Two Guyanese chefs in London for culinary training!

To value the commitment and the performance of its talents, Newrest Guyana, in collaboration with Newrest UK, developed an innovative training program taking advantage of the synergies that a global catering group can offer.

Newrest collaborators, a local strength

Nelle Benn Bristol and Carla Camacho joined Newrest Guyana at its opening in 2019, providing catering services offshore in support of the oil & gas industry. Both benefitted from our internal promotion program:

Nelle graduated from Carnegie School of Home Economics (Local hospitality School Newrest Guyana is partnering with). At first, she was performing as assistant cook on the FPSO Liza Destiny. After a year, she was assigned as a cook to the management of the kitchen at night shift. This successful experience and her strong potential led this 24-years old skilled young lady to take the lead of the catering department as Head Chef on her unit.

Carla, 36 years-old, started as a cook/baker and rapidly specialized in bakery onboard Liza Destiny. In 2021, she played an active role in the arrival of the second Guyanese FPSO in country. She was a member of the catering crew mobilized overseas for the journey of Liza Unity from Singapore to Guyana waters. She has now been appointed as Head Chef on Prosperity, the third FPSO which recently arrived in country.

Few months ago, Mrs Nelle Benn Bristol and Ms Carla Camacho were awarded employees of the year at Newrest Guyana. As part of this talent management approach, Nelle and Carla could benefit from a tailor-made capacity building program aiming to develop their technical and managerial skills in Newrest inflight production units in the UK. It includes culinary mentoring on Western and Asian cuisine and trainings on production plans, team management and use of specific kitchen equipment.

Their impression on their first day at London Gatwick and London Heathrow production units was very pleasant:  “The staff were eager to get acquainted with us and teach us the way that they work, they were also very interested in the work that we do offshore.” Despite the change of industry, culture, and work environment, this “amazing experience” was not a leap into the unknown. “Newrest protocols remain the same accross the borders. In UK too, they are being followed by the employees and maintained by heads of departments to ensure the safe handling and preparations of food and qualities of service.”

Both Chefs believe this training will be beneficial for their future. “The training allowed us to improve our process and methodology within our station. Also, with this program we learnt that with better planning and execution of our tasks as head chef, we can adopt a better offshore relationship with others by organizing ourselves.” expressed Carla, as take away from this experience.

For Nelle, this training reinforces her philosophy of continual improvement: “I, as an individual, can only hope to become better in my professional career as a leader. I always leave room for improvement towards my technical and managerial skills and I keep an open mind so that I can bring change to my environment”.

This initiative falls within Newrest Guyana approach for local capacity development and hiring more local talents.

Training: an essential tool

This type of synergy between subsidiaries of the Group is an example of Newrest vision to prepare the future. Talent and Diversity is a major pillar of the CSR charter and the strategy of the group. The Group believes that the ability to attract, develop and maintain loyal employees is not only a reflection of the company’s diversity and communities but also an essential factor in success.

This attraction goes through daily actions but also through the training process. Training collaborators is an essential step for Newrest group to develop capacities and skills of its talents.

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