I'm Cathy Lawton and I work for Sodexho Defence in Aldershot. I am a retail development manager, which means I look at retail for sales bid for the military bases. Retail is, in my case, really a mixture of retail and leisure - bars, pubs, clubs, bowling alleys as well as standard retail - shops. I am very proud this year as I won an Acorn Award which is awarded to the top under 30s in the hospitality industry and it really proves that in the contract catering market we can be up there with the likes of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants which is really brilliant.

I think the biggest challenge for me is very Defence specific, going into a very male dominated environment as a young female. But on the other side it's quite exciting really, because I have to go out and convince clients that I am actually credible, and as the front-man of the company, that I can sell us as a female within a male dominated environment. It's quite a big challenge every single time, but it's very satisfying to actually come over that challenge.

We are currently awaiting a decision on a very large international project. If that actually happens then I'll be moving overseas in the near future. Otherwise I'll be staying in the UK and there are loads of opportunities within Defence in the UK that I can get involved in over the next few months. I really enjoy working for Sodexho. I think that you have got to be willing to put in a lot of hard work and to put in extra hours but I think on the upside there is massive potential and lots of opportunities. It is an exciting company to work for and they are very dynamic and proactive.

Return to Sodexho People