“No two days are the same” - Environmental health career takes Kate from local government to League One

An environmental health professional who now manages Stockport County FC’s stadium has reflected on her nearly 40-year career - one that has taken her from local government to some of the UK’s most iconic retail destinations, and now to the heart of a thriving League One football club.

As part of National Careers Week (2–7 March), Kate Thursfield, a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), has shared her career journey and the pivotal role environmental health has played in shaping her success.

The 59-year-old from Cheshire spent the early years of her career in local government as a qualified Environmental Health Officer (EHO) and her grounding in environmental health paved the way for senior roles at House of Fraser, Harrods, and managing major retail destinations including the Trafford Centre.

She joined Stockport County FC last summer as Head of Stadium and Facilities, the only woman to hold such a role at a League One club.

“It’s difficult to think about your career path when you’re young,” she says. “My dad was reading a Sunday newspaper supplement about university courses and careers and said, ‘There’s a job here that would suit you down to the ground.’

“It described an EHO — a role where every day is different and most of the time you're out and about. That was exactly me.”

Kate thoroughly recommends environmental health as a career which not only leads to rewarding and valuable career paths in local government, but as with Kate, can lead to roles in the commercial sector where the skills developed are so valued by employers.

“Environmental health covers such a vast array of subjects. It gives you the confidence and competence to deal with almost anything. At Harrods or House of Fraser, I could be handling a pest issue one minute, a food hygiene concern the next — I was even called once to deal with someone convinced they’d seen a ghost!

“I’m not a person who can do the same thing every single day, day in day out. That is why I love environmental health as a career path as no two days are the same.

“If you are a person, like me, who likes to get up in a morning and think, I’ve no idea what today will bring, environmental health is the career for you.”

Her career journey has now taken Kate back to her native Cheshire and to Stockport County FC. And it’s a family affair for Kate with her son a coach in the club’s academy.

“This is an incredible stadium, but it’s an old one, and that brings challenges”, Kate says. “A few years ago, we had only a few thousand fans through the gates — now we’re welcoming over 10,000 every matchday. My job is to make sure the stadium is safe, secure and ready to run smoothly.

“It’s a very busy role, and I absolutely love it. The buzz you get on matchday is like nothing else, because all my work is done by the time the game kicks off. The stadium will look its best, everything’s working, all the teams are in place, everyone knows what they’re doing.

“I can’t control what happens on the pitch in terms of the result, but I can control what happens off it and make sure that it is the best it can be.”

It’s an exciting time to be at Stockport County, not only with the team continuing to fight for promotion to the Championship but also embarking on extensive plans to expand the stadium’s capacity which plays a key part of Kate’s role.

She said: “I’m coming to the end of my career, but every single day I am still being challenged. I’m probably more challenged here than I have ever been because we are landlocked – the stadium expansion plans require a lot of parts of the puzzle to come together and that’s a big part of my role.

“But I love that challenge and that is what keeps my career alive. It’s a really exciting place to be right now and the club is a real community as well and I’m proud to be part of it.”

Environmental health professionals play a vital role in ensuring that the environments where we work, eat, live, and play are safe.

They require a broad skillset and an understanding of a wide range of complex issues, and their education, training, and experience make them highly effective problem‑solvers and collaborators. These strengths enable environmental health professionals, like Kate, to work across a variety of sectors, where their expertise and versatility are consistently valued.

National Careers Week shines a light on professions like environmental health, which make a profound difference to people’s lives.

Mark Elliott, President of CIEH, said: “Kate is a shining example of the varied and fulfilling career that qualifying as an Environmental Health Practitioner (EHP) can lead to. The skills, knowledge and experience gained through a career in environmental health are in high demand and Kate’s journey shows how environmental health opens doors across sectors — in her case from local government to major retail and now elite sport.

“Environmental health touches every aspect of our lives. Whether ensuring safe food, safe housing, a healthy environment, or protecting public health, there is a pathway for every interest — and a real opportunity to make a meaningful difference.”

More information about a career in environmental health can be found here: www.cieh.org/careers