Summer Conference 2026

Sarah is a prominent entrepreneur and serial investor with a career spanning hospitality and consumer facing lifestyle businesses. She has been named among the Sunday Times 500 Most Influential People in Britain, City AM’s 100 Most Influential Entrepreneurs, Courvoisier’s future 500, and is listed in Who’s Who of British Business Leaders.
She is widely known for her roles as a judge on BBC The Restaurant alongside Raymond Blanc and as a Dragon on BBC Dragons’ Den. Sarah co-owned the Bombay Bicycle Club group, growing it to the largest chain of Indian restaurants in the UK and founded Nightcap Group with her husband, which they floated on AIM in 2021, delivering the most successful float on AIM that year before taking it private last year; the business has since acquired the Brighton i360 and continues to expand across the country.
Her early career includes senior roles at Planet Hollywood, PizzaExpress and The Clapham House Group. She is Chair of Tonkotsu and Rockwater.
In 2023, she was named Business Leader of the Year at the prestigious Publican Awards and was awarded Business Weekly’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
She continues to invest and runs a wide portfolio of investments across several sectors including The Craft Gin Club, Credit Kudos, Secret Spa, Bubble, Togather and many others.
She holds three business degrees, including an MBA from Cranfield School of Management, and honorary doctorates from Staffordshire University, Oxford Brookes University, and Cranfield University. Sarah lives in Brighton with her husband Michael and their four children.

Tom Kerridge, the award winning and celebrated chef brings a taste of culinary magic to his restaurants, cookbooks and across tv screens up and down the country. A Gloucestershire lad, Tom champions British food and suppliers and has become a leading name in the hospitality industry. From humble beginnings, Tom and his wife Beth built The Hand & Flowers into what it is today, the world’s first and only two Michelin-starred pub. Tom has since launched several more restaurants, penned fourteen best-selling cookbooks, launched the hugely successful music and food festival Pub in the Park, campaigns tirelessly to help end child hunger in the UK with Full Time meals and more recently has established a partnership with M&S Food.

Laura is CEO of London & Partners, the growth agency for London. Our mission is to create economic growth that is resilient, sustainable and inclusive. We drive investment, innovation and entrepreneurship and make London a brilliant destination for visitors and Londoners.
Laura is proud to lead the teams behind flagship brands including Visit London, Let’s Do London, Grow London, London Tech Week, MedCity London, DotLondon and Opportunity London.
Since Laura became CEO, London & Partners has created 42,500 jobs and added £1.9bn to the London economy.
Before joining London & Partners, Laura led the global Government & Public Sector Practice at WPP, the FTSE 100 global leader in marketing and communications.
Laura was awarded an OBE for services to the London economy in June 2024.

Andrew Griffith is a former senior business executive who entered the UK Parliament in December 2019. He is the Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Business & Trade.
During the 2019-2024 Parliament, Andrew served in government in roles including Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Exports Minister and Director of Policy in 10 Downing Street.
In his 27-year business career prior to entering politics, Andrew was COO & CFO of Sky plc and served as a Non Executive Director and Chairman of the food-tech start up, Just Eat plc.
Andrew is the Conservative Member of Parliament for his home constituency of Arundel and South Downs in West Sussex.

With a dynamic career spanning strategic business leadership, cultural strategy and economic development, Elin Williamson is a visionary professional spearheading transformative initiatives in Edinburgh's economic landscape. As the Interim Service Director – Culture, Wellbeing and Economy at the City of Edinburgh Council, Elin champions a sustainable and inclusive economy where all citizens have access to the city’s vast cultural and leisure offerings and given equal opportunities to thrive. She played a central role in shaping the city's economic recovery post-COVID, specifically supporting local businesses and vulnerable communities and has, for the last four years, been the Senior Responsible Officer in the development and implementation of a Visitor Levy for Edinburgh.

