Britain’s best catering tutor reveals her secrets

While the competition for the College Restaurant of the Year awards was tight with a handful of training restaurants clearly worthy of the title, there was no question that the recipient of the Special award for Most Inspiring Tutor thoroughly deserved to be praised.

Margaret White, team leader at The Manchester College’s Restaurant at Ashley Lane spoke to Becky Paskin about her win, and revealed how she keeps her students professional, motivated, and passionate about the industry.

After leaving life as a chef in industrial catering, White moved to The Manchester College​ (then MANCAT) in 1984, and has been at the institution ever since. Describing herself as a ‘strict but fair’ teacher, White said a more hands on approach was needed to motivate the students at Manchester.

“Some of our students come from some difficult and challenging backgrounds and we have to closely monitor them; sometimes we literally have to get them out of bed in the morning,” she explained. “They only get £30 a week for coming to college and we try to motivate them by encouraging them to look at their behaviour and how they can motivate themselves.”

The Manchester College prides itself on several teaching concepts designed to develop students in all aspects of life, not just their chosen course. White explained that the teaching structure at her college was one she thoroughly believed in.

“As part of our course we cover social and personal development because it’s not all about teaching them how to cook and prepare food,” she said. “We teach them to learn how to manage their feelings, motivation, self-awareness, empathy and social skills. We try to get them to take responsibility for their own learning and we look at ways to help build up their self-esteem.

“When they first come in they find it really difficult to smile at a customer never mind speak to one, so we do a couple of weeks of practicing, and after a couple of months we see a massive change; by the time first year is over, the second year they’re really on their way. They also have to do work placements. We insist that they get a part time job at the weekends so they get industrial experience as well, which we help sort out for them.

“We try to give them a taste of the real world by taking them out to restaurants, and encouraging them to speak to the staff there about what they are doing. They are terrified at first of going in but we just push them. We want them to love catering, because we all love it. It’s not a straightforward job, it’s a way of life, and we want them to understand that.”

When presented with the award for Most Inspiring Tutor, White was astounded, and humbly praised her team of two restaurant managers and two head chefs, who are always present within the working restaurant.

“It’s not all about me this I’ve got a really strong team here and we work really well together. I think we’ve developed a really good restaurant that is always full for the evening service.”

At the age of 61, White is now considering reduced hours rather than retirement to allow her to stay working at The Manchester College with the students that clearly look up to and respect her. With her students grasping the Best College Restaurant award for the North, White’s determination to next year seize the coveted UK title is stronger than ever. She has organised a trip to the winning restaurant at South Down’s College​ with her students as a reward and to ‘see how good they could be.’ Her driving passion and love for both catering and her students is evident in her work, and with tutors like her the future of our industry is in safe hands.

Margaret White’s top tips for tutors​

• Monitor your students • Push and drive students to achieve their goals • Make students believe in themselves by instilling confidence and self-esteem • Make them get a part-time job to experience more of the industry • Build up and encourage teamwork • Take them on visits to restaurants and show them what’s out there • Listen to front of house staff as they interact with customers