Foodservice Cateys 2022: Salesperson of the Year – Amanda Ciraulo, Aramark

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Amanda Ciraulo, the UK sales director at Aramark, has led the UK sales team through a record-breaking year, both in terms of sales performance and individuals’ personal and professional development.

Thanks to Ciraulo’s leadership, the year culminated in Aramark’s biggest single contract to become Merlin Entertainments’ food and beverage partner for five locations in the UK (Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures, Legoland Windsor, Thorpe Park and Warwick Castle) and two in the US (Legoland Florida and Legoland California).

Judges described Ciraulo’s win as a career highlight and praised the 14 months of negotiations that were all done remotely, as well as pointing out that Aramark was a wildcard in the tender process with many of its existing contracts in the business, industry and education sector.

In fact, one of the other businesses bidding for the contract was already on the Merlin roster, had a larger sales team with more relevant experience and, like Merlin, was headquartered in the UK. But this did not deter Ciraulo, who wholeheartedly believed that bidding for Merlin Entertainments was the right thing to do from the very start, despite it seeming to be a gamble on paper.

Aramark put the win down to Ciraulo’s “empowering management style, collaborative way of working and unwavering belief in the company’s capacity and capability to deliver,” not forgetting her relentless dedication to the bid, which saw her working across UK and US time zones.

Clients and colleagues alike praised Ciraulo for her energy and enthusiasm, and following her and her team’s tenacity and commitment to new ideas, the company has a growing UK entertainment division – marking its diversification into an attractive market and building resilience into the business.

Winning historic contracts aside, Ciraulo still had time to be there for her team on a one-to-one level. Earlier in the year, a key member of her UK sales team was looking to move to retirement and Ciraulo worked closely with him to move onto a zero-hour contract – an unusual solution in sales, but an innovative way to ensure the individual involved can enjoy semi-retirement without their skills and experience being lost from the team.

Ciraulo is also an active supporter of Women in Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure (WiHTL), and, having signed up to a year-long mentoring programme in 2020, is still involved in her mentee’s career and has helped her secure her dream role.

As Aramark UK’s culinary director Paul Bloxham said in one of the many testimonials for Ciraulo: “Amanda is a leader on all levels and gives 110% to my team, always listens, calmly advises, and always succeeds in pushing above and beyond the art of the possible.”

What the judges said

“A historic win” Francois Gautreaux

“Not only was Amanda responsible for one incredible win, she also led a very successful team. The innovation, leadership and organisation that she showed in driving the Merlin bid is what marks her out as a clear winner.” Phil Roker

The shortlist

Amanda Ciraulo, Aramark

Rebecca Harris, Green & Fortune

Grace Mullins, Harvest Fine Foods

Marco Romeo, Eurest

Past winners

2021 Natalie Mainwaring, BaxterStorey

2019 Sarah Prentice, Blue Apple Contract Catering

2018 Eddie Fairish, Aramark

2017 Duncan Kendall, Restaurant Associates

2016 Simon Houston, Bartlett Mitchell

2015 Chris Chidley, Eurest

2014 Lucy Wright, Kings Place Events

2013 Jonathan Davies, Centreplate UK (formerly Lindley Group)