UKHospitality Summer Conference 2024

Katie acts as the Brand and Strategy Director for Good Hotel, a social impact business that reinvests its profit into people. At Good Hotel London they work with Newham Council to train unemployed locals into hospitality careers. Each year they train 50 people who go on to work at Good or across other businesses in their network.

Katie is also the founder of Hotel Hussy, a brand strategy and experience consultancy. Experts in hotels, collaborating with owners and operators to create category-defining concepts, innovative and memorable guest experiences, and empowering team cultures.

Following a pre-university gap year stint as an officer in the British Army, Matt attended the University of Manchester to study political science. Finding the college schedule a little relaxed after such an active year out, he spotted an opportunity to practice his entrepreneurial skills alongside his studies and started organising club nights for his fellow college students. As the business grew to other college cities, Matt met Jeremy Simmonds, who was at the University of Leeds. They became business partners (started a partnership that has lasted over 20 years) and launched Rough Hill, a business that by 2010 had grown to over 15 UK cities, running up to 25 events per week and selling tickets to a million college students a year.

Rough Hill was built on highly organised college student networks in each city, who sold the event tickets to their peers. Before long Rough Hill was helping brands to reach the college demographic through their grass roots marketing channel, and this brought them to the attention of Chime Plc, who in 2012 acquired the business and placed it into VCCP, the international advertising agency. There Matt and Jeremy continued to run their core business as well as taking on youth and experiential marketing contracts for the agency clients, working for blue chip brands such as Telefonica, McDonalds, Coca-Cola and McLaren.

In 2014, Matt and Jeremy completed their earn-out at VCCP and with their unique perspective of both the nightlife and experiential industries, they formed Competitive Socialising. They tested their concept ‘Swingers – the crazy golf club’ with a pop-up in east London that ran from September 2014 to February 2015. It was an instant, viral success and sold out in days, convincing them that the concept had enormous potential.

The first permanent Swingers location followed in 2016 in London’s Financial District and again it was a runaway success, offering mini golf, cocktails and street food in a totally original and unique environment. A second location followed in London’s West End in 2018. In 2019 plans for international expansion got underway but were temporarily halted in 2020 when the world shut down. Fortunately guests rushed back to Swingers venues whenever the venues reopened and in June 2021 the first Swingers venue in the US opened its doors in Washington, DC. A second US venue followed in 2022 in Manhattan, New York. In late 2024 Swingers will open its flagship venue at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas as well as a venue on Bluewaters Island in Dubai.

Swingers has been backed by Cain International since 2018, joined by a number of other family offices and institutional investors in 2023. In 2024 the business expects to turnover in excess of US$70m globally, still led by Matt and Jeremy as co-CEOs.

Yael is Vice Chair and Chief Economist at KPMG in the UK. She advises clients on the global economic outlook and its impact on their strategy.
Her experience spans private sector clients across a wide range of industries and geographies, as well as public sector bodies. Her research looks at the impact major shocks, as well as new technologies, could have on the economy and on individual businesses. She has also written about productivity disparities across regions and ways to support weaker regions.
Yael is a regular commentator on economic issues in the media. She won City A.M. Analyst of the Year award in 2016 for the research she published on the outlook for interest rates, global trade and equity markets and was named one of the City’s 100 most influential women, as well as named one of Cranfield School of Management’s Women to Watch in 2022.
She is a Fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, member of the Council of Management of SUERF and a Board member of NABE.
Prior to joining KPMG in 2014, she worked at PwC for 15 years where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant and built a macroeconomics consulting business, and at two boutique consultancies. She studied Economics at UCL and LSE in London.

Content creators and filmmakers Will and Jesse are the award-winning creative production duo behind TOPJAW the UK’s go-to travel resource. Travelling the world documenting the best places to eat and drink, Will and Jesse create cinematic and engaging visual content. Their viral vox pop series ‘Best of London’ features the industry’s top chefs and restaurant owners. The quick-fire formats gives the audience the top places to eat, drink and avoid in London. The only rule – no self-nominations! Since its launch, the series has hit headlines (Sunday Times Style, The Times, The Independent) for its comedic and controversial responses, swiftly becoming one of TOPJAW’s top performing content series. In 2022, Will and Jesse put their worldwide research to use and created their own craft beer, collaborating with the multi-award-winning family run brewery on the south coast of England, Arundel Brewery. More recently, TOPJAW have partnered with the likes of Google, Open Table, Harrods and Stella on a variety of long-term campaigns and projects.

Hamish has over 30 years of experience working in the hospitality industry, 14 of which have been with Jamie Oliver. He comes from a background of operations across all areas of hospitality and has opened over 50 restaurants throughout his career. With experience in both the franchise and owned & operated space, Hamish leads all new business development for Jamie Oliver Restaurants.

Kate was appointed CEO of UKHospitality, the powerful voice representing the broad hospitality sector, in April 2018, having previously worked as CEO and Strategic Affairs Director of the ALMR.

