Catering design expert Charlie Weller of Space Catering will discuss the ins and outs of planning for or redesigning a food preparation area at this week’s HTA Catering Conference – A Slice of the Pie.

He will touch on the most effective use of space, the type of equipment to choose and effective ways to make the most of the limitations of the business.

Sponsored by Frobishers, the one-day event at Horticulture House, Oxfordshire, on Wednesday (3 July ) will offer tips and practical advice for those looking to take the next steps to grow their catering outlet, develop a pop-up or embark on catering for the first time.

Other speakers include:

• Horticultural business consultant Neville Stein, who will host the day and set the scene by looking at the benefits that a catering outlet can bring to your wider business, whether a permanent café or a seasonal offer.
• Paul Pleydell from Pleydell Smithyman, who will then outline what you need to consider in designing your service area and café space, including maximising space, layout and flow.
• Caroline Benjamin from Food Allergy Aware, who will look at how best to consider customer’s diets, from allergies and intolerances to lifestyle choices like vegetarianism and veganism.
• Helen Joyce from Thirsk Garden Centre, who will relate how they go about running their coffee shop in a rather different way, using high quality tea, coffee and cake and investing in high quality equipment that enables them to deliver simple quality food super-fast.
• James Debbage from Green Pastures Garden Centre, who will look at menu planning and how to make the best of what you offer.
• Sarah Willis, Restaurant Manager of Woodys at Thurrock Garden Centre, who will explain how they linked their ‘Summer of Fun’ campaign into the catering offer.

A panel session featuring representatives David Blair from Beanworks and David Beattie from Rounton Coffee will look at e aspects to consider before serving coffee in your garden centre.

Conference exhibitor partners include Beanworks, Change Tea, CPL Online, Dawn Foods, illy, Meiko UK, Organix, Pleydell Smithyman, Rounton Coffee and Space Group.