Meet Darren

Darren is at the forefront of the delivery to our learners as a hospitality Learning Coach. Having started his career as a rosette-winning chef at four star hotels and restaurants Darren made the move to his role to share his expertise and knowledge with our learners.

I get a much better work-life balance from Lifetime than being a chef - I can have some quality time with my kids

Job security and they keep us well trained

I started in the hospitality industry as a Commis Chef back in the late 1980's and then got promoted to a Chef de Partie role and then to a Sous Chef role in a four star hotel in Kensington, London. From there I moved on to become a Senior Sous Chef, then on to Head Chef for Heritage hotels and McDonald's Hotel. I moved in to and Executive Chef role for Sidmouth Hotels where I achieved two rosettes. It was then that I decided to join the training sector.

Being involved in the Peoples 1st gold award

Every day is a challenge in this job and you just have to be resourceful and be able to react and deal with what you are dealt on a daily basis

I get a much better work life balance from Lifetime than being a chef and it counts for a lot because I can have some quality time with my kids

For such a large employer I think they listen to us at the sharp end and what we say counts because they do change things based on feedback from employees