Who we are?

From bookings to the training courses and working within schools - we have a number of staff who work full or part-time who want to make sure everyone who books onto a course leaves us full of enthusiasm for seafood.

ADMINISTRATION TEAM

BOOKINGS AND ADVICE ABOUT TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION

As a charity we have a small administration team that look after our customers whether it is to book courses, suggest travel arrangements or help with accomodation requirements. Contact Joanne O'Neill in our administration office and she will be more than happy to help you.

Joanne sends out a directions pack and course details once you have confirmed your booking. You can book on line, or call us to make a booking over the telephone.

MARKETING and PRESS

For journalists and other enquiries about advertising, please contact Karone Pack-Lum (karone@seafoodtraining.org)

TRAINING TEAM

Early morning escorted visits

An early morning visit to Billingsgate Market is an excellent ice-breaker for our weekday courses. These are led by a number of people who know the market well and can give a very insightful visit focusing on species identification and quality assessment.

Some of these market visits are led by the school's Principal, CJ Jackson. CJ is a food writer with a particular expertise and enthusiasm for all seafood. Her focus on the market is from a chefs perspective where she talks about the source of products, how they are caught and how to prepare and cook them. She enjoys introducing all our visitors to the many characters on the market to help make the environment feel less formidable.

Adam Whittle also escorts market visits. His focus is from a marine science perspective and he enjoys nothing more than talking about the many species of fish that are readily available.

The Fisheries Inspectorate is led by Chief Fisheries Inspector, Chris Leftwich. Barry O'Toole and Robert Embury work with Chris and are employed by Fishmongers' Company. There role on the market is to ensure that all fish sold is fit, they also are on the look out for any British species sold that contravene the common fisheries policy, amongst other things. They have a extensive knowledge and special expertise in species indentification and health and safety legislation connected with seafood. Chris and Barry are both Environmental Health Officers.

Fishmongers

We are very fortunate to have 2 retired fishmongers who work closely with the school. 'Charlie and Ken' actively support the childrens programme and enjoy talking to youngsters about fish. They both have a key area of interest too and they know the workings of the market inside out.

Charlie Caisey MBE, is passionate about supporting the independant retailer and the market. He bought from the market for 40 years for his own shop in Hornchurch, but today he can't resist a visit here each week just to keep up with the gossip at the market. Charlie runs our Get into Fishmongering programme and loves nothing more than to help mentor potential busineses through the start-up process. Charlie also puts the market rag 'Billingsgate Gossip' together, this is distributed to everyone on the market. He is a well loved figure on the market and has many friends here.

Charlie is known to be quite outspoken, but says that once Billingsgate gets under your skin, you can never leave. There are many people working at the market itself who have followed in their own families footsteps and have been here for decades.

Ken Condon also bought from the market for many years for his own family run business in Stockwell, South London. He is passionate about Shellfish and runs the Shellfish Workshop days with our Principal, CJ Jackson. He has a wonderful sense of humour and visits on the market with him are informative and full of Billingsgate banter.

Blockmen

We have a handful of people who 'work on the blocks' and run our knife skills training days. A blockman is someone who cuts and prepares fish for a living, but doesn't necessarily sell it too, so they differ from a fishmonger.

We loan a blockman from New England Seafood called Mick Mahoney. He has worked in a number of top independant retailers but now works on the blocks, cutting and preparing fish for a living. He is quiet, very patient and an excellent trainer as he is able to translate what he does at great speed into a process that even a beginner can master.

Adam Whittle, our Industry Consultant, has a marine science background and is passionate and knowledgeable. He has worked closely with Mick and a few other blockmen that work with us so that he is able to teach cutting skills to a very high standard.

Schools Coordinator and Home Economists

Paula Williams, our Schools Coordinator is a qualified home economist, She organizes and delivers many of the school programme days, both at the market and on Outreach days. She is an excellent communicator and enjoys working with young people. Paula has worked for the school since it opened in 2000. She has established a small team of home economists to help in the delivery of our Outreach project.

Ruth Arnold, has worked closely with Paula for a number of years. She is a home economist and helps deliver many of our Outreach days.

Chef trainers

We have a very informed and experienced team of trainers working at the school.

CJ Jackson (Principal - see Management) plans and writes most of the recipes for all the food lovers courses. CJ teaches alot less than she would like, but does make a point of taking many early morning market visits along with Catch of the Day 2 and 3 along with Shellfish Workshop courses.

Eithne (pronounced Ethna) Neame is the schools principal chef trainer. She is a highly skilled and sought after teacher who taught at Leiths for a number of years. She delivers many of the Catch of the Day 1 and Saturday classes in an informative but relaxed manner and nothing phases her. She is an excellent mentor for those who have little experience in the kitchen and inspires those that are keen and knowledgable cooks and chefs.

Frances Mackellar delivers a number of courses for us, particularly Evening Seafood School. She is highly creative with an excellent restaurant background. She trained at Le Manoir and apart from teaching at the school, she also works with some top London caterers.

Joanna De Courcy Ireland works closely with Eithne on Catch of the Day 1 and delivers some demonstrations at the school. particularly Saturday's Catch. She has a great sense of humour and gives a dynamic, innovative and enthusiastic demonstration.

Tanja Mony works closely with all of the training team and leads some cooking sessions at the school.

Clare Phillips is the latest addition to our training team. She manages catering for some of our lunches, but also assists on many courses.

Penny Lane works on a number of courses as an assistant chef, particularly Mastering the Art.

All of our chefs trainers are supported by a network of staff and kitchen assistants.

 

Guest trainers

We have a number of 'special guest' trainers who deliver courses for us at the school.

Gary Hooper is the former president of the National Federation of Fishmongers. He has a wealth of industry and fishmongering experience and has worked at the school for the delivery of specialist fishmongering courses for a number of years.

 

 

 

Email: info@seafoodtraining.org
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7517 3548 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7517 3544
Address: Office 30, Billingsgate Market, Trafalgar Way, London, E14 5ST United Kingdom.
Charity Registration Number: 1069809