The catering manager for University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) is finally hanging up his chef’s hat after helping to provide thousands of meals on a daily basis for both staff and patients.

Mick Breakwell, who began his career as an apprentice chef with the Royal Air Force, has been with the Trust since arriving as Food Production Manager in 1990. More recently, he was involved in setting up the Plaza Restaurant within Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB).

He is now retiring from his job as Trust Catering Manager, which he has held since 2009, to retire to live in Spain with his wife Annette.

Birmingham-born Mick, aged 57, has been responsible for providing more than 3,500 patient meals on a daily basis across UHB.

In addition, the Plaza Restaurant in QEHB and the Cellar Restaurant in Nuffield House jointly cater for between 400-500 breakfasts, 1300-1500 lunches, and 300-400 evening meals every day.

Mick revealed that the key to operating a large hospital catering department was to be a “good housewife”.

He said: “The main thing is to stay within budget but still deliver a high quality service to patients and staff. What we tend to pride ourselves on is that we are all good housewives. We know how to balance the books but still provide three good meals a day.”

His culinary career began at the age of 16 when he left secondary school in Aston to enrol on a one-year apprenticeship with the Royal Air Force, before being stationed at RAF Marham in Norfolk after he qualified.

“As a chef, I was helping to cook for 2000 airmen in one mess. I also got to travel the world, visiting many countries, something I aim to expand on in my retirement.”

Mick left the RAF after getting married and starting a family to work at Arthur Thompson House, which then accommodated the West Midlands Regional Health Authority. He then moved to the General Hospital and later became head chef at Birmingham Women’s Hospital.

“Since leaving the RAF it has seemed like a seamless transition through the ranks, which is one of the great things about the NHS. But I have been working continuously since 16, and with no children living at home anymore, it is now time to turn our holiday home in Spain into a retirement home.

“But, having been responsible for cooking hundreds of thousands of meals in my career, I will still be spending time in the kitchen,” he added.