Introducing our new CEO, Gary McMahon

Southampton’s school and care meals charity has appointed a new Chief Executive.

We welcome our new Chief Executive, Gary McMahon, who will replace our existing CEO, Rachel Hall, in the Spring.

Gary has previously led the global charity Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis and brings with him a range of senior public and private sector operational experience. On joining our Charity, Gary expressed:

“I’m delighted to have joined City Catering Southampton.  It’s a first-class charity with a great vision and a committed and talented workforce. I've been immediately impressed by the passion and focus of my colleagues on delivering good, nutritious food to our young, to families in need and to the vulnerable. It’s been a truly tough time for many people recently, but City Catering have managed to maintain all its service provision in difficult circumstances.  There is lots of opportunity ahead of us to grow our reach and further improve our services in new and innovative ways in the coming years.  I'm looking forward to being a part of the team!”

Under the compassionate leadership of Rachel Hall, we have expanded our community support for Southampton’s households, not least during the Covid-19 pandemic. Working in close partnership with local school, care and charity sector leaders, Rachel has ensured that the youngest and eldest people in Southampton’s communities continued to have access to healthy, hot meals via its school and Meals on Wheels services. Going further, Rachel has been committed to expanding on the charity’s community support via both its Lunch Crowd and pandemic-launched initiative, Cooking at Home – serving hot meals at holiday provision activities, and empowering at-home cooking via free recipe-led grocery boxes, respectively - which saw over 166,000 free meals being provided since the pandemic began.

On her departure, Rachel comments that:

“It has been a truly humbling experiencing to lead our passionate team over the recent years – seeing 9,500 meals being served every day. I have been so proud of their tireless commitment and passion during the pandemic ensuring that children, families and vulnerable adults continue to be able to access good food during what has been a turbulent time for us all. I leave the charity knowing that this dedication will continue with Gary’s leadership, and I am excited to see what positive impact can happen for our local community.”

Gary was appointed following a rigorous Trustee-led recruitment, and our Board of Trustees are excited to embark on this new era together. Commenting on Gary’s appointment, new Chair, Martin de Sousa shared:

“It is an exciting time for City Catering as our work continues to reach new communities and develop on our ambitions of aiding food security for all. The Board are looking forward to the impact that Gary will bring for the charity, ensuring that more communities can benefit from the amazing efforts of every one of our 250 catering and operational employees and volunteers.”

Gary can be contacted on gary.mcmahon@citycateringsouthampton.co.uk and welcomes hearing from the local communities to learn more about what they feel is important to them regarding food security for all.

We invite the local community to follow Gary and the Charity’s 2022 journey on our Facebook and Twitter pages.