Alumni profile
Paul Smith, Full-time MBA 1997/98
In 1997 Paul Smith enrolled on the full time one year MBA programme at the University of Bradford and graduated with a distinction 1998. "That makes it all sound very easy, however, I can assure you it was a very demanding, challenging but at the same time, an incredibly rewarding twelve months. In fact it did change my life", he comments.
Paul's earlier career included various senior operational management and strategic development roles within the luxury hotel, leisure and events hospitality market. This even included a spell as General Manager for all catering and bars at Bradford's Alhambra Theatre and Studio.
The MBA combined with his previous background resulted in an approach from a management consultancy practice specialising in providing specialist catering advice to high profile organisations and subsequently, a relocation from Yorkshire to London. "People often ask 'what is catering consultancy'? They don't initially understand it. If you think about it, successful catering operations, whether they are in museums, visitor attractions, the workplace or universities, don't just happen. They need a great deal of planning and ongoing support", he comments.
Over the past 13 years, including being co-owner of another catering consultancy and now with his own specialist catering consultancy, Montfort Consultants, Paul has had the privilege of working with some of the world's most well known organisations. His clients have included the BBC, Warner Bros., Goldsmiths College, Barbican, LOCOG (London 2012), Goldman Sachs, MOSI and Bentley Motors.
Paul tells us his time at Bradford really was the catalyst for launching his career to the next level and for providing an environment and skills that have helped him plan and develop great catering operations for world-class organisations.
He comments, "The next piece of the jigsaw is a move back to Yorkshire with my Swedish fiancée later this year. The consultancy work is across the UK, so the business can be based anywhere. London will soon become a business destination and Yorkshire, home again - there's no better place to live, is there?"
Paul can be contacted at paul@montfortconsultants.com www.montfortconsultants.com