Casual Dining – the industry’s favourite restaurant, pub and bar event, has added CEOs, founders and senior directors from YO!, London Union, Loungers, Carluccio’s, Byron, Flat Iron, Imbiba, Pizza Pilgrims, Wahaca, Dishoom, Busaba, Yard & Coop, and Hippo Inns to its biggest ever Keynote line-up. A record 65 speakers (with more yet to announce) will appear in 35 sessions at the show.
For this year’s visitors, who’ll be heading to ExCeL London over 25-26 March in their thousands, it’s a rare opportunity to hear from some of the UK’s most inspirational and influential business leaders from across the casual dining restaurant, pub and bar sector, talking about the big opportunities, innovations, and trends for the year ahead.
Richard Hodgson, CEO of YO!, is among the big names looking forward to sharing exclusive insights at the show. He’ll be joining Peter Martin, founder of the Atlantic Club, Jessica Parrish, former commercial director at Time Out Market, and Jonathan Downey, founder of Milk & Honey and London Union, to talk about the opportunities, as well as the pitfalls to be avoided, when taking restaurant and bar brands ‘global’.
Loungers’ Nick Collins, who has been instrumental in growing the brand from 56 to 166 sites since he became CEO in 2015, is now confirmed for an exclusive opening day interview. He’ll be talking with Mark Stretton, MD of Fleet Street Communications, about everything from multi-site roll out to going public on the stock exchange.
The Restaurant Leaders panel is sure to be a big draw, featuring Mark Jones, CEO of Carluccio’s, Simon Wilkinson, CEO of Byron, and Jo Fleet, MD of Flat Iron, who calls Casual Dining Show “a great opportunity to meet, share and celebrate the sector”. While the latest additions to The Casual Dining / Supersonic Inc Marketing Podcast panel, hosted by Mark McCulloch, are Oli Ingham from Wahaca, Libby Andrews from Pho, Anna-Marie Mason from Mitchells & Butlers, and Sara Stark from Dishoom.
“Casual Dining is the only UK event that annually attracts so many leading innovators, influencers, trailblazers and decision makers from across the casual dining sector together in one place at one time. It always attracts the best, most exciting and inspiring brands and industry experts, which is a testament to just how invaluable it is to the industry it serves,” says event manager Eva Ellis.
See below for the full list (to date) of CEOs, MDs, owners, founders, executive chefs, ops directors, food chiefs, head marketeers, and industry analysts, who’ll be speaking in Casual Dining’s three show theatres (sponsored by Yumpingo):
- Richard Hodgson, CEO of YO!
- Nisha Katona MBE, founder & CEO of Mowgli
- Simon Emeny, chief executive of Fuller, Smith and Turner
- Steve Holmes, CEO of Azzurri Group
- Nick Collins, CEO of Loungers
- James Spragg, CEO of Casual Dining Group
- Mark Jones, CEO of Carluccio’s
- Simon Wilkinson, CEO of Byron
- Peter Borg-Neal, chief executive of Oakman Inns & Restaurants
- Chris Hill, CEO of New World Trading Co (NWTC)
- Martin Wolstencroft, CEO of ARC Inspirations
- Jonathan Downey, founder of Milk & Honey, London Union & Street Feast
- Laura Harper-Hinton, owner & creative director at Caravan Restaurants
- Thom Elliot, co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims
- Tom Barton, director & co-founder of Honest Burgers
- Lizzie Ryan, director at Imbiba
- Charlie McVeigh, founder & investor at Bunker Projects
- Chris Miller, founder & CEO of White Rabbit Fund
- Baton Berisha, managing director of The Ivy Collection
- Jo Fleet, MD of Flat Iron
- Amber Wood, MD of Cosy Club
- Simon Bunn, MD of Brewhouse & Kitchen
- Simon Potts, MD of The Alchemist
- Joycelyn Neve, MD of Seafood Pub Company
- Anthony Pender, co-founder of Yummy Pubs
- Laura Morris, co-founder of Yard & Coop
- Mark Wogan, creative director / co-founder of Homeslice
- Andrew Macleod, founder of Emilia’s Crafted Pasta
- Andre Johnstone, business development director at wagamama
- Steven Mangleshot, executive chef at wagamama
- Mark Teed, head of food at Star Pubs & Bars
- Antony Bennett, head of food at Loungers
- Duncan McEwan, exec development chef at Casual Dining Group
