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Judges described the winner of the Rising Star Award as “a future leader of our industry”, recognising both her commercial acumen and her generosity in sharing her experiences with wider teams.

Valentine Rey has quickly risen through the ranks at Amadeus, joining on a one-year placement while a hospitality student at University College Birmingham, before being promoted to deputy catering manager on her graduation.

She was allocated new pizza concept, Barrel and Stone, the first fixed facility of its kind in the UK, at the NEC Birmingham. She conducted a complete review of the concept, finding efficiencies to control variable costs and maximising sales. Her commercial acumen saw revenue at Barrel & Stone grow by 213% and profits increase by 212% in full-year 2023.

Her people management skills and sound commercial instincts saw her secure a position of catering manager less than 18 months later, taking on the additional responsibility for Amadeus’ StrEAT concept, which has both fixed and mobile sites. She now leads a team of 12, while working closely with chef and culinary teams across the wider business.

Rey leads from the front and has set the standard for a new selling culture that has a focus on upselling, using hero products and deals to drive sales. She introduced upselling competitions and one-to-one training for the cashier team, achieving a 5% increase in average spend at Barrel & Stone.

Since taking over management of StrEAT she has overseen a 83% increase in revenue and a 84% increase in profit at the fixed site. The recently launched mobile site has had an impressive first quarter, aided by Rey incorporating the whole team in its roll-out. Colleagues have praised Rey’s “calm, controlled” approach, saying she clearly sets standards that are reinforced throughout a shift. Eager to develop her own skills she often volunteers to be a section leader for Amadeus’ live event catering, such as Vivid Experience, the NEC Group’s Christmas offer, which serves a canapé reception, three-course seated dinner and midnight breakfast for more than 43,000 covers across 22 nights. She also supported Amadeus’ delivery of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, delivering her own training and recruitment programmes.

Outside her day-to-day role, Rey is a founding member of Amadeus’ Barista Artisan Academy, the caterer’s in-house training programme, and will this year design and deliver the training personally. She has also completed a Living Leader course, contributes to recruitment days and trade fairs at University College Birmingham and mentors apprentices.

What the judges said

“She is ambitious, competitive and driven, keen to learn and possesses a strong commercial acumen. All these, coupled with her compassionate nature, make her a future leader of our industry. We all need someone like Valentine in our teams.” Raouf Mansour

“Valentine is clearly a natural leader and one to watch for the future. Her meteoric rise from student to catering manager in just over 12 months of leaving university is astounding.” Carol Rhead

The shortlist

Alice King, Green & Fortune

Jamie MacDonald, Absolute Taste

Amy Pattison, Aramark UK

Valentine Rey, Amadeus

Past winners

2022 Jess Savva, Amadeus

2021 Joanna Watt, Sodexo

2019 Alex Borley, BaxterStorey