Karl's putting safety first at Sodexo

Karl Beswick left school with little idea of where he wanted to build his career. His daily role is now centred around supporting 1,600 colleagues at two Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust sites with health and safety governance and compliance.

Karl wasn’t afraid of hard work from an early age – his first job was as a paper boy aged 13, and when he was 15 he worked in a local greengrocers, gaining experience on the tills, managing deliveries and at his favourite time of the year, selling Christmas trees. Yet he was struggling to set any long term goals. 

“I signed up for an HND in Business Studies but never made it to the end of the first year,” explains Karl. “Instead I accepted a promotion to an assistant manager job in a bar I was working in.” He carried on working in the pub and club industry for seven years, being promoted to manager and holding the licence after gaining the qualification until he changed direction and joined Sodexo in 2010 as a retail supervisor at the newly built Central Manchester Hospitals. Karl has never regretted the move and has flourished with the business, grabbing a host of opportunities to develop along the way. 

“Moving from the bars and nightclubs into retail with Sodexo actually wasn’t the leap of faith I expected it to be,” says Karl. “Many of the skills are transferable: people skills, finance and stock control, customer service and care.”

After five successful years as a supervisor he moved to manage the Subway outlet at the Central Manchester site for two years - one of Sodexo Health and Care's first Subway franchises - and was awarded from Subway 'best non-traditional store' and 'most successful' for two years running. This was followed by a year as a retailer co-ordinator. Then, in 2016, he stepped out of his comfort zone again and moved into a health and safety manager role. 

“I was encouraged by a health and safety colleague who I was working alongside in my retail capacity. We’d worked well together and when the position became available I had the confidence to go for it,” explains Karl. 

His daily role is now centred around supporting 1,600 colleagues at the two Manchester Hospital sites, Wythenshawe and Central with health and safety governance and compliance.

"Safety shouldn’t say you can’t do something, but it guides you into how you can do something safely and in a way that’s sustainable."

He describes his Sodexo career as ‘respectful and challenging,’ and says it is a combination of experience and education that’s been key to his success. “I’ve learnt on the job, grabbed opportunities to develop and gained certificates to endorse and showcase what I’ve learned. Competency is key in safety, and a competent person is both trained and experienced.”

He also cites the great teamwork ethic at Sodexo as something that’s really helped him tick during his career. “I love collaborating on something new and helping find the best processes and way forward, with a team. I’m still learning every day and helping others to progress too. The opportunities are there to be had; I would always advise anyone starting their career to network, use your appraisals to identify your next moves. That’s how it’s worked for me; my time hasn’t stalled with Sodexo so I haven’t looked elsewhere.”

Some of his proudest moments have centred around recognition with the industry, including an award from the British Safety Council's (BSC) International Safety Awards, gaining two distinctions and three merits in five years and, in 2019, was awarded the Healthcare Sector Award from the BSC.

When asked about his long term career goals, Karl shows flashes of his passion for both health and safety and his time in the hospitality business. “I’d like to step up to head of health and safety as I really like the idea of coaching and mentoring people and taking those skills into new contract mobilisations. I’d like to keep on this trajectory for the foreseeable future; I have work left to do at Sodexo. Beyond that I’d like to own a chain of restaurants, and for my sons to run them. But that’s my retirement plan.”

Karl was recently successful in gaining the position of senior regional health and safety manager in Sodexo Health and Care and is due to sit exams for his coaching diploma.
 

Find out more about a career at Sodexo