Wilson Storey Halliday Conference 2003
Over 250 delegates were welcomed to the 2003 Wilson Storey Halliday conference held in the beautiful surroundings of Wokefield Park near Reading, on 4th November 2003.
This year's conference was kicked off with a supplier's fair. 28 suppliers were on hand to demonstrate their wares which included many new innovative products.
WSH IT department could not be left out and were asking delegates to take a virtual 'Chop' at IT using modern technology to entertain guests. Ross Sutherland of the DTI achieved the highest score of the day and was delighted to win a £50 Marks & Spencer voucher.
Whilst all this was happening our Salon Culinaire judges, John Campbell of the Vineyard at Stockcross, Neil Perciville - Head Chef at the Meridian Heathrow, and our Executive Chef Rik Razza, were eagerly studying the magnificent dishes that had been lovingly prepared and transported to Wokefield.
Prior to the conference day hot cook-offs took place at Oracle in Reading to decide the winners in the Hot Dish category. The winning entrants were announced during the conference.
On to the main event - the conference presentation. Alastair Storey, Managing Director introduced the presentation by talking about the targets we set ourselves for 2002/3 and our significant achievements to date.
Finance was next (boring!) but not when explained by Commercial Director, Keith Wilson who talked about the company's phenomenal growth over the past 3 years since the merger of Wilson Storey and Halliday.
Mike Street then gave an animated talk on customer service. Mike is a Director of British Airways plc and has worked for them for over 40 years. We asked him to join our board as a non-executive director to challenge us on how to keep on improving our customer service and team work as well as using his wealth of experience to give us guidance and advice. Mike explained that he had accepted our offer because he was excited by the quality, enthusiasm and professionalism of our people and felt that as a young and vibrant company we had great potential to grow.
John Campbell along with Rik Razza then presented the Salon awards. John is one of Europe's most exciting and innovative chefs and his Michelin starred restaurant, The Vineyard, has won many awards. John supports our business through chef development and we intend to build on that relationship in the future.
John explained that these days it's very difficult to book a celebrity chef for an event such as this. For example to book Gordon Ramsay you would need at least 3 months notice, for Gary Rhodes, at least 6 months and for Jamie Oliver, 12 months! John said, "It was lucky that Alastair phoned last night and I just happened not to be busy!" It should be made quite clear that in fact, John was booked in January!
Alastair Storey then wound up the conference by thanking everyone involved for their support. Alastair talked passionately about our goals for the coming year which are to maintain our excellent record of contract retention through growing cash sales, getting very close to clients and customers and by maintaining and building on our excellent teamwork.
Sue Prescott of BP Lubricants kindly took the time to send us this feedback:
"Firstly can I say thank you to all involved in its organisation, it was very professional and catered to all. I felt the actual conference bit was very motivating and inspiring this year.
It was great to listen to Mike Street and John Campbell talk about WSH with such enthusiasm and admiration. The fact that two very successful individuals are proud to be working alongside all of us says so much. I really feel I am working for a special company who cares about its people and still has the passion for excellence in food and service.
On a personal note, listening to all the directors and managers talk reminded me of what a great team we all are and I am proud to be part of it.
I feel re-motivated and want to go that extra mile to exceed expectations. Thank you for making me feel this way."
Our thanks go to everyone who made the day happen (with apologies to anyone we've missed!):
Keith Wain - Conference organiser
Debbie Breare & Sarah Peters - Conference admin
Head Office support teams
Purchasing - Supplier organisation
Suppliers - Product stands
Arthur Edmunds, Rik Razza & Team - Salon Culinaire
Richard Carman - gencon (visual, audio)
Tony Smith - Image Corporate (marketing and advertising)
Staff at Wokefield Park