stephen has been active in the affairs of the Restaurant Association for many years and remains one of its vice presidents. He has a particular interest in promoting careers and training.

He is qualified as a barrister and has an MBA from the London Business School.

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Charles Prew

Chief Executive, Barcelo Hotels

Charles is a senior hotels executive with extensive experience of the sector. He began his career at Grand Metropolitan Hotels where he rose to be operations director of its County Hotels division.

He joined Ladbroke Hotels/Hilton Group plc in 1983 as operations director and became deputy managing director of Hilton UK before being appointed chairman of Hilton Hotels (Australia), vice president of Hilton International and vice president, sales and marketing for Hilton International (Asia Pacific, Australia).

In 1992 he joined Jarvis Hotels to establish its hotel management contracting division and was appointed to the board in 1995, subsequently establishing its hospitality management division. In 2003 he joined Hanover International as operations and sales and marketing director and subsequently became managing director.

Charles became chief executive of Paramount Hotels in July 2004 when Dawnay Shore Hotels acquired the 13 strong Paramount chain of four star hotels. He joined the board of Dawnay Shore Hotels on 1st August 2005.

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Louise Smalley

Group Human Resources Director - Whitbread Group Plc.

Louise has been part of the Whitbread family for over 12 years, most recently with their restaurants as Human Resources Director.

She started her Whitbread career with Pizza Hut in 1995, and has a wealth of experience within various Whitbread brands. Prior to her role with restaurants she was HR Director for David Lloyd. She took the role of group HR director in 2007.

On joining the People 1st board, Louise said:“Developing the skills of our workforce is something that is very important at Whitbread, as we have demonstrated through the development of our Apprenticeship programme.

“Improving the current level of skills within our industry is vital to securing its future. I look forward to working with People 1st and the other board members to ensure that the right qualifications and funding are provided for employers and individuals within the sector.”

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Nick began his career in consumer goods marketing before moving into visitor attractions in 1991 as Marketing Director of Tussauds owned Alton Towers.

During his 3 years at the park Nick transformed its marketing and contributed to three record seasons in succession. He oversaw the launch of Port Aventura in Spain and set new strategies for the Madame Tussauds business in London and Amsterdam. He joined Vardon Attractions in 1995 as managing director and oversaw the development of the Dungeon brand and the company's move into the German market.

In December 1998 Nick and the senior management team completed the successful buyout of Vardon Attractions to form Merlin Entertainments Group Ltd, which acquired Legoland Parks in 2005. In March 2007, it joined forces with the Tussauds Group, creating the world's second largest visitor attractions operator after Disney.

Merlin Entertainments is committed to providing its workforce with equal opportunities in all areas – recruitment, promotion, development and benefits. The company's aim is to ensure all staff “enjoy work, celebrate success and learn from experience”.

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