Simon Ulph has been named head chef at the Michelin-starred Northcote in Lancashire.

He will work under Executive Chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen, who joined Northcote in 2001 and became Head Chef in 2004.

Ulph joins Northcote from the Gilpin Hotel & Lake House in the Lake District, where he served as Senior Sous Chef under Executive Chef Ollie Bridgwater at the Michelin-starred Source restaurant.

Ulph spent a year and a half at the Gilpin, an experience he described as having a “massive impact” on his life

Posting about the new role on Instagram, he said: “Super excited to say I have started at Northcote as head chef working for chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen.

“It’s been an incredible first week getting to know the team and learn how the kitchen and hotel operate. I’m extremely excited for the future and to keep pushing this iconic hotel forward. Let’s go!”

He began his culinary career as a commis chef at the Swan in West Malling, a restaurant co-owned by Pete Cornwell, the founder of I’ll Be Mother.

In 2012, while working at a pop-up during the London Olympics, Ulph met renowned 'Iron Chef' Masaharu Morimoto. This encounter led to an invitation to work at Morimoto's restaurant, Morimoto Napa in California, where Ulph developed a deep passion for Japanese and Asian flavors.

Ulph has also worked at Robert Thompson’s restaurant, Thompson’s, in Newport on the Isle of Wight, as well as The Twenty Six in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.