10 May 2021
When hospitality flows through your veins
With a passion for hospitality, Marcel followed the path from hotel and gastronomy to fashion and has been putting his passion into practice at EW Facility Services for four years now. He likes to tell us how it all started and why he likes this organisation so much.
How it all started
Taking good care of others is in my genes. So as a young boy I already knew: my future lies in hospitality. And so, at the age of 14, I applied for a job at a local restaurant/gallery in high spirits. It was an instant hit! I was given the opportunity to work as ‘Head of Bites’ at receptions and parties. Although young and inexperienced, I was in charge of the Hotello’s and behind the scenes the motivator. My first job in hospitality. How proud I was. It was the perfect role for me and it still suits me well today.
Before I knew it, I was at the Hotel School. A very fun but above all educational time. I completed my training with an internship at a luxurious 4-star Beach Resort on the picturesque St. Maarten in the Caribbean. This is already 25 years ago, but I will never forget this internship. Hurricane Luis passed by. Experiencing this intense hurricane made us even closer as a team. In such an emergency situation, hospitality is difficult to secure, but in one fell swoop you learn what caring for each other really means.
Back in the Netherlands
On returning to the Netherlands, I started working in the beautiful province of Brabant at Golfclub "De Hooge Vorssel" and then at Cas "voila" Spijkers** and everything went smoothly. Together with the love of my life, we felt completely at home in Amsterdam's Oud-Zuid district and now we have a son and a daughter in the Green Heart. With all these experiences and beautiful people around you, you develop as a person and a professional.
Taking on the challenge together
In the meantime, I have fulfilled various hospitality roles in hotels, gastronomy and high-end retail, and my paths have often crossed with those of EW Facility Services. When a vacancy arose at this organisation four years ago, there was an immediate DNA match based on similar core values. I started work as a Rayon Manager and enjoy the freedom in the work and the nice and varied contacts. Coming up with ad hoc solutions and maintaining a network together with your team where you can help each other wherever possible gives you an enormous kick. So when in March 2020 the urgent call came from the care sector to offer support, it immediately started to bubble. Together with the people in my Rayon, I wanted nothing more than to take up this challenge, to put our hospitality DNA and agility into practice in a hospital or care institution.
Enormous energy
We are now more than a year on. We have been able to provide every client who needs our care, both existing and new, in all the segments in which we work. By listening well, acting quickly and keeping our promises. And whether it is because they are busier than ever, or not at all, in both cases the reliability of the relationship has proved decisive. Whether the question was for a helping hand or a need for specialisation, in many cases we were able to provide the answer. It is precisely this changing composition of the portfolio that, once again, appears to give me enormous satisfaction and energy. The beauty of these challenging times and collaborations is the creativity that is generated. The strength and courage that so many of my colleagues and people around me radiate inspires me. I am therefore happy to contribute to this vigour and enjoy our joint results. With a clear focus on the future and in the knowledge that together we can make this a success!
Hang in there, stay safe and healthy!