- Alice Bowyer, group executive chef at Liberation Pubs & Bars
- Ross Pike, chef director at Oakman Inns
- Seamus O’Donnell, executive chef at The Alchemist
- Winston Matthews, food & beverage director at Busaba Eathai
- Anna-Marie Mason, brand marketing director at Mitchells & Butlers
- Jenny Mcphee, head of brand at The Alchemist
- Libby Andrews, marketing director at Pho
- Sara Stark, marketing director at Dishoom
- Oli Ingham, creative marketing lead at Wahaca
- Simon Allison, head of marketing at Inception Group
- Brian Trollip, operations director at Dishoom
- Adrian Laws, operations director at Hippo Inns
- Mark McFadyen, group operations director at Brewhouse & Kitchen
- Chris Stagg, operations director at Peach Pubs
- Will Prideaux, operations director at Nicholson’s – Mitchells & Butlers
- Dave Lewis, operations director at Browns Brasserie & Bar
- Steve Phillips, operations director at Busaba Eathai
- Steve Hill, operations director at Bone Daddies
- Jessica Parrish, former commercial director at Time Out Market
- Jay Morjaria, chef & F&B consultant
- Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality
- Peter Backman
- Karl Chessell, food & retail director at CGA
- Graeme Loudon, commercial director at CGA
- Simon Stenning, founder of FutureFoodservice.com
- Dominic Allport, insights director – UK Foodservice at The NPD Group
- Mark McCulloch, founder & CEO of Supersonic Inc
- Peter Martin, founder of Atlantic Club and VP of CGA
- Mark Stretton, MD of Fleet Street Communications
- Mike Berry, head of content at Fleet Street Communications
- Ann Elliott, CEO of Elliotts Agency
For timings and seminar details, please visit: www.casualdiningshow.co.uk/keynote-programme.
“Casual Dining Show really hits the mark for our sector and offers anyone involved a time to stop, refresh, learn and be inspired,” says Busaba’s Steve Phillips.
“It’s brilliant to see some of the UK’s top leaders in the industry gathered together in one place [at Casual Dining], all passing on their knowledge and insight on the sector,” says Baton Berisha, MD of The Ivy Collection, “I’m honoured to be taking part.”
“Casual Dining at ExCeL is the premium sector show, bringing together fantastic debate, content and innovation,” agrees Chris Hill, CEO of NWTC.
To find out more about this year’s speakers, catch up with Casual Dining’s new Q&A series here: www.casualdiningshow.co.uk/category/qas.
Free trade registration
Casual Dining returns to ExCeL London on 25-26 March. For further information and to register for a free trade ticket, please visit www.casualdiningshow.co.uk and use priority code CD10 (alternatively, use direct link: https://eventdata.uk/VISITOR/CasualDining2020.aspx?TrackingCode=CD10).
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Media enquiries & press pass requests:
Please apply for press accreditation here: https://eventdata.uk/Press/CasualDining2020.aspx
t: +44 (0)1273 645134
e: [email protected]
Website: www.divcom.co.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/DiversifiedUK
Katrina Randall, Marketing Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645139
e: [email protected]
Website: www.casualdiningshow.co.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/CasDiningShow
Exhibitor & sponsorship enquiries to:
Eva Ellis, Event Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645167
e: [email protected]
Chris Brazier, Group Event Director
t: +44 (0)1273 645123
e: [email protected]
Notes:
Show logo: www.casualdiningshow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/cd-logo-white2.png
Show images (high res images available): www.casualdiningshow.co.uk/photo-gallery
Diversified Communications UK (Diversified UK) is a fast-growing trade event organiser and publisher based in Brighton, Peterborough and London. Diversified UK’s food portfolio includes Casual Dining; Casual Dining Restaurant & Pub Awards; lunch!; Commercial Kitchen; Natural Food Show at Natural & Organic Products Europe; Nordic Organic Food Fair in Malmö, Sweden; Organic Food Iberia in Madrid, Spain; and Natural and Organic Awards. For more information, visit: www.divcom.co.uk.