Mike commenced his baking career in the Sydney suburb of Earlwood over 50 years ago as an apprentice pastrycook. It was here that his passion for baking was kindled and has been a lifelong journey ever since. In August 1967 he embarked on a journey to England to further develop his skills and experience the wider world of baking. Returning to Australia in the Christmas of 1969 with a dream of opening a bakery. This was achieved in January of 1972 when the family brought and operated Carolyn Cakes in the Sydney suburb of Croydon Park until 1980.
His teaching experience has been vast, commencing in 1997 as a Pastry Instructor with TAFE at School of Tourism and Hospitality in New South Wales, Australia, before expanding his teaching career to other parts of Australia, China and eventually in Singapore as the founding principal of (Baking Industry Training Centre in 1993), the first professional bakery training centre in South East Asia. He was responsible for the establishment of the school which was a greenfield site located at the Prima Limited Flour mill on Keppel road. He was responsible for school’s curriculum design and development and in 1996 in collaboration with the Institute of Technical Education established National Technical Certificate, 2 & 3 in Baking.
In 1998 Mike joined CerealTech Pte Ltd an Ingredient Technology Company providing technical expertise to its customers and start the development of a technical training arm for its customers. One highlight was to develop and enhance the baking capabilities of the McDonald bakery operators in 2002 from the Asia Pacific and Middle East Region. The course was delivered yearly in Singapore through to 2019.
These activities lead in 2008 to the development of another baking school CerealTech School of Baking Technology which offered Diplomas in Baking Arts and Science and Certificates in Baking Technology to local Singaporeans and people from within the Asia Pacific. He also played a major role in developing curricula to enhance the skills and competency of Home Economics teachers within the Singapore Education System.
Mike’s academic qualifications have also been vast; Diploma in Teaching from Sydney College of Adult Education, Bachelor of Education (Technical) from Sydney College of Adult Education, Graduate Diploma in Social Communication from University of Western Sydney from Australia and Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment from Institute of Adult Learning, Singapore.
Mike lives in Singapore with his wife Linda and their extended families in Sydney, Melbourne and London