Having graduated with an honours degree in Hotel and Catering Management in 1999, Simon took up a position providing the catering for a motorsports team in a highly-rated championship which saw him travel extensively whilst preparing, cooking and serving food for top level executives and sponsors (as well as the pie and chips for the mechanics).

Following that he went on to manage a small French café-brasserie in Lyme Regis under the guidance of locally renowned restaurant owner Monique Pasche.

Since then positions have ranged from chef in a small family run restaurant in Bridport serving mainly basic (though delicious) lunches, to working at Summer Lodge Hotel in Evershot, a Relais and Chateaux establishment at the top end of the hotel spectrum.