Acorns 2018: Rhiannon Heseltine, general manager, Lexington Catering

General manager, Lexington Catering (London Business School contract)

Nominator Emma Price, internal communication specialist

Proudest moment "Completing two half-marathons for charity Plan UK in 2015 and 2017."

Biggest inspiration "Annie Cripps, university lecturer at Oxford Brookes, for her passion for contract catering, and Katharine Lewis, director of Lexington Catering, for her driven, business-savvy approach."

Ambition "In the next five years I would like to progress to junior operations manager, and my long-term plan is to own a Soho restaurant."

Aged 13, Rhiannon Heseltine got a Saturday job in a café. Within two years she was hooked on hospitality and had earned herself the title of weekend manager. It's a pattern of success that has since been repeated. University followed, and in 2012 she joined Lexington as an assistant manager, collecting Savill's Best Customer Service Award in 2013.

Needless to say, she zipped up the ladderto her current role. As general manager at Lexington's £520,000 JLL contract, Heseltine cut costs by £6,000, mainly through careful product sourcing. And by introducing flexi-hours she reduced payroll costs by £2,000 a month and achieved 100% employee retention.

She also proved adept at retaining clients, changing the offer to meet JLL's needs, and as a result Lexington now manages JLL events across a nine-strong estate rather than one site. She also launched Lexington's award-winning food range, Grains & Greens, which has boosted lunch turnover by 20%.

Within months of becoming general managerat the £20m London Business School contract, Heseltine's F&B promotions increased the number of students and staff choosing to eat on campus.

She is equally energetic when it comes to developing others, organising the LexChef final, coaching staff into management roles and promoting graduate training opportunities to students. Springboard's charity events are close to her heart too and Rhiannon gives talks to young people about hospitality careers.