A former St Albans primary school dinner lady has won a countywide award for her managerial skills.

Lois Barry, who has worked as a general assistant in Fleetville Junior School kitchen and as a cook manager at How Wood Primary School, was presented with the Manager of the Year Award at the Hertfordshire Catering Ltd (HCL) event.

She said it was an honour to win and thanked her team: “I was in total shock when my name was announced as winning the Manager of the Year Award.

“It’s wonderful to be recognised for the job that I love so much.”

Lois currently works in a training career path - she has been working as the HCL training and standards manager for two years, and before that was the senior skills trainer for more than five years and a skills trainer for more than 12 years.

“Training, upskilling, refreshing and introducing new training interventions to HCL helps to make staff feel valued. I believe valued staff are what gives HCL the foundation on which we grow.”

The awards ceremony took place on May 11 and winners were chosen from one hundred nominations.