Mike Mounfield will lead the food operational department of the award-winning development company.
Signature Living has appointed former Executive Chef, who transitioned into hospitality education and became an assistant principal at City of Liverpool College, Mike Mounfield to spearhead the food operational aspect of the ever-growing company.
With the award-winning developer’s portfolio constantly growing it was important for the company to appoint someone as Director of Food Operations who will take leadership across every site and deliver outstanding work across the entire organisation.
Mike, who trained as a chef, worked for several hotel groups in London and Chester and in commercial catering, feeding guests of directors in his town of Runcorn, and Chester where he held the post of Executive Chef for a large bank.
Mike was recognised by the Master Chefs of Great Britain during his time working in Manchester, and has cooked in an array of destinations including Malibu, Chicago and Prague and during this time supported the development of those wanting to learn about food, cookery and the industry.
The former Executive Chef describes his work in the hospitality sector as “varied and exciting” because as well as running kitchens, Mike has also created food props for TV including shows such as Cold Feet, Coronation Street and the remake of the Forsythe Saga.
He has also consulted for large companies on kitchen design, work flow and menu design and worked with Cambridge University to reduce food costs at one of its largest colleges.
Since then, Mike has spent several years working in further education. He is credited with being the creator of the Lakes Hotel School in Cumbria. His work in Cumbria attracted recognition from Cumbria Tourism and Cumbria Life, as well also attracting a Catey Award nomination for his contribution to the industry.
Following a successful stint in Cumbria, Mike moved back to his hometown of Runcorn in 2012 to continue his work in hospitality education. During this time, he developed and created the L20 Hotel School; a concept that saw the industry’s elite working alongside those studying food and food service, and those with aspirations to enter the hospitality sector as chefs, managers and service supporters of the project included Kenny Atkinson, Mark Greenway, Nigel Haworth and Lisa Allen to name just a few.
He then moved on to work at the City of Liverpool College as an assistant principal and looked after Visitor Economy.
Mike’s new role with Signature Living will see him oversee the group’s food operation in Cardiff, Liverpool and Preston, and as other locations open, Mike will add these to his responsibilities.
Speaking of his delight at joining the company, Mike said: “It only felt like a matter of time before I joined Signature Living. Working closely with the owners Katie and Lawrence and Managing Director David Hughes over recent years has made joining the company an easy decision. The role I have is not only exciting but very varied and every day feels like a new project is generated.”