TUCO

Jonathan Main was elected TUCO president at this year's conference. University Caterer caught up with him to film an interview about his new role, his vision for the future and how TUCO can move forward in the current economic downturn.

Jonathan Main was elected new TUCO president at this year's TUCO conference. He succeeds Barry Trahar, who has held the position for a number of years. Jonathan was humble about his appointment but optimistic and ambitious to continue Barry’s good work.

You may have seen the University Caterer Team making their way around the TUCO conference with a video camera. While we were in Eastbnourne we filmed a number of interviews which will soon be available on the website, the first of these is our interview with Richard McGloin.

Peter Griffiths, Director of le Salon Culinaires London and regular Head of Judges at TUCO’s Chefs’ Challenge, has been honoured with an MBE.

Have a look the fantastic postcard for this year's conference on the 28th-30th of July and whet your appetite for what promises to be an exciting, sleek and stylish event. Click the link below to see the postcard.

Welcome to Steve Chipper the TUCO National Account Manager for Matthew Clark, replacing Tracy Southwell. Resource investment has enabled Matthew Clark to strengthen the national account team, and due to internal promotions within the team, this positive change of account manager has taken place.

This Regional Training Event was a big success in March. Taking place in the Cirencester Food Centre; it provided an excellent insight into how to cater for customers with dietary requirements. Jewish, dairy free, gluten free, Vegan and other forms of specialised recipes were covered (and cooked to high standards) by those taking part, with discussions afterwards regarding any difficulties.

Perparations are underway for the 15th annual Competitions and Training Event, one of the largest occasions in the TUCO calendar. Delegates and Competitors from Universities and Colleges all over the UK are expected to participate in this prestigious event.

Of course, there are plenty of opportunities for socialising and networking at the event but the driving energy comes from the competitions and innovative training course.

When TUCO set up a group to consider national procurement, Alan Bone - University Catering and Retail Manager, was one of the original group at the first meeting in 2000. He played a key role in the work which led to the formal establishment of TUCO’s National Purchasing Group (NPG), and the tender process to appoint CEL as the contract manager. In his position of Vice-Chair of the NPG, he took on the role of line manager to CEL, and fulfilled a critical role in working with CEL to ensure it understood both the contract and TUCO’s requirements as we moved to expand national procurement for TUCO members. At the outset, turnover through TUCO’s national agreements was approximately £16 millon; by July 2007 this had increased to £37 million and a great deal of this success arises from the solid foundations Alan helped to build and on which TUCO continue to grow.

Richard McGloin

Richard McGloin is the new TUCO national chair, following the election at the annual general meeting at this year’s TUCO conference.
Richard has been a TUCO member for six years and already sits on the chairs’ group. He told TUCO.org about his plans for the future and how he will take the organisation forward in the coming year.