Mitchells & Butlers has 16 brands and over 1,500 pubs and restaurants spanning across the UK. All of our pubs and restaurants are looking for the next exciting dish that can offer a unique experience to each one of our guests. Much of the responsibility for this lies with our Kitchen Skills Trainers who work hard to develop new dishes and ensure our kitchens know how to bring them to life.

To find out more about the role, we caught up with Daniel McLaughlin, Kitchen Skills Trainer with Mitchells & Butlers.

Tell us a little bit about your career journey so far?

I joined Mitchells & Butlers because I liked what the company stood for. It’s people first and creating quality food.

I joined as a Sous Chef and worked my way up through from Kitchen Manager to Accredited Kitchen Manager. Then I had the opportunity for a six-month secondment in the Pre-Openings team, responsible for the logistics and preparation for every Mitchells & Butlers pub and restaurant new opening and refurbishment.

This was a great opportunity for me to understand more about different training styles. My aspiration has always been to be a Kitchen Skills Trainer, so I was really happy 18 months ago when I managed to make the jump to the next level.

So, what’s involved in your day to day role?

A big part of my role is to support menu development – everything from new menu ideas to deciding how each dish can be created in the kitchen.

I consult the marketing team to look at how we can create new, exciting dishes in our kitchens. We have to ensure we have everything from the right kitchen equipment to training our kitchen leaders to make sure every dish is cooked to perfection!

I’m really proud of the role I played to create the launch of the Moving Mountains burger in Vintage Inns pubs. I helped to develop a digital video module for our kitchen & waiting teams to watch, not only to find out how to cook, prepare and handle the new dish, but also to help understand why guests may choose the burger.

What’s your biggest piece of advice to someone looking to climb the kitchen career ladder?

Resilience is key, to make sure you can adapt to a fast-paced, ever changing environment. At Mitchells & Butlers there is a phenomenal network of Kitchen Skills Trainers and chefs who have the experience to help you progress. So definitely use them!

Inspired by Daniel’s kitchen career journey? Head over to our kitchen jobs page, to find out more about a kitchen career with Mitchells & Butlers.