Deafway Charity trusts allmanhall's
consultancy expertise
Overview
In November 2024, Deafway’s Chief Executive Officer engaged allmanhall to undertake a full catering review at the Charity. The key areas to be reviewed were the current staffing, menus and food quality, food safety, and Health and Safety procedures and practices.
allmanhall identified several key recommendations with immediate impact, to support the enhancement of service levels and to ensure ongoing adherence to Deafway’s legislative obligations.
“Chris approached the consultation very sensitively and kept us fully informed at all stages. The recommendations were implemented, and we now feel confident that we meet all health and safety standards. Our catering team are now ready to meet the challenges ahead as we continue to grow as an organisation.”
– Teresa Dawson, Chief Executive Officer.
Background
Deafway is a charity based in Preston that provides support and services to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The Charity accommodates residents within their five residential houses and provides a core catering service seven days a week. In addition to feeding their residents, Deafway also provides catering for event attendees, staff and residents’ visitors.
What did the client need?
The Charity required comprehensive insight and recommendations to create an action plan to develop the service, whilst ensuring that the review would be undertaken sensitively to enable their catering team to feel valued throughout the process.
The Charity wanted to identify potential improvements to efficiency in their catering operation, and to ensure that best value for money was being achieved.
The Charity was keen to ensure that they had the correct staffing structure in place for the catering operation, along with recommendations for any proposed changes to enhance the delivery of a high-quality service.
The results
The expert consultancy review was undertaken in January 2025, with two days’ observation of the catering team during preparation, cooking and service.
allmanhall made 18 recommendations using their expert knowledge of the sector, all of which took into consideration the Charity’s aims.
The Charity was pleased with the level of detail and insight provided, and they felt confident to move forward straight away with allmanhall’s recommendations.
Following the completion of this project, the Charity commissioned allmanhall to undertake further consultancy, supporting their recruitment of a Catering Manager, as well as undertaking Health & Safety Risk Assessments for all areas of the kitchen and food service area.
The Charity trusts allmanhall’s consultancy expertise to ensure they meet their legal obligations regarding Health and Safety. Additionally, with allmanhall’s support, they have appointed a skilled Catering Manager to enhance the catering service.