Speaker Q&A: Natasha Wilmans, Ole & Steen
Natasha Wilmans is UK operations director at all-day Danish bakery chain Ole & Steen. She’ll be appearing in lunch!’s ‘Operations Director panel’, alongside LEON’s Shereen Ritchie, Tortilla’s Matt Chapman, and Chilango’s Richard Franks (2.45pm, Thursday 19 September).
Which food-to-go operators / retailers do you particularly admire and why?
Pret – to create a brand with consistency in product and service over 100s of sites deserves admiration.
What do you think is the key for operators to successfully compete against their competitors?
Listen to your team and customers – they always keep you grounded and tell you the truth.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Building and developing a team of people that make you proud every day. Having the opportunity to change a person’s life by supporting them on their career journey, is the real privilege of the job.
Can you give us an example of what your business is doing to be even more sustainable?
Reviewing all packaging and consumables to ensure they are replaced with biodegradable products and partnering with waste management companies to reduce our food wastage.
What’s your current bestselling product?
Cinnamon social – soft dough pastry filled with vanilla custard and cinnamon paste, with white icing. Delicious and addictive!
Why is innovation so vital to the food-to-go sector?
We should never be complacent and always move with our customers. As long as we listen to our customers and never forget that our purpose is to give them the best experience we can, we will never stop innovating.
Who or what inspires you to be even better?
Our team and our customers – they are the reason I work every day.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Happy team = happy customer = happy bank manager.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in the industry?
Work hard, be humble, and be open to learn from every experience you have and every person that you meet. This exciting industry can give anyone an incredible career.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that most people don’t know:
I moved to Egypt for a year and opened an ice cream shop on the beach.
See Natasha at lunch! 2019
The Operations Director Panel: 2.45pm on Thursday 19 September in Keynote Theatre 3
The session features:
- Matt Chapman, Operations Director, Tortilla
- Richard Franks, Operations Director, Chilango
- Shereen Ritchie, Operations Director, LEON
- Natasha Wilmans, UK Operations Director, Ole & Steen
- Simon Stenning, Founder, Futureoffoodservice.com