After gaining a degree in English and a post-graduate diploma in competition law, Kate worked as a researcher in the House of Commons and European Parliament before joining Whitbread as Government Relations Manager, starting her careers in hospitality in 1993. Kate was Director at one of the largest independent public affairs companies, working with a number of hospitality, retail and leisure accounts before establishing her own strategic communications consultancy in 2000.

She is a graduate of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and Kings College London.

Andy O’Sullivan has been Chief Executive Officer at Olympia London since the start of 2024. Andy is a highly experienced and respected industry leader across venues, events, hospitality, sports and entertainment.

His previous role was Venue Director of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. There he successfully oversaw the delivery of the new stadium and guest experience across the whole site. Andy was instrumental in the design, development and commercialisation of a stadium now recognised as the new world-class standard.

Driven by a passion for creating unforgettable customer experiences and a commitment to delivering exceptional service, Andy will lead Olympia London as it becomes the foundation stone of the new Olympia destination that launches in 2025. Olympia will be a destination for culture, creativity and entertainment, bringing new life to one of the UK's most iconic venues in the heart of London.

Seema Malhotra is the Labour Shadow Minister for Skills, and parliamentary candidate for Feltham and Heston – the seat she has represented since 2011. She has held shadow ministerial roles including Business, Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls, and Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. She was previously a management consultant.

Karin Sheppard has worked for InterContinental Hotels Group for 21 years. She is currently IHG’s Managing Director for Europe, responsible for driving the performance, sustainable growth and reputation of IHG’s European business. Karin oversees more than 750 franchised and managed hotels across several IHG brands in 39 countries, including over 350 hotels in the UK.

Karin is also a member of IHG's Regional Senior Leadership Team for Europe, Middle East, Asia & Africa, and sits on IHG’s global Diversity & Inclusion Board.

In her previous role as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Australasia & Japan based in Sydney, Australia, Karin led the operations and performance of close to 70 hotels in the region across IHG’s brands. In her three years as COO, Karin oversaw the market debut of the Holiday Inn Express® brand, the signings of the first Hotel Indigo hotels in the region, and the launch of IHG’s Rise programme for aspiring female General Managers, now a global initiative. She was also appointed a board member of both Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) and the Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF).

Over the course of her more than 21 years with IHG, Karin has held several senior roles in Europe, Australasia and the Middle East, spanning commercial, operations and brand development. Previous appointments include Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for Asia, Middle East & Africa (AMEA) based in Singapore, and Vice President, Brand Management for the Europe, Middle East & Africa region.

Karin has more than 25 years of international experience in commercial functions across a variety of industries, including technology, telecommunications and hospitality.

She is Co-Chair of the UK Government’s Tourism Industry Council, a role she holds alongside the Tourism Minister, a Board Member of the British Tourist Authority (Visit Britain) and holds a Master Degree in International Business Administration with Modern Languages, from Aarhus University, Denmark.

Karin is driven by unlocking the potential of her team, inspiring them to be at their very best so they can grow as individuals and win as a team.

In May 2022, Simon Champion was appointed CEO of BOXPARK, the award-winning dining, retail and leisure development after Founder Roger Wade stepped into a non-Executive role. Having joined BOXPARK at the start of 2018 as Chief Financial Officer, Simon ran the sales and finance teams, and led the management buyout of BOXPARK in September 2021, moving at that time to the role of Managing Director.

With over 30 years’ experience in various industries, Simon has worked for brands such as Deutsche Bank, easyHotel and Propercorn. Before his position at BOXPARK, Simon was CFO at premium popcorn brand Propercorn where he oversaw the group’s first major equity raise with Piper Private Equity and JamJar investments, as well as helping advise the two founders on all aspects of strategy.

Prior to Propercorn, Simon was CEO of easyHotel plc working directly with the founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, for a year as a private company, before the group’s IPO on the UK Stock Exchange in June 2014. Simon qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG and went on to work for Deutsche Bank for 14 years, where he was a Managing Director, heading up Consumer Equity Research.

Best known as creator of the world’s most famous bagpipe band The Red Hot Chilli Pipers, Stuart Cassells has had a remarkable career which has involved overcoming adversity on several occasions. He is passionate about growing Scottish brands and promoting The Best of Scotland globally.

Stuart’s musical career was dramatically cut short when he developed the condition Focal Hand Dystonia which ultimately forced him in to retirefrom playing bagpipes in 2011 and find a new career.

Stuart became one of the first students on the Saltire Fellowship, an experiential MBA programme delivered by a partnership between Entrepreneurial Scotland and Babson College in Boston to inspire Scottish entrepreneurs. This led to him entering the whisky industry when he joined Edrington in April 2013

As General Manager, Stuart was instrumental in the development of The Famous Grouse Experience which was awarded ‘ASVA Best Visitor Experience’ and ‘Icons of Whisky UK Visitor Attraction of the Year in 2015. Stuart was then named ‘Icons of Whisky Global Visitor Attraction Manager of the Year’ in 2016. Stuart relaunched The Glenturret brand in 2015.

