Francesca Malaband

I started working in the industry when I was 16 years old at a local pub. After a few months, I decided I wanted to venture out into the city of Birmingham and so I worked as a runner at Bella Italia, whilst training to be a waitress. It was hard… And I’m pretty sure my manager hated me, but I fell in love with the industry and never wanted to do anything else. From there I went to The Belfry Hotel, and on to Marco Pierre White, absorbing as much as I could from the different departments and managers experiences so that I could be the best that I could be.

Once I turned 21, I found myself wanting to travel, and I decided that the only way I could do that was to join a cruiseliner. I started in New Zealand and made my way around the world, meeting some lifelong friends as well as my fiancé.

Having done a few tours on the cruiseliners, I came back to Birmingham and had the privilege of working in a couple of Michelin star restaurants: Opheem with Aktar Islam and Carters of Moseley with Brad Carter and I managed the restaurant at The Ivy in Birmingham. After 11-years in the industry, I wanted to pursue a career in recruitment, which is what brought me to Off To Work - I've always heard what a great company it is to work for and I cannot wait to see where this journey takes me!