Jimi Famurewa is an award-winning restaurant critic, author, broadcaster, and journalist who has written for publications including the Guardian, GQ and the Evening Standard, where he was the food critic. Jimi appears as a regular guest judge on MasterChef and was a judge on The Great Cookbook Challenge with Jamie Oliver.

His debut book, Settlers: Journeys Through the Food, Faith and Culture of Black African London, drew upon Jimi’s own experience growing up in London’s African diaspora and examined the complex cultures, histories and, unsurprisingly, cuisines that both unify and challenge the community. Released earlier this year, Jimi’s deeply personal memoir, Picky, shares his personal journey from a childhood of fussy eating to a respected voice in the culinary world.

In 2023 Jimi launched his interview podcast Where’s Home Really? In each episode Jimi’s guest is asked about the plate, person, phrase, and place that best represent where home is to them. The podcast took home the silver medal for Best Interview Podcast at the British Podcast Awards 2023.
Jimi also won Restaurant Writer of the Year 2021 at both the Fortnum & Mason Awards and the Guild of Food Writers Awards.

Julie Fawcett is an accomplished hospitality leader with extensive experience in creating distinctive richly formatted brands that stand out in competitive markets. As Chair of House of Gods Hotel Group and CEO of Auriens, she is recognised for combining strategic vision with operational excellence to drive growth, customer loyalty, and long-term brand value within opportunistic returns delivery demanded of operational real estate platforms.
Throughout her career, Julie has led high-performing teams across luxury hospitality and lifestyle sectors, developing brands built on authenticity, innovation, and exceptional guest experience. She has particular expertise in brand positioning, portfolio growth, stakeholder leadership, and delivering memorable and honest customer experiences that deliver commercial success.
Passionate about the future of hospitality, Julie believes the strongest brands are those that create emotional connection and lasting customer advocacy. At this conference, she will share insights into modern brand building, experience-led hospitality, and creating brands guests choose and recommend but above all drive a returns premium for all stakeholders.

Kevin Styles is Chief Executive Officer of The Pig Hotels, having taken up the role in July 2025. A highly experienced hospitality and leisure leader, he brings more than 30 years’ experience across UK and international brands. Prior to joining The Pig, he was CEO of Honest Burgers and has held CEO roles at organisations including the Jamie Oliver Group, Vue International and American Golf. He also served as a non-executive director of The Pig before becoming CEO. Styles is known for his focus on brand, guest experience and operational excellence, and is leading the next phase of growth for the award-winning boutique hotel group.

Robyn Black is Head of Content at Fleet Street, the specialist PR, comms and content agency for the hospitality and leisure sector. Formally editor of Imbibe magazine and imbibe.co.uk, she is an award-winning writer with over 20 years’ experience in the drinks and hospitality industries. In her time she has written for a number of key national and trade titles including The Guardian, The Grocer, The Morning Advertiser, and Inapub. With a wealth of experience and in-depth industry knowledge, Robyn is a regular commentator on the sector, frequently chairs panels at industry events, and is judge of several sector business competitions.

Clement is a South London entrepreneur, community-builder and the founder of Prince of Peckham. Born in Nigeria and raised in Peckham after moving to the UK aged six, he now owns a pub just minutes from the school he once walked to as a child. Driven by a deep love for his neighbourhood and the people in it, Clement launched Prince of Peckham as a “solution to gentrification” creating a space where everyone feels welcome. In 2022, he founded The Village People pub group to champion local issues and inspire positive change. Through ventures like the Village Fund, Clement continues to invest in communities across London.

James joined Prezzo as CEO in November 2024, tasked with leading the rejuvenation of the much-loved high street restaurant brand. As part of this transformation, the brand was relaunched as Prezzo Italian, signalling a renewed focus on quality, provenance, and guest experience. With the addition of the Jamie’s Italian brand, this evolution expanded into a broader restaurant platform, culminating in the creation of Brava Hospitality Group, a multi-brand business with a clear ambition to grow by adding further concepts over time.

