So how did you make the move from food manufacturing into consultancy?
After The Nursery Kitchen closed, a couple of restaurants I knew asked whether I could help them make their food safety paperwork easier to complete. That was the light-bulb moment. I had spent years dealing with Environmental Health Officers and, if I am honest, I sometimes found the terminology difficult to understand myself. I remember thinking, if I find this difficult after everything I have been through, how many other business owners must feel exactly the same?
I decided I wanted to simplify it. I wanted food safety paperwork to be easier to understand, easier to complete and, most importantly, something people could genuinely use in their dayto-day business rather than a folder that simply sat on a shelf.
What makes your approach different?
I create bespoke food safety management systems around the individual business because no two businesses operate in exactly the same way. I do not believe in handing somebody a generic template and telling them to get on with it.
I get to know the business, understand how it operates and then create a system that makes sense for the people who are actually going to use it. My role is really about translating complicated legislation and guidance into clear, practical procedures so that the owner and their staff understand exactly what they need to do.
You also work with business owners whose first language isn’ t English. Is that an important part of what you do?
Very much so. UK food safety legislation can be complicated enough when English is your first language, so trying to understand technical terminology in another language can make the whole process even more intimidating.
That is why clarity matters so much to me. Food safety needs to work in the real world. There is no point creating a beautiful technical document if the people handling food every day do not properly understand what it means or how to follow it.
You talk a lot about taking the fear out of food safety. Why do you think businesses are so frightened of it?
Because people often associate food safety with getting into trouble. I now have more than 100 customers and one of the biggest things I try to teach them is not to freeze when they see the dreaded EHO walking through the door.
Food safety should not be something that terrifies you. It should be something you understand, manage and feel confident about. I am incredibly proud that my customers have good hygiene ratings and that most have achieved five-star ratings. For me, that shows that when people understand what they are doing and why they are doing it, the whole process becomes much less frightening.
After six years, what keeps you enjoying the job?
I still absolutely love it. I have gone from being the person desperately trying to find somebody who could help me with my own food safety problems to being the person other businesses turn to when they do not know where to go.
Perhaps that is why I care so much about it. I have been there. I know exactly how confusing the legislation and terminology can feel when you are trying to run a business at the same time. My job is to make food safety simpler, practical and understandable, and we have a bloody good laugh along the way too.
Katy Elliott Food Safety Ltd 07940 314549 | katy @ 5starfs. uk | www. 5starfs. uk
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