Jo Wheatley, the 2011 winner of BBC’s The Great British Bake Off, will be the inspirational speaker at the HTA Catering Conference, which takes place on February 12 at the Hilton Hotel, Coventry.

Aimed garden centre catering operators the HTA Catering Conference, sponsored by Vision Commercial Kitchens, brings together industry experts and practitioners in order to showcase best practice, provide inspiration, tackle key common issues and look at the trends that lie ahead for garden centre catering. Building on the success of last year’s conference the 2014 event will include a larger exhibition where suppliers to the trade will demonstrate products and equipment to delegates.

The conference will start with a look at the journey that garden centre catering has made within a relatively short time with speakers including Ellie Yates from the Colonial Café at Plantation Garden Company and HTA Chief Executive Carol Paris.

There will be breakout sessions, including improving service speeds (Neil Fedden, Fedden USP), coping with peaks in demand (Chris Roberts, Van Hage Garden Centres), sourcing locally (Greg and Sophie Timmermans-Delves, Timmermans Garden Centres) and recruiting the right staff (Guy Moreton, MorePeople).

Jason Danciger, Food and Beverage Director from The Garden Centre Group (and formally from M&S), will share his experience to give tips on how garden centres can set themselves apart from the high street. This will be followed by a panel debate on waitress service versus self-service involving Alan Roper (Blue Diamond Garden Centres), Guy Topping (Barton Grange Garden Centre) and Jane Cox (Glendoick Garden Centre).

The final session looks ahead at new trends for garden centre cafés. Jemma Swallow owner of The Tea Box in Richmond upon Thames will explore why loose leaf tea is the next big trend in cafes and how it can set you apart from your competition.

The final speaker will be baker, author and blogger Jo Wheatley who, since winning The Great British Bake Off, has set up her own cookery school where she can share her passion for baking. Jo is self-taught and a great example of what can be possible in garden centre cafés. She will share with delegates new trends in baking and give some inspiration on what to bake for tomorrow’s customer.

HTA Chief Executive Carol Paris comments: “Garden centre catering has evolved significantly since the first HTA Catering Conference in 2007. It continues to play an increasingly important role in the make-up of the garden centre environment. This event brings together a wealth of expertise from inside and outside the industry and I encourage all those involved in garden centre catering to attend.”

Demand for this event is anticipated to be high and so make sure you don’t miss out by booking your place at http://www.cateringconference.co.uk/index.php/book-online or emailing events@the-hta.org.uk

Book before 17 January to benefit from a £25 early bird discount.