Foodservice Cateys 2021: Salesperson of the Year: Natalie Mainwaring, BaxterStorey

Natalie Mainwaring has been a key part of BaxterStorey’s sales team for over five years and during the past 12 months has shown drive, enthusiasm and an ability to go beyond what is expected during a hugely challenging time.

Over the past year she has secured more than £10m of new business for BaxterStorey, ranking as the number one in the company for individual sales performance, and far exceeding her targets. This included a contract with an American software firm worth £2m per annum, while her strong relationships with clients have helped the group retain contracts worth an estimated £3m over the past year alone.

By mentoring and guiding the wider sales team, Mainwaring has also been involved in securing numerous other contracts worth in excess of £2m, often working weekends and cancelling her annual leave.

Due to her hard work, BaxterStorey secured the contract for Definitive, Canary Wharf by bringing expertise from all its brands into one proposal. This saw Mainwaring organise the delivery of 15 food boxes to client’s homes as part of the presentation. Gourmet brownies from the Luminary Bakery, a social enterprise that helps create jobs for disadvantaged women, were included in the deliveries in a move that helped to raise the profile of the business during a challenging time.

Her creative thinking has helped the business find new ways to engage with clients virtually during lockdown, including sending out BaxterStorey’s DIY food kits and running virtual cocktail making masterclasses and cheese and wine tastings.

Mainwairing is dedicated to supporting her team and personally mentors two younger members of staff. Despite it being outside her remit, during lockdown she was instrumental in creating an internal communications strategy for the business to ensure employees on furlough felt reassured during a period of uncertainty. Alongside her sales duties, Mainwaring worked evenings and weekends to help the people team source over 5,000 personal email addresses to reach every team member, and helped reshape the communications strategy, which is still being used today.

Mainwaring has recently been promoted to creative development director, which sees her take charge of a region of over 100 locations and contribute to her wider team’s target of bringing in £14m of new turnover. Her drive to push boundaries and break the mould of a standard contract caterer makes her a more than worthy winner of this award.

What the judges said

“Among some very strong entries, Natalie stood out for her holistic approach with some very clear innovation, creativity, and fresh thinking.”

Phil Roker

“Natalie is a consummate professional. Her commitment to her team and the wider business during these times has been incredible, always thinking about the other person while maintaining and delivering in aspects of her role.”

Nick Vadis

“While all the entries were impressive, Natalie’s application demonstrated innovation, creativity and thinking outside the box to achieve results in a very challenging year.”

Rebecca Eatough

The shortlist

• Pete Champain, Eurest
• Natalie Mainwaring, BaxterStorey
• Andrew Rintoul, Aramark

Past winners

• 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, Lindley Group