Chef to stars leads a new generation at Telford College

He’s cooked for Grammy-winning rock stars, Bafta-nominated actors, Premier League football legends . . . and members of the royal family too.

Andy Minchin is now passing on more than three decades of top-level experience to catering students at Telford College, where he has taken on the role of chef lecturer and co-ordinator.

The 50-year-old says he is really enjoying his role in The Orange Tree, the training kitchens and restaurant at the college’s Wellington campus – which he combines with outside catering work for a variety of corporate and celebrity clients.

With its two professional kitchens and 50-cover dining area, The Orange Tree gives Telford College students the chance to put their catering skills to the test in a realistic working environment, similar to a large restaurant or hotel.

“It’s really important that students get the chance to learn their skills in a realistic working environment,” Andy says.

“It’s equally important for them to know they will be taught by people who have been there and done it – and in some instances are still doing it now.

“I’ve been fortunate in my career to get to cook for some incredible people. Clearly I can’t break confidences, but it includes members of the royal family, stars of Formula One, and at least one multiple Grammy-winning rock star,” he says.

“I’ve also cooked for various Premier League footballers as well as TV and film stars – in fact, I was catering for one of them in their home on New Year’s Eve!”

Born in the Wiltshire town of Chippenham, Andy was educated and raised in East Anglia, but his culinary career has taken him all over the country, working with and learning from top European chefs.

“I’ve worked with food all my life. I had a job at a butcher’s shop when I was barely high enough to see over the top of the bench, at the age of about 13, and had a job in a pub restaurant while I was still training at college.”

During his work experience at college, he was lucky enough to get chance to work for the Queen’s caterers at Hampton Court Palace, and the Guildhall of London, even dropping a tray of champagne at one of the receptions, always keen to learn from mistakes! He spent a few years in the Cotswolds after leaving college, Charlbury, Burford, Buckland and Tetbury where he says he learned some ‘interesting kitchen Spanish’ from a colourful head chef!

Andy worked as a pastry chef at The Close Hotel in the Gloucestershire town of Tetbury then with 3 AA rosettes, close to estates owned by both Princess Anne, and the then Prince Charles.

The hotel would regularly be used as a gathering for events such as shoots, and he recalls Formula One racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart hiring out the whole hotel for celebrity-filled private events on more than one occasion.

He has also worked at several high-class restaurants and hotels, including West Lodge Park in Cockfosters, north London, not far from the Arsenal FC stadium.

He recalls: “Most of the visiting football teams would come and stay at the hotel. This was the time that Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge at Manchester United and David Beckham was the star player.

“Teams would come down the night before, go and train a bit at the ground, then stay with us. We’d get plenty of very specific dining requests – including a few rogue ones, where they’d insist on specific brands of cereals and we’d have to go out and get them.”

Andy’s transition into teaching began when he took a job as a development chef for a company producing school meals in the West Midlands. He was in charge of the menu for Haybridge High School in Hagley, near Birmingham, but the job also involved training chefs from other schools within the company.

The role involved creating small master classes for the students to gain confidence and develop transferable skills for when they leave.

“I discovered I really liked giving something back, and started to explore opportunities for teaching,” he says.

“I didn’t get fantastic grades when I was at school, though – lots of Ds and Es, and only one qualification that would be described as a GCSE high grade these days – so I needed to improve my own qualifications before I could get a teaching role.

“Heart of Worcestershire College – formerly Worcester College of Technology – were great to me; they took me through my teaching degree and helped me to gain my English and maths, and I ended up spending 15 years there.”

But throughout all of that, Andy was still working in the industry. Prior to teaching at the college he took on the family-owned gastro pub restaurant The Colliers Arms at Clows Top on the Shropshire/Worcestershire border – which he built up and ran for five years before selling it.

“One of the girls who used to work for me back then went off and did her own thing, setting up an event catering company called Paisley Flour. It’s grown significantly from small beginnings with a paella pan in a red Fiesta, and I’ve been heavily involved in working with them to this day.

“A lot of that work involves cooking for rich, famous celebrities in their homes. Obviously I can’t name names, but the list is endless.”

Andy’s career highlight? “It’s probably not one specific occasion – more the times when I’ve been cooking at a really high level in the hotel business, being part of a small team which goes on to gain accolades.

“I’ve always believed that it’s important to get whatever you can out of any business you go into. But to be part of a team which earns accolades is really satisfying.

“From a teaching point of view, my highlights are the times when students are on your wavelength, and you get that understanding.

“I was where they are, so I can genuinely show them that hard work and determination can get them to what I’ve done, where I’ve been, and what I am currently doing.

“A lot of students on catering courses may not have their English and maths GCSE – just as I didn’t at their age. Did I regret later in life that I’d not studied harder when I was young? Yes I did. Did it stop me making a successful career? Not really. To make your way in this business, it’s about attitude, application and determination.

“Seeing the students’ journeys from where they start to what they grow into is a huge privilege. So many of them will get back in touch to tell me about their roles as sous chefs, head chefs or chef de partie – and be looking for some of my current students who might want to work with them.

“Or they’ve gone to work for Michelin-starred people or opened their own restaurant. I’m not going to lie, it is nice to think that I’ve played a little part in getting them there.”

He continues: “I try to get the message over to our students that the hospitality industry is so huge. You can go on to careers in nutrition, sports science, hospitals, cafes – it’s not just about Michelin stars.”

Andy says he is enjoying his new role at Telford College, where one of his most recently launched initiatives is Orange Tree @ Home, offering a takeaway service for the college’s 400-plus staff.

“Everything that comes out of our kitchens needs to have a purpose,” he says. “That’s how you put a smile on students’ faces. If students are willing to learn, I’ll take them on a journey. In catering, your heart has got to be in it 100%, because it’s hard graft, and you have to start at the bottom and work your way up.”

When it comes to handling pressure in the kitchen, Andy can also draw on his own personal experiences.

“Pressure comes in different forms. I remember doing a wedding once for about 200 people when the ingredients weren’t delivered.

“I’ve also worked on contracts for the Williams Formula One team, catering for 1,000 people with 14 chefs working underneath me. That’s a huge operation.

“But the pressure is just as intense if you’re in the kitchen of a high-class restaurant and have to get things perfect for 12 or 15 diners with high expectations. It’s about calmness in the kitchen. I don’t believe in all this shouting; the most important thing is to show belief in the students, because they feed off that.

“I know the hardships and the challenges they will be going through, and I think I gain respect from that.”

In spite of a 32-year career in professional cookery, Andy says he is constantly learning.

“I’ve still got a stripey apron just the same as the students, and will get my hands dirty cleaning out the ovens, just like I expect them to do. If they bring some good new ideas to the kitchen I’m willing to learn off them, in the same way as they can learn off me.

“If you are willing as a lecturer to feed off the students in this way, there is a sense of partnership. You’re handing round the baton of knowledge. That’s how you get a buy-in from them, and a commitment to be part of a team.

“I’ve been very fortunate with the people I’ve worked with over the years, and the knowledge they have passed on to me; various French chefs, including the pastry chef who’d speak to the likes of Michel Roux on a weekly basis. I consider myself to be very lucky. A few weeks ago I went down to Dorset to cook for 20 people at a private house, and I tell the students all about it. It’s important for them to see you are live in the industry, and up to date with your skills, whether that’s using modern or traditional methods.”

Andy is also becoming something of a Tik-Tok star. “I’m not sure how it happened. I did a video on how to tie a bit of lamb, my daughter put some music to it, and it’s got several thousand likes. 

“As I said, we’re constantly learning in this business…”