Strong line-up of speakers for catering conference
Best practice in garden centre cafes and restaurants will be the focus of the fourth HTA Garden Centre Catering Conference which takes place on Thursday 28 February at the Crowne Plaza, Birmingham NEC.
The conference is designed to inspire and support garden centres with catering operations by tapping into catering best practice from both inside and outside the sector.
The line up of speakers includes Steven Whibley, Managing Director of Gails Bakery, who runs an expanding chain of 12 innovative café bakeries in London.
Garden centre catering expert Salim Sajid of Blueberry Consulting will interview Steven to bring out the tips that garden centre caterers can make use of.
Delegates will also hear from Jan Matthews who has spent 2012 catering on a vast scale. As head of catering for the London 2012 Olympic Games Jan was involved from start to finish in the procurement, management and delivery of food to all the athletes, visitors and dignitaries that attended the Games. Her story will inspire anyone working in food and will demonstrate how the power of strong leadership and careful management can deliver just about anything!
From within the garden centre catering sector, Alan Roper, Managing Director of Blue Diamond, will present his views on what the industry needs to do to provide inspirational catering in the future.
The HTA’s catering consultants, Chris Brown of Turpin Smale and Neville Stein of Ovation have been scouring the country to present practical and proven ideas that delegates can take away and apply in their café or restaurant. Chris will pull in ideas from other sectors and Neville will drill down, using industry case studies, into the detail of how to reduce costs and be more profitable.
Breakout sessions will enable delegates to pick the subjects that most interest them for more in-depth discussion. Facilitated by HTA Catering Business Improvement Scheme consultants, the workshops will cover subjects including marketing and social media, menu development/rotation and the latest on kitchen equipment and design. The workshops will involve short presentations from members and group discussion.
The conference is a must for anyone involved in garden centre catering. To register your interest in attending email events@the-hta.org.uk