Prior to this, he spent a decade at BrewDog, joining in 2014 as Retail Director when the company operated just 16 sites. He went on to serve as Managing Director and ultimately CEO of BrewDog Bars, leading a global team of over 2,300 staff across more than 135 locations spanning Australia, Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the United States.

James played a pivotal role in some of BrewDog’s most ambitious expansions, including the launch of BrewDog Waterloo, one of London’s largest bars and a multi-experience flagship venue, and BrewDog Las Vegas, a two-storey craft beer destination with a rooftop overlooking the Las Vegas Strip.

James is also the founder of TiPJAR, the world’s first digital tipping platform, which enables transparent and fair tip distribution for over 5,000 hospitality venues and more than 150,000 tipped workers across the UK, US, and EU.

Gemma began her career in Deal Advisory, working in EY and KPMG, advising clients across the Consumer space. She joined Wahaca in 2017 and has worked in a number of roles from Commercial and Food to leading Wahaca’s COVID response as COO. She was appointed Managing Director in 2022 and CEO in 2026.

Matthew Bibby is a finance professional and CFO, with over 20 years’ experience in multi-site hospitality, across listed and private equity-backed businesses. Having spent the last 7 years in TGI Fridays UK, most recently as CFO, leading through a listing, re-financing and multiple transactions, he is now Global SVP of Finance for Sugarloaf Hospitality, looking after turnaround of the TGI Fridays business in the US and UK, growth internationally and M&A transactions for the Group.

Paul is the Co-Founder and Executive Chair of Trajectory, a London-based foresight and forecasting consultancy. He has over 30 years of experience advising clients on the long term strategic implications of social and economic change. His career has also included roles as Head of Research for BBC News and Director of Research for Which?. At Trajectory his clients include Butlins, Brown Forman, Greene King, Mitchells & Butlers, Malmaisson and Visit England. Paul is a regular conference speaker and commentator. He has written for the FT and Harvard Business Review and presented BBC Radio 4's Four Thought. Paul was previously CEO of the Future Foundation and a Director of The Henley Centre for Forecasting.

Nick became CEO of Greene King in 2019, leading one of the UK’s largest pub, restaurant and brewing businesses. Prior to joining Greene King, he was Managing Director of Midway Attractions at Merlin Entertainments plc and Property and Business Services Director at The Tussauds Group, as well as holding earlier roles in pubs and hospitality businesses, Bass Plc, Diageo and Allied Domecq. Nick is also Chair of the British Beer & Pub Association.

Steve Cassidy, senior vice president, Hilton, oversees the company’s multi-brand portfolio of more than 200 hotels across the United Kingdon, & Ireland.

During Steve’s time leading the region, Hilton’s business has more than doubled. He has led on a transformation in the business, introducing new brands and operating models to strengthen returns. His portfolio includes iconic properties such as London Hilton on Park Lane, NoMad London, Conrad Dublin, and The Caledonian Edinburgh, Curio Collection, as well as the upcoming opening of Waldorf Astoria London – Admiralty Arch.

Steve is President of UK Hospitality, the industry association, which represents 100,000 venues and is the third largest employer in the UK. He is also Chairman of the Hilton UK Foundation which seeks to partner with organisations committed to creating brighter futures for young people.

He is particularly proud of the deep partnerships formed with The Aurora Group and the Down Syndrome Association’s WorkFit programme which have seen hundreds of young people with learning disabilities gain valuable work experience and jobs at Hilton hotels.

James Stagg is Editor of The Caterer, leading the hospitality brand’s content and through its prestigious portfolio of events.
He joined The Caterer in 2010, then leading a team of journalists reporting across hotels, restaurants, contract catering, pubs and bars as content editor.
He was appointed deputy editor in 2015 after the title’s acquisition by Jacobs Media from RBI, working alongside the editor to relaunch The Caterer’s website and digital subscription offer and create The Caterer Insight market trend reports, alongside new training events.
Alongside its editorial output, The Caterer’s principal events include The Cateys, Caterer Summits, Supplier Awards, Acorn Awards and Best Places to Work in Hospitality.