Norton Canes service station star in hospitality’s ‘30 under 30’

Ed Bettley was one of ‘30 under 30’ to be presented with the prize on July 19.

Mr Bettley, aged 28, was nominated for an award by his peers as a result of the impact he’s had at Roadchef, in which he has climbed the ranks from team member to Norton Canes’ site director designate.

He joined the company at 16-years-old and worked part time, even whilst completing his degree. He did a placement year as assistant manager at Sandbach MSA and after graduating he took up the position of trainee operations manager at the same site. This role saw him manage three units and 45 team members, generating over £2.2 million a year in revenue.

In recognition of his hard work and eagerness to progress, Mr Bettley was promoted to operations manager at Roadchef’s flagship Norton Canes site. After a successful year, he moved again to take on the bigger role of operations manager at Sandbach, looking after a significantly larger team of 130 people. Finally, he returned to Norton Canes for another promotion into his current role, where he is responsible for the smooth running of the head office site and has a 145-strong team underneath him.

He has also completed the Fastlane management development programme, won the barista of the year final and helped Norton Canes achieve top audit reports. This resulted in the site being awarded the top motorway service area in the country for two consecutive years.

He has also worked throughout the coronavirus pandemic where he has taken the challenges presented to him in his stride to ensure key workers travelling on the motorway network are supported.

“I’d like to thank the wonderful team at Roadchef for nominating me. I’m ecstatic to have won an Acorn Award as being listed as one of just 30 stars under 30 in the hospitality industry is a great accomplishment. It has been a 12-year long journey consisting of hard work and dedication to get this award, but it has been worth it. I thoroughly enjoy working at Roadchef, it is a company that cares about your progression and is a great place to build a career," he said.

Laura Bunn, director of HR and development at Roadchef, added: “We’re absolutely delighted for Ed as its very clear he is deserving of an Acorn Award. We are very proud of his work and are thrilled he has been officially recognised for his talent and achievements. As someone that has successfully worked their way up, Ed is a champion in supporting and developing the next generation of site managers. He identifies team members that show management potential, and supports them through mentoring, coaching and training. As a result, it wouldn’t surprise me if in a few years’ time, we have another ’30 under 30’ hospitality star thanks to Ed.”