Name: Steve Rowlinson
Job title: HR director
Company name: Oakhouse Foods
Sales: £20m
HQ location: Wiltshire
Number of employes: 50 in-house staff, plus a franchised network of 21 distributors


What's it like to work for your company? We employ bright people and encourage staff to take ownership of their particular areas and to contribute their ideas to the overall strategy as much as possible.

Why is it a good employer? We have a fantastically strong team spirit and each member of staff is valued as part of the Oakhouse family.

What's the best thing about working there? Knowing you're a part of providing a much-needed service to some of the UK's most vulnerable people is a huge buzz.

How does the company differ from its rivals? We are all about quality, from our food right through to the levels of service we provide. We don't take short cuts and we stick to our principles.

If the company were a car what would it be? An Aston Martin British, quality and great fun to drive.

What's the training like? We invest in our team and we'll actively support any member of staff looking to develop professionally, both through sponsorship and by providing study time. For example, we currently have one employee studying towards the CIMA accountancy qualification and another completing the Advanced Certificate in PR.

What's your proudest achievement of the past 12 months? We recently doubled our product range to include groceries and homewares, which we saw as a gap in the services available to the elderly or housebound. The whole team across the country pulled together to deliver both initiatives and the launch was very successful.

What is the most challenging HR issue you are dealing with at the moment? The forthcoming changes to pensions in 2012.

Are you looking for any people right now? We've just finished our state-of-the-art development kitchen and are currently looking for a great development chef to work on improving our current dishes and developing some exciting new recipes. We're also looking for two demonstrators, in Oxfordshire and the Maidenhead area.

How does one go about applying for a job? Email us at enquiries@oakhousefoods.co.uk or call us on 0845 643 2009.

What tips would you offer job seekers? Be yourself, be honest about your capabilities and experience and do your homework.

How do I find out more about the company? On our company website: oakhousefoods.co.uk.

Are you working on anything exciting right now? We are at a very exciting point with the launch of our first overseas branch in Dublin earlier this month. Ireland is an excellent opportunity for us as there are no other major meals services operating there aside from government-run schemes, and there is a very palpable market need. The results have already been better than expected.

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