With less than a month to go, the HTA is reminding poptential delegates to sign up for the HTA Catering Conference, exhibition and dinner, which takes place on Tuesday 7 and Wednesday 8 June at The Belfry Hotel and Resort, near Sutton Coldfield.

With garden centre catering worth around £200 million and over half of garden retail businesses having a café or restaurant, this two day event, sponsored by Vision Commercial Kitchens, provides garden centre caterers with inspiration and ideas to take their outlet forward.

Keynote speakers, Fred Sirieix and Henry Dimbleby, will be joined by a host of speakers from inside and outside the industry. ‘Strategy and Operations’ is the theme for day one and a ‘Focus on Food’ on day two, the programme covers many topics impacting on garden centre catering operations.

Speakers and topics include:

Session welcome - Pippa McKean, Director of McKean Consulting.

Mark Harris, Proprietor of Harris Restaurant Consultants, will speak behalf of headline partner, Vision Commercial Kitchens. Mark will give an overview of garden centre catering and will explore the latest trends to take note of and look forward to what can be expected in the future.  Mark will touch on operations, menu planning, marketing and promotion, guest retention and much more.

Melanie Sewell, Catering Director at Fron Goch Garden Centre, winners of the 2015 Greatest Front of House Team Gold Award, will talk about how she inspires her catering team to deliver great customer service and how she engenders that spirit across both front and back of house teams.

Fred Sirieix, General Manager of Michelin-starred restaurant Galvin at Windows on the 28th floor of the London Hilton on Park Lane, will discuss the principles of customer service and why excellent customer service is absolutely critical in catering-based operations.  As well as being a General Manager, Fred co-hosted with Michel Roux Jr. in the BBC2 series about service and hospitality, "Michel Roux's Service". Fred is also recognised for his role as the host and charismatic Maitre d'H in the much-loved BAFTA winning “First Dates” series on Channel 4.

Anthony Hester, Head of Restaurants, Dobbies will be looking at opportunities to grow sales. Anthony will share his views on the customer experience, the best of baking, the growing popularity of afternoon tea and offering tips on how to improve the speed of service and the hot food offer.

Co-owner Mark Farnsworth and Commercial Manager Sharon McNair, from Tong Garden Centre will talk about their catering journey over the last 12 months and the importance it plays in their growing business.

Dan Segal from Matthew Algie will look at the way in which consumer research can inform  your coffee and catering offer.

Session welcome – Neville Stein, Managing Director, Ovation Business Coaching and Consultancy

Henry Dimbleby, Co-Founder of the popular, award-winning, high-street chain of Leon Restaurants, will explain the concept behind Leon. How they source their ingredients and manage their suppliers, how they develop their menus and how they engage with their customers.

Mike Lind, Managing Director and Denis Guileman, Catering Operations Manager from Monkton Elm Garden Centre will talk about sustainability and provenance.

Rob Owen from Creed will talk about nutrition and balanced choices on your menu and the benefits of using nutritional software.

There will be panel sessions on both days chaired by Boyd Douglas-Davies, Hillview Garden Centres. Panellists include Mike Burks, The Gardens Group and Malcolm Scott from Malcolm Scott Consultants.

This year’s conference and exhibition features a formal dinner, which allows delegates plenty of time and opportunities to meet with a range of key catering suppliers.

The dinner, held on the evening of Tuesday 7 June, will feature the Garden Trade News ‘Greatest Catering Awards’ and an engaging after-dinner speaker.

The cost to HTA members is £325.00, plus VAT, which includes the two day conference, dinner and accommodation for single occupancy at The Belfry (£445.00, plus VAT for non-members).  Single day only rates are also available for those who cannot attend the full conference.

For more information and to book visit www.hta.org.uk/cateringconference