Vern Atkinson

Background

About Vern Atkinson

My initial career stems from the Hospitality field where I experienced all possible avenues of interest to better myself to help me learn and grow within the industry. I've enjoyed everything about the hospitality industry from Banquets Waiter to Maître De in the Fine Dinning Restaurant, Starting in Functions as the Banquet Bartender, branching off to learn new areas, working multiple shift as Quirks Cocktail Bartender at night, placing beverage orders at end of shift and then starting work again at 6AM to work as Storeman and filling the beverage requests placed by myself and others the night before. Eventually progressing away from Banquets Barman Legend as labelled by the team to Managing the Quirks Cocktail Bar. To evaluate skill sets by entering in the first Suntory Cocktail Nationals Competition and placing in the TOP 10 in the State for my own cocktail creation ( Tropical Son (fore shadowing the birth of my Son years later), a chocolate based blend of flavour and delight ), a feet I am still proud of after having drank 46 Bacardi & cokes before making Four perfectly leveled cocktails up on stage for the audience and judges to see, taste and grade, some good O.G Hospitality days as they were back then ^_^ To finally reaching my goal of running my own Department as the Operations Manager for Functions and as an Events Venue, becoming the #1 award winner for functions in the state of NSW a few years running. Achieving my written and presented Business Plan of being #1 and bringing various innovations and great training plans and implementations to the Department it had not seen in the past. Having worked through most of my first Childs early years, after my daughter was born I felt the need to try & live a more normal life. Hospitality takes up a lot of time and obviously it is an industry where you are expected to work on all special occasions and all holidays, all years, especially in Functions. I wanted to experience NEW things like normal working hours and sleep. and of course to try new experiences and adventures in learning new career avenues. I have tried two avenues since leaving Hospitality and both have been successful experiences & learnings I still retain. Relocating from Australia to New Zealand. Working for Fonterra for the past 15 years in various roles from Operator for the first 10 Months of employment, then becoming Team Leader where I was sort out to do a number of secondments with Projects and Development Training, Finally being asked to be the Process Technologist.