Erick Kervaon
Director of Food and Beverage, Waldorf Astoria
at Syon Park
Attended Accelerated Talent Development Programme
Erick Kervaon’s latest high-profile career
challenge is to play a key part in ensuring the
success of the Waldorf Astoria’s new Syon Park
hotel. But, like many people in the catering
and hospitality industry, he didn’t have a
particularly strong academic record before
deciding to come to Cranfield. “I wasn’t very
good at school – I got expelled a few times,”
he says, “and I didn’t go to university, so at
this point in my career I thought I would
benefit from something a bit more structured.
I did some research and looked at a few
schools – Lausanne was very catering-oriented,
but as that’s what I’ve been doing all my life I
thought it would be nice to join people from a
wider mix of professions. Cranfield seemed
very good initially – and when I did a bit more
research, I realised that it was one of the
best.”
A Breton by birth, Erick’s earliest memory is of
being taken to a hotel in Paris by his mother at
the age of four. “It was the best thing that
had ever happened to me, and I knew then
what I wanted to do,” he says. “When I was
five, I told my mother that I would be the
managing director of a hotel chain!” His quest
towards this objective began early, as an
apprentice at the age of 13 – which, he says,
totally transformed him from a rebellious child
to someone with a passionate interest in the
industry.
Three years later he took a job as a waiter in a
Devon hotel to help improve his English. After
a brief sojourn in Paris he returned to the UK,
undertaking a three-year catering management
programme with Forte in High Wycombe,
which he absolutely loved. Then, after several
months as acting restaurant and bar manager,
he moved on again to do seasonal work in
Europe (“five months mountains and six
months sea”, as he puts it), which also
involved opening some new restaurants.
A brief spell in the United States was followed
by a further return to the UK, where he
became Restaurant Manager and, soon
afterwards, Food and Beverage Manager at
Exclusive Hotels’ South Lodge (near Horsham),
winning three awards for the hotel plus the
title of Food and Beverage Manager of the Year
for himself.
“I found the Cranfield Accelerated Talent
Development Programme (ATDP) quite a
challenge,” he says. My chief aim in attending
was to benefit as an individual. I wanted firstly
to grow myself, and then to continue growing
my career – both of which I’ve done. The first
weekend was tough, but getting personal
feedback was very important – and doing
something about it. And although it was very
challenging, it was also a revelation for me.
The programme sessions were very well linked
– you could see the consistency across all of
them. Finance, in particular, was excellent –
the tutor made it all very interesting, and easy!
There was also a very good mix of people on
the course, and you soon saw that they all
faced similar issues, whatever their industry
sectors.
One thing the course helped me to do was
make the most of my existing professional
relationships. And just from the Cranfield
group I was with, I’ve already recruited an
executive chef for Syon Park, placed another
www.cranfield.ac.uk/som/gmdp/atdp
colleague, got help with a particular project –
and even made a date! One of the group has
since got married, and we all went to the
wedding. We all stay in contact, and plan to
meet up again for drinks.
Of course, the key to any programme’s success
is the subsequent impact it has on the way
people work. “Yes, it has changed the way I
work with other people,” says Erick. “I’m very
French – for me, things are always black or
white; there’s never any grey. That’s still true
for me after Cranfield; things are still very
much black and white, but at least I now have
a better understanding of what other people
have on their agenda. And I think that in six
months to a year, things won’t be so black and
white either... though for someone like me,
these things take a little time.”
Contact
Sara Shakespeare
T: +44 (0)1234 754569
And the ultimate endorsement of any
programme is whether someone who’s recently
attended it would recommend it to others in
their industry. “I certainly would,” says Erick.
F: +44 (0)1234 751908
E: sara.shakespeare@cranfield.ac.uk
www.cranfield.ac.uk/som/gmdp/atdp