A New Year and a New Team!
By Anthony Roberts – Director of Operations
At Prue Leith we tend to look forward rather than back at the years past. We set new and improved goals for ourselves all the time, and we only look to the past to see where we should improve on what we do and how we do it. However, the start of this year brought with it some new faces to our team, which of course means that we have sadly said goodbye to others in 2010.
Chef Lorraine Meaney, the Academy’s Head of Pastry for many years and Executive Chef for the past two, bode the Company a fond farewell in search of new challenges and some time back in the industry. After nearly nine years of dedicated and inspirational service to Prue Leith, Lorraine leaves a pair of rather large boots to fill, but I am very pleased and confident to say that our Head Chef Adele Stiehler already has the situation well under control and is moving along with this year as though nothing has changed. Lorraine is already ensconced at The Cape Grace as Head Pastry Chef, and we wish her well. Lorraine remains a very close friend of the Academy and we will be working with her again in the future I am certain of it.
Another member of the team to move on at the end of 2010 was our Student HR and Admin advisor Karen MacDonald. Karen has chosen to move more towards contract work, giving her the freedom to travel which is a passion of hers. As with Lorraine, we are sure that we have not heard the last of Karen, and we will remain in touch and hope to do business again with Karen as she follows her new career path. Replacing Karen is Odette Schuld, whom after a seamless handover period is already on the case and filling the enrolment for the year as we speak. Odette will also be taking on a new marketing and PR role. There are many new and exciting initiatives and projects on the cards for this new year so watch this space.
We also welcome Suzette Laubscher as our Group Bookkeeper and Leon Cronjé as our new Sous Chef and Lecturer in Pastry. Leon is a past graduate of our Academy and we are very pleased to have him back as a member of our staff.
The future certainly looks bright, and I look forward to it with great anticipation. Change is good, and we welcome it. I am sure that all of our new team members will soon feel as much a part of the Prue Leith family as those that went before them.
To read further about the new team please simply use the link from their name to open the detailed profile attached.
