Jobs and Careers Spring 2019 - 14

Leading Innovation
in the Kitchen at
Sunrise and Gracewell
Giles Conroy,
Executive Chef at Sunrise
Senior Living UK and
Gracewell Healthcare

W

ith catering being an essential part
of ensuring nutritional needs are met
within care homes, Giles Conroy, Executive
Chef at Sunrise Senior Living UK and Gracewell
Healthcare, talks about what he does to lead
innovation and his vision for the future.
Giles Conroy's journey to the care home kitchen
has been an interesting one. Before joining the care
sector 11 years ago, Giles was a high-end chef whose
work took him from the corporate world of England's
four- and five-star hotels, to Spain, Thailand and
Sri Lanka. Upon his return to the UK, he joined the
kitchen of a bespoke unit caring for people with
brain injuries, where he says his eyes were opened
to a "different dimension of cooking."
"People I knew questioned why I didn't continue with
the upmarket jobs, but I quickly realised that I really
valued the opportunity to build personal relationships
with patients and residents," Giles says about his first
experience in the care industry. He joined the sector
permanently when he became Executive Chef at
Sunrise Senior Living UK and Gracewell Healthcare,
a leading care operator who run over 40 luxury
communities across the country, and soon "never
looked back." After working 15-hour days seven days
a week in a rather impersonable world, working at
Sunrise and Gracewell has shown Giles just how he
can make a difference to the lives of individuals.
Nevertheless, his experience with premium equity
food continued to play a large part in Giles's new
role. It was what lay behind his decision to personally

meet with residents to create bespoke and highquality menus that not only met their nutritional
needs but proved to be enjoyable and delicious.
His travels to the other side of the world meant that
Giles also had experience with a variety of vibrant
and exotic cuisines. This soon proved invaluable in
bringing a degree of authenticity to his food.
Creating tailored menus also demonstrated to Giles
just how important listening is to a career in care. As
he points out, care communities contain individuals
"who have lived lives across the world and are full of
the most interesting stories about their experiences."
This proved to Giles that food can be what he calls
"the nutrition of life" for those who really need it
- and can even play a part in recreating fond
memories of past experiences for older residents.

I quickly realised that I really
valued the opportunity to build
personal relationships with
patients and residents
To ensure that his menus meet the critical health
needs of older people, however, Giles and his team
of chefs work closely with nutritionists to survey
the food available in each individual community.
This involves looking at what fruits and vegetables
are in season and utilising Sunrise and Gracewell's
privileged position as a large provider to offer a
variety of diverse, high-quality healthy food. Giles
says there is "true communication" throughout the
organisation, from the kitchen to the clinical
professionals, to ensure that chefs are aware of
individual issues like recent weight loss, difficulties
with eating, low iron levels and allergies. To ensure
that the best recommendations are made, Giles says
that it is "imperative that a personal relationship
works well."
Jobs and Careers Spring 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Jobs and Careers Spring 2019