In February 2019 Stuart joined The Macallan Estate where, as General Manager, he has repositioned The Macallan Estate as a luxury hospitality destination and incomparable experience for The Macallan’s highest value consumers.

At the height of his career, In November 2022, Stuart suffered a serious stroke which severely impacted his speech, memory and cognition and requiring open heart surgery and a year of rebuilding.

Stuart has thankfully made a great recovery and is now focused on inspiring others to THINK BIGGER to lead a happier and more impactful life.

Karen Bosher is a NED and Business Strategy Advisor to the hospitality and broader industry - working with Livelyhood Pub Group, Arc Inspirations, Foodservices Wales to name a few.

Prior to this she was Managing Director at Greene King for 10 years where she led over time multiple businesses including Urban Pubs, Metropolitan Pub Company (Gastro Division), Locals and Venture Brands. Prior to this she was a Retail Director - and worked with multiple brands including M&S, Kingfisher, Mothercare and JJB Sports. Karen is a DEI Ally having won European Diversity Champion in 2022 for her work with women and the LGBTQI+ Community for the hospitality sector.

She had also been named as Guardian Pride Powerlist Ally in 2021 and 2022.

Fiona Eastwood is Chief Operating Officer of Merlin’s Gateway attractions encompassing the existing Gateway estate, new openings and franchise operations, and Merlin's Resort Theme Parks, both across the UK and Europe. Having joined Merlin in 2015, Fiona has been instrumental in the expansion of the Gateway portfolio, overseeing more than 125 attractions across the globe.
Fiona joined from BBC Worldwide, where she was responsible for strategic planning, brand management, market research, ancillary revenues and branded partnerships across the globe.

Fiona is passionate about the future of UK Hospitality and Leisure sectors. After the global pandemic, businesses suffered immeasurable hardship, with many forced to close. Always looking to the future, Fiona is currently championing to get more support from the government and raising awareness about this topic to trigger actions and change.

In parallel, Fiona has a successful portfolio career and is an active member of many boards, and in 2023, she was appointed to UKHospitality (UKH) as a Non-Executive Director. Her ability to improve performance, double EBITDA and boost revenues is unsurpassed, as Fiona continues to lead the charge in Merlin Entertainments today.

Ian joined Sky News as business presenter in April 2014.

His show, Business Live with Ian King, is broadcast live, twice daily, at 11.30am and 4.30pm Monday to Friday and sees Ian interview the biggest names in business, finance and economics.

Ian also offers commentary and analysis on breaking news stories for Sky’s digital platforms. Ian has interviewed two-thirds of FTSE-100 chief executives and several prime ministers from around the world.

Ian has been a business journalist for national newspapers and on television for more than 30 years, working for The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Mail On Sunday.

He was business editor of The Sun, where he was named business journalist of the year at the 2005 UK Press Awards and business journalist of the year in the 2007 London Press Club Awards.

In 2008, Ian joined The Times as deputy business editor, before becoming business and City editor at the beginning of 2011.

The department he led was named business team of the year at the 2012 UK Press Awards.

Evelina joined Sodexo in 2021 as a business administrator. Since then, she has moved across to become programme lead for Starting Fresh and is passionate about helping people with convictions reintegrate into society and lead fulfilling lives. To achieve this, she is working to create viable pathways into employment for people with convictions, providing prison leavers with the tools they need to succeed in the workforce. Since moving into this role, she has developed a deep understanding of the challenges faced by people with convictions and the importance of providing them with the skills, qualifications, and support to lead law-abiding lives in their community on releasee to contribute positively to society.

Katie joined Sodexo in 2008 as a Prison Officer. Since then, she has joined the education department as an employability tutor and has most recently been appointed as Prison Employment Lead. Katie has a passion for helping ex-offenders to make the most of the situation they are in to gain qualifications, knowledge, and experience while in custody to ensure they have the best chance to rejoin society. Using her knowledge of working with prisoners and the connections she has made Prison employment Lead; Katie has been able to help numerous prisoners to reintegrate into the workplace with confidence and support.

Clive Chesser has been CEO of Punch Pubs & Co, now backed by Fortress Investment Group, since 2018. Previously MD of Greene King’s Brewing Brands and Pub Partners divisions and Operations Director at Enterprise Inns, Clive has 16 years leadership experience in the pub sector. He is also experienced in International Franchising having held senior roles at SSP and Häagen-Dazs. Punch Pubs & Co has 1,300 pubs and is headquartered in the traditional brewing centre of Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire.

I’m the Policy Manager at the Social Mobility Foundation where I lead on the development of guidance for employer-led social mobility. Prior to joining the SMF I worked at the Office for Students where I was responsible for writing the Equality of Opportunity Risk Register – a national tool used to understand barriers to university and later career success for disadvantaged students