I really enjoyed home-cooking when I was young; I loved the idea of entertaining people. If we went out to eat, I’d spend all the time watching what the restaurant or kitchen staff were doing, how they were coordinating with each other and taking care of the clients. I did Food Tech’ at school, but people were generally quite dismissive of my choice to go into catering at college. I was a fairly bright, ambitious student, but it was as though people thought I ‘could do better’; if only those people could see me now!

After school, having decided I wanted to be a chef, I looked at different courses and decided on my local college, Brockenhurst. I did both NVQ Level 1 and 2, over two years, which was great. We switched around, one week working in the kitchen, then a week front of house waiting and running the restaurant, then a week in pastry (cakes and desserts). I loved them all, but the opportunity to try these different areas meant I discovered a love of ‘front of house’.

It was fantastic going to a college that had a professional restaurant on site where external clients would come to eat. In my second year, I got to take my turn in actually running the restaurant, coordinating the other students and any apprentices on day-release. It really helped me understand how a proper restaurant works. We were lucky enough to have some guest chefs come into college sometimes to work with us, too. I particularly remember Raymond Blanc and James Martin being inspiring people and great to learn from.

In my second year, I had managed to get some part-time work at the hotel next door to the college, Careys Manor, and I was pleased when they were able to take me on as a Restaurant Leadership and Management Level 3 Apprentice, where I could also focus on front of house. The mix of work and study suited me really well. The hotel has 79 bedrooms and three restaurants, and I started in the main hotel restaurant. Although it’s very traditional, it was often very busy and it was very exciting. College had been great but this interaction with the guests, looking after them and solving their problems was the real thing!

After my apprenticeship, I became Supervisor of the hotel’s Manor Restaurant. I think Carey’s Manor must have seen some potential in me. We had had several different Restaurant Managers over that time, but it turned out to be good for me as it gave me opportunities to step up; to learn more and to take more responsibility. I became Assistant Restaurant Manager and, after about a year, when I thought I’d learnt all I could in the restaurant, I spoke to the Hotel Manager to see if there was more I could learn about running the whole hotel. Perhaps I was a bit cheeky in asking, but I was made Trainee Hotel Manager.

That was a challenging but rewarding role and it gave me such a fantastic insight into every part of how a hotel works – as well as how it all works together. I worked in every department - kitchen, reception, housekeeping, portering, the different restaurants (Thai, French bistro) – so got to see how it all works as one big team. It was intense, particularly when we had additional events like a big wedding going on as well. I always took it as a challenge and put my all into it. I do believe that you’ve got to love this industry to do it well.

After about 18 months as Trainee Manager, I stepped up to become Assistant Hotel Manager, supporting the Hotel Manager and running things when they weren’t there. By 2016, I’d been at Carey’s Manor about six years in all and I was just starting to think it was time for a new challenge when a vacancy came up within the same hotel group for an Assistant Manager at a hotel not far away.

The Montagu Arms in Beaulieu is a very different hotel; it’s smaller, with only 24 bedrooms and two restaurants, but it’s a real ‘foodie’ hotel and we’re hoping to achieve a Michelin star very soon. I became Deputy General Manager after about a year, which was an opportunity to understand more about the business and financial aspects of running the hotel. Although I knew about the day-to-day operations, to be an effective manager, understanding revenue streams, budgets, staffing, and health and safety are all so important too.

While I was Deputy Manager, I was put forward for the Master Innholders Aspiring Leaders Diploma. I was one of 18 chosen from 100 applicants in my year, so I know what a privilege it was to be accepted and it was a truly amazing experience. You cover a number of different modules, including finance, management, and everything you need to run a hotel and also how to control and better myself. Each module was held in a different location so, every few months, we’d get to go and stay in someone else’s hotel. That was a real eye-opener: I have stayed in some gorgeous five-star hotels I might never have seen otherwise!

After three years at The Montagu Arms, in February 2020, I was asked to step up and become Hotel Manager when the previous manager moved on. This was what I had wanted ever since I started at Careys Manor; to be the person who puts their own touches on their hotel!

I think a lot of us in the industry worry that it is undervalued. It’s seen as long hours, no social life and little reward, but from my own experience, I know that there is so much more to it than that. I have had some amazing opportunities and there is always a chance to learn something, to make a difference every day. And there certainly are opportunities for career progression if you are motivated to go for it. If I compare my career to date with that of my old school friends, some of them have only just graduated or have ended up in jobs that they hadn’t thought about and aren’t necessarily related to the qualifications they did. Some of them are rather envious of me, now!

I hope that one benefit of the many TV programmes which bring catering and hospitality skills onto our screens means that it’s not a choice that is looked down on today, as it was for me. I would encourage anyone considering it to just go for it. Never be scared to do something that you’re passionate about. “ “I don’t do it for the awards, but it is good to be recognised!” he said. The awards ceremony was held at the Beaulieu Motor Museum.”

Jeremy won the New Forest Business Partnership ‘Young Person in Business’ Award in 2020.