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FIVE MINUTES WITH… BEN WOODWARD, DOLCE’S RECENTLY APPOINTED COO
With over 30 years’ experience in operations and sales within contract catering, Ben has held senior roles with the likes of Elior, Compass and Sodexo. For many of those years he was working within the education sector, which Dolce specialises in, as well as healthcare and B&I. We’re delighted to have Ben on our team, helping drive us forward in what is our 25th year.
We grabbed five minutes with Ben to hear more about the first couple of months in his new role, his plans for the future, challenges schools are facing and his love for diving.
What were you doing before joining Dolce?
I had actually left my previous role and was taking a year out; something I’d never done before but my wife and I had recently brought a house which needed a lot of work doing to it and I planned to spend the year developing it. It was a huge project. Six months into my year out, I connected with Dolce. There was a role available which sounded very interesting and I was almost wishing it had come along six months later, so I could have my full year out. However, Covid then hit, which paused everything. Six months later, things started up again. I managed to have my full 12 months out, and then I started at Dolce; the stars aligned perfectly!
You were appointed COO in September (2024) – what has been your core focus in your first couple of months in the new role and what does the future hold?
I was Director of the North before, and since taking on my new role I now have visibility across the entire company, from North to South.
People development has been my primary focus; so, looking at our team, ensuring we have the right people in the right roles, recruiting where we have any gaps and ensuring everyone has a clear pathway for development.
We have also restructured our teams so they either focus solely on primary schools or secondary schools. Primary and secondary schools, although both catering for children, have their own unique challenges and require quite different support, and so it made sense to have teams that are dedicated to delivering the skill sets required for each.
This is with a view to ensure we can continue to nurture the schools we currently work with – which is now over 650 primary and secondary schools – through unrivalled expertise and customer service, and also be in a strong position to continue to expand. The past year has been incredibly strong for us, where we won 100+ contracts over the past 12 months, have grown the team by 20% and provide 125,000 meals for pupils every day.
Dolce works with hundreds of schools. What is the biggest challenge schools face with their catering?
It’s got to be funding – which affects all schools, but especially smaller schools. They just don’t get enough funding to cover the cost of the services. It’s an ongoing challenge to develop the catering offer into one that schools can not only afford, but one that also provides the level of quality needed. Schools are nourishing millions of children every day, and it’s important they have access to great quality, delicious food. The funding doesn’t just affect catering; it’s across the board from teaching staff to equipment provision.
What would you say is the best part about working at Dolce?
Dolce works in catering. We’ve got to ask – what would be your ‘death-row’ meal?
It’s a classic; a really good quality shepherd’s pie, with a lamb ragu filling. You can’t beat it.
We’ve heard you enjoy scuba diving – where’s your favourite place you’ve ever dived and what’s the most unusual sea creature you’ve seen?
My wife and I both love scuba diving and do it quite a lot in our spare time. We’re often diving off the coast of Scotland but this year we visited the Maldives, which was incredible. The deepest I’ve dived is 50 metres.
You end up seeing all sorts of fish and sharks when you dive regularly, but when I was in Australia I saw a weedy sea dragon. I’d never even heard of one before. They are only found in a small number of places in Australian coastal waters so it’s unusual to spot one. They look quite similar to seaweed, but are actually bony fish, and the one I saw was the most incredible mix of colours.
With 2024 marking our 25th anniversary, we’re proud to report we’ve had a bumper 12 months having won 100+ new contracts, fuelling job opportunities across England and Wales. As a result of new business wins and steadfast growth, we will see revenue reach a record £65 million for 2024/25 and we have recently appointed a […]
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