Staff

Ash is a pub man through and through, and came to the Mill after a very successful spell running the Wheatsheaf, a popular gastro pub in the Cotswolds where he was born and raised. Food and drink is in his blood, and his encyclopaedic knowledge of wine and beer is based on a great deal of enthusiastic homework in pubs and restaurants over the last 15 years. He has two boys, Finn and Samuel, and they have great times holidaying in Cornwall together.

Like Collin, and in fact all South Africans we’ve come across, Jurie loves beach life: sun, sea and Braii are all he craves. He has a son called Seth, and enjoys extreme sports and rock music, being a wicked guitarist himself. He was at the Mill House for some time before Brunning and Price arrived, and is really excited by the turn of events.

For one so young, Emma has seen and done loads: she is a trained electrician for a start, as well as being a qualified teacher, but what she is really best at is helping to run pubs. She is immensely practical by nature, and loves playing and watching sport: her favourite thing is walking, but when that gets a bit sedate, she goes mountain biking instead.

Believe it or not, Carol has been at the Mill for over 20 years, so has seen a few changes over the years. She is very experienced and hard working, and is a lovely lady to boot.

Holly works like a Trojan, and shares two passions with almost the whole of the female population – shopping, and her mini.

Ray came to us from a spell as Head Chef at the Great House in Sonning. He has 15 years experience under his belt at all levels in the kitchen, but this promises to be one of his busiest posts yet. He prefers to wear black rather than white, and is a healthy, clean living sort of a person, which makes a change.

Mark comes from Hartlepool, so is known within the kitchens as the ‘monkey-hanger’. This stems from the legend of a monkey, which was washed ashore at Hartlepool as the only survivor of a French shipwreck. The locals thought it was a Frenchman, so promptly hanged the poor thing. Mark came from head cheffing at a major gastro-pub, and is destined for great things in B and P land. He enjoys snooker and poker, so obviously misspent his youth, but makes up for it by rock climbing and abseiling.

Collin is another one of our South African cousins who do so well with us: it’s their positive, can-do attitude that marks them out, and Collin is no different. He’s an outdoorsy type, and loves surfing, motocross and Braais (a difficult way of spelling BBQ). Collin is married with two daughters, and just cannot get the hang of British ale – he’s a lager man to the bottom of his size 10’s.

Lex is another gym freak (we’ve got the fittest kitchen in the south) and is apparently hard core on the exercise front, whilst being a really nice guy. Aka Danny Dyer, he puts a lot of time in on the hair department.

It will come as no surprise that Radek comes from Poland. He has been cheffing since the last century, but cooking in England since 2008. His passion in life is mountains, and his absolute favourite thing is to take his two daughters skiing.

Michel, despite looking like street fighter Tom Poi, is a really friendly guy, and is a bundle of energy around the kitchen. He’s been in chef whites since 2007, and enjoys movies and working out like a maniac.

Milan is a fellow countryman to Michel, and similarly likes sport, especially ice hockey and football. His hobbies include socialising and holidays in the sun, and he is a crazy party animal. We think he looks a bit like Sid from Ice Age, with a personality to match.