A little insight into our Assistant Food and Beverage Manager - Marine Fournier
We thought it might be fun and informative if we talk a little about some of our staff here at the Grand. All have facinating stories of how and why they came to work with us....
This time around we have Marine Fournier..... here is her story
Marine came to the Grand in 2009, where she started as a Sommelier in the Mirabelle, which is our award winning two Rosettes Restaurant.
But lets start at the beginning.... She first arrived in England from France in 2006,wanting to take a gap year from Law School and thought learning the English language would be beneficial to her career. She used to work part-time in a typical French Bistro in France, but thought she would also put this on hold and give England a go! On arriving in England she found a waitress position in a Michelin starred Restaurant in West Sussex.
At this time a career in Catering was not a consideration, but in just a few months she developed a real passion for it! Eight months down the line and the then Head Waitress gave her notice and to Marine's surprise and joy she was offered the post.... her career in Law definately now on the back burner! Staying for two years, she gained great experience in Food, Wine and service... it was now time for her to do something a little more 'Grand'..
Her plan was to become a Sommelier, so with the help of an agency the position in the Mirabelle was found and offered. Another two years spent learning as much as she could about wine, together with passing the WSET Level 2 (sponsored by the hotel) and she was ready again to try something new!
It was in 2010 Marine decided to apply for the hotel Trainee Management Programme and unsurprisingly with her committment to the Grand over the past few years she got the job. This programme consists of two years training in all departments of the hotel. Marine feels this is the perfect way to learn everything about a hotel. Being in each department really gives you a sense of the all round workings on a day to day basis. The course finishes with shadowing of Duty Managers, which she found the most rewarding and challenging of all. You realise just how much you have learnt over the course.
Luck, or fate was once again kind and at the end of the training programme the position of Assistant Food and Beverage Manager became available. Marine was delighted to be able to take her passion for food and wine to another level.
Marine says it is the perfect job as half her time is on the floors looking after the guests (and she does love to look after her guests) with the other half spending time on promotions, offers, budgets and figures... all very necessary.
So what will Marine's next position be? Who knows, but we do know that working up through the ranks is possible and enjoyable at the same time..... Thanks for talking about your career Marine.....