Our highly anticipated annual Mega Day event on Saturday 2nd March 2024 was a feast for the senses, drawing over 180 attendees from units across the North of England to Lancashire Manor Hotel in Skelmersdale. The day was filled with learning, idea sharing, and networking opportunities for staff, including Catering Managers, Area Managers, Operations team members, and support office staff.
The Mega Day event infused a sporty twist into each session. The day kicked off with a warm welcome over coffee and pastries, followed by an introduction from CEO Tony Trainor and Director Mark Timmerman, outlining the day's agenda and key company updates in Lancashire Manor's impressive Great Hall.
Throughout the day, delegates participated in sessions covering various topics such as effective communication through Grapevine, performance improvement tactics, cost-cutting strategies in food procurement, and well-being initiatives for team members.
Each session incorporated sporty-themed activities, such as overcoming hurdles and challenges in daily tasks, maintaining communication chains in a relay, addressing conflicts, and hitting bullseye for better cost management tactics.
A delightful canape finger-food style lunch was served in The Link, allowing attendees to sample a wide range of dishes and draw inspiration for the upcoming "Summer Sizzlers" Theme Day in May. The Theme Day aims to mark the changing of the seasons and encourage children to explore new and vibrant menu items. The NEW "Summer Sizzlers" menu has been developed, tested and prepped to perfection by Stuart Dale, Executive Development Chef and Team.
The afternoon included a trade fair with 10 suppliers across various food categories, including Tugo, Pasta King, Dole, Love Joes, Bidfood and 1952 Coffee. It was great to have such a varied mixture of food groups and wealth of knowledge being shared. This was a fantastic opportunity to ask questions and learn about new food innovation.
A Grapevine help-desk was available in The Link to provide guidance and top tips to encourage more users to utilise this communication platform, available to all 2,000 Mellors staff to benefit from.
The day concluded with prizes being awarded, followed by some overall learnings and reflections from the day. Well done to the winning teams!
It was fantastic to have so many of our brilliant Mellors team together under one roof and we look forward to welcoming future attendees in 2025!
Check out these pic's below and why not share your own? Don't forget to tag in friends and colleagues in too!
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