Ian James Sarson (born 15 March 1963) is a British businessman, and the former managing director of

Compass Group Compass Group plc is a British multinational contract foodservice company headquartered in Chertsey, England. It is the largest contract foodservice company in the world employing over 500,000 people. It serves meals in locations including off ...

UK & Ireland.

Education

He went to Crewe County Grammar School, two years below

Mark Price William Mark Price (born February 15, 1964) is an American former basketball player and coach. He was most recently the head coach of the Charlotte 49ers. As a player, he played for 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 1 ...

the managing director of

Waitrose Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...

, from 1974 to 1979. From 1979 to 1981 he did an OND in Hotel and Catering Management at

South Cheshire College South Cheshire College is a former further education college, located in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The College was a single campus situated in a residential area about one mile from Crewe town centre. It also served students from Nantwich, Als ...

in Crewe. He studied Hotel and Catering at Hollings College (now the Hollings Campus of Manchester Metropolitan University, off the A6010) in Manchester from 1981 to 1984. He completed a MSc in Coaching and Mentoring in March 2020.

Career

He worked at the French company

Sodexo Sodexo (formerly Sodexho Alliance) is a French food services and facilities management company headquartered in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Moulineaux. It has 412,088 employees as of 2021, operates in 55 countries and serves 100 million custome ...

, a main competitor of Compass Group. He joined Compass in 2004.

is based next to

Chertsey railway station Chertsey railway station serves the town of Chertsey in the Runnymede District of Surrey, England. It is on the Chertsey Loop Line and is operated by South Western Railway. The first station was opened by the London and South Western Railway ...

, off the

A317 road List of A roads in Great Britain, A roads in List of A roads zones in Great Britain, zone 3 in Great Britain starting west of the A3 road (England), A3 and south of the A4 road (England), A4 (roads beginning with 3). Single- and double-digit r ...

. He became managing director of the UK arm in April 2010. He was replaced in this role by Dennis Hogan. He subsequently became Compass's director for healthcare in Europe and Japan and managing director for Northern Europe. Compass Group is the world's leading foodservice company. He left Compass Group PLC in April 2017 and Established Empower U Coaching. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Sheffield Hallam University in 2011 and was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt)by the University of West London in 2014. His is currently chairman of The Sheffield Business School Advisory Board and a Trustee of the Benevolent Charity Hospitality Action.

Personal life

He is married with two daughters.Biography
/ref> He lives in the

Basingstoke and Deane Basingstoke and Deane is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England. Its primary settlement is Basingstoke. Other settlements include Bramley, Tadley, Kingsclere, Overton, Oakley, Whitchurch and the village of Deane, some ...

district of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

References

1963 births Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Businesspeople in the hospitality industry Compass Group people People from Crewe People from Basingstoke and Deane Living people People educated at Ruskin High School, Crewe {{UK-business-bio-1960s-stub