Catherine Jacobs

I am a hardworking, motivated, ambitious graduate who has a passion for organising events and project management with particular emphasis on the hospitality industry. I feel that my main strengths are teamwork, time management, decision making, communication, attention to detail, leadership and a basic love of food and the hospitality industry.  With these strengths, I wish to further my career and expand my experiences within the hospitality industry with the aim of improving myself on a personal and professional level.

Employment

Date: January 2024 – August 2025

Job Title: Restaurant Manager

Company: Hillier Weyhill

Details: Currently I am the restaurant Manager at Hillier Weyhill. My key responsibilities are running all aspects of the 200 seater restaurant which is open for breakfast, lunch, coffee and cake and afternoon teas. I manage a team of up to 15 staff on each shift including back and front of house to ensure the best quality food and service is given to our customers. Other aspects of my job role are, hiring of staff, induction and training, rota planning and payroll sign off, ordering stock, invoice reconciliation, health and safety and fire safety with in the restaurant and all administration tasks. 

Date: June 2021 – November 2023

Job Title: Senior Events Manager

Company: Syrencot Ltd

Details: I worked as the Senior Events Manager at Syrencot based in Wiltshire where we run weddings for up to 150 guests. My key responsibilities are managing a team of casual staff to ensure all weddings are planned, organised and executed to the highest standard. Once the booking has been confirmed I, or a member of my team, liaise with the couple to discuss all aspects of their wedding day, answer any questions and put their plans into action before being there on the day to guide them through. We also have accommodation onsite for 27 guests which I help oversee. I also help to conduct tasting events where up to 40 couples can experience delicious food and wines from all our wedding packages. Other aspects of my role include assisting with health and safety across the site, hiring casual staff and their training and overseeing all aspects of internal office systems.

Date: March 2020 – June 2021

Job Title: Deputy Store Manager/Casual Assistant

Company: Lidl GB

Details: I worked as a Deputy Store Manager for Lidl. Due to difficult circumstances during covid, I did not receive either sufficient or appropriate training to enable me to deliver the management requirements of Lidl and after nine months I took the decision to step down to a Casual Assistant. In this role I worked the deliveries, on tills, stacking shelves, decarding and any other duties as requested.

Date: March 2019 – February 2020 

Job Title: Bistro Manager

Company: The Little Kitchen Company

Details: I was the Bistro Manager for the Little Kitchen Company based at the Winchester Golf Academy. My responsibilities were the smooth running of the day to day operation including customer and staff management and overseeing monthly tasting events. 

Date: July 2017 – Dec 2018

Job Title: Operations Manager

Company: Roadchef

Details: I was the Operations Manager at Roadchef Sutton Scotney. My responsibility was to ensure the smooth running of the site which is comprised of Costa, McDonalds, WHSmiths and Days Inn on both sides of the A34. I oversaw all the brands to deliver the best possible customer experience and to ensure that all aspects of the site are fully functioning. 

Date: Oct 2013 – July 2017

Job Title: Senior Events Manager

Company: Galloping Gourmet

Details: I was the Senior Events Manager at Clock Barn in Whitchurch, Hampshire where we ran weddings for up to 192 guests. My key responsibility was managing a team of two events managers and 35 casual staff to ensure all weddings were planned, organised and executed to the highest standard. Once the booking was confirmed I, or a member of my team, liaised with the couple to discuss all aspects of their wedding day, answer any questions and put their plans into action before being there on the day to guide them through. We also conducted tasting events where up to 50 couples in one sitting could experience delicious food and wines from all our wedding packages. Other aspects of my role included ensuring that all health and safety was up to date across the site, hiring casual staff and their training, issuing invoices and debt management and overseeing all aspects of internal office systems. 

Dates:  Oct 2012 – August 2013

Job Title:  Senior Events Manager 

Company:  Guildhall Winchester

Details: I worked as the Senior Events Manager at the Guildhall in Winchester and was responsible for a team of three events managers and three facilities assistants. My duties required me to ensure that all enquiries are handled swiftly, conduct show rounds of the building and up sell where possible before converting the enquiry into a confirmed booking. Once confirmed I liaised with clients to finalise their booking attend their function, process and update all relevant details and raise invoices accordingly. Other aspects of my role included ensuring events were run smoothly, assisting with the running of the café, cashing up and banking the café and event takings. I also assisted with hiring casual staff, processing their paperwork, keeping accurate payroll timesheets, creating the event management rota, conducting appraisals and assisting with the day to day running of the Guildhall.

Dates:  April 2011 – Sept 2012

Job Title:  1st Assistant Manager 

Company:  Nando’s Basingstoke

Details: I worked as a 1st Assistant Manager at Nando’s in Basingstoke. My areas of responsibility were the day to day running of the 170 cover restaurant, food safety, ordering and stock control and training of 35 staff members. I also dealt with recruitment, financial labour targets, GP and P&L reports and banking of between £40,000 to £50,000 a week.

Dates:  Jan 2007 – Jan 2011

Job Title:  Assistant Food & Beverages Manager / Wedding – Co-ordinator 

Company:  P&O Cruises

Details:  During my time with P&O Cruises I worked on five of their cruise ships. While I was on the MV Aurora I took on the roles of Assistant Front of House Manager and Assistant Admin Manager where I helped with passenger queries and complaints and dealt with foreign currency exchange. As Assistant Admin Manager, I co-ordinated the embarkation and disembarkation of passengers, liaised with the port agent throughout the stay and helped organise clearance of the vessel with different port authorities.  On the other four vessels, I took the role of Assistant F&B Manager / Wedding Co-ordinator. As Assistant F&B Manger my duties included controlling 25 assistant waiters serving up to 1000 meals each night and seating passengers in one of the 550 capacity restaurants. On the on MV Ventura I also was responsible for the management of the Room Service Team of nine persons. On turnaround in port, I co-ordinated the arrival of replenishment vehicles, quayside quality checks and storage of all food and alcohol for each cruise. As Wedding Co-ordinator, I organised 300 weddings and 250 renewals of vows at sea. My responsibilities were to contact the couple upon embarkation and put into action all their requirements for their big day by liaising with other departments across the ship to make their wedding and cruise as memorable as possible. 

Education

2002 – 2006, Bournemouth University, School of Service Management 

BA/Hons International Hospitality Management: Grade 2.2

2000 – 2002, Queen Mary’s College, Basingstoke, Hampshire - 3 A Levels in History, Business Studies, Maths 

1995 – 2000, Testbourne Community School, Whitchurch, Hampshire - 9 GCSEs - Grades A - D

Additional qualifications: Personal License Holder, Intermediate Food Hygiene, Introduction to Management Course, Advanced Pest Management, Basic Sea Survival, Certificate of Proficiency of Survival Crafts and IT skills.