Andy retired as executive director at Bidfood last year, having spent the previous 20-plus years with the UK food wholesaler, but having also had a significant impact on the wider industry.
In that time he has championed critical issues such as holiday hunger, universal infant free school meals, and nutritional standards in education. His campaigning has helped secure better outcomes for vulnerable children while pushing for improvement within the public sector catering food system.
Andy has also been a dedicated supporter of industry charities including Springboard and Hospitality Action, and played a pivotal role in the Chaine des Rôtisseurs’ awards for young people. He also supports FutureChef, the Michael Caines Academy, and is co-founder and board member of the charity One and All Foundation.
The Public Sector Catering Awards, which took place on 9th April at the London Hilton Metropole, celebrated 19 winners from a range of categories across the public sector. Jayne Jones and Beverley Baker also received special accolades on the night after they both were given Industry Recognition Awards.
Beverley was one of the founders of the industry association LACA (now known as the School Food People), chaired the organisation twice and sat on its board for over 35 years. Jayne was chair of the Public Sector Catering Alliance but left her position earlier in the year to take over as chief executive of the Scottish Food Commission.
It was a successful night for Compass Group who emerged victorious in the Chef of the Year category (Michael King – Chartwells Universities), Contract Caterer of the Year (ESS) and University Catering Award (Chartwells Universities & University of Sussex).
The Education Catering Award was won by Scott Graham from Education Authority Catering. With a career spanning fine dining through to large-scale public sector catering, Scott brings both culinary excellence and systems-level leadership to one of the UK’s largest school food operations, serving approximately 160,000 meals every day.
SSgt Daniel Butler from the Army emerged victorious in the Armed Forces Caterer of the Year category. Through meticulous execution, culinary mastery and consistent excellence, SSgt Butler has raised food quality across every environment including camp, ceremonial and field marking him as one of the army’s most capable and versatile chefs.
The Special Contribution Award went to Andrew Knight from the Ministry of Justice. Andrew’s ability to navigate complex regulatory, operational and stakeholder landscapes has resulted in food contracts that robustly address the unique demands of the prison environment, ensuring consistency and reliability in the provision of meals across every prison facility in the UK.
It was also a night to remember for several councils across the UK who won three categories between them. The winners were Education Catering from Cardiff Council (Innovation Award), Andrew Cowan from Bury Council (Sustainability Award) and NYES Catering from North Yorkshire Council (Team of the Year Award).
On the night a charity raffle raised £5,800 for the Hospitality Action, which has been supporting the UK hospitality industry since 1837. Over the past 180 years, they’ve helped hundreds of thousands of hospitality people who’ve found themselves in difficulty or crisis.
Four chefs representing the very best of culinary talent in the public sector worked together on the three-course menu that was served to guests at the Public Sector Catering Awards. The award-winning chefs were Ilona Tomza, Carolyn McGregor, Nedko Rusev and Joe Omolo (who was part of the Stepping Hill Hospital Team that picked up the Hospital Catering Award).
The Public Sector Catering Awards night host was actor, comedian and writer Miles Jupp who entertained the 650 attendees from across the catering industry. There were winners across the public sector in schools, hospitals, care homes, universities, prisons, the armed forces and catering colleges.
The full list of winners at the Public Sector Catering Awards include:
- Armed Forces Caterer Award (sponsored by Ecolog): SSgt Daniel Butler – Army
- Care Catering Award (sponsored by Lakeland Dairies): Hospitality Team - Country Court Care Homes
- Catering College Award (sponsored by Green Gourmet): