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 (pictured), 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, foodservice analyst
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,” commented 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,” said 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,” agreed Chris Hill, CEO of NWTC.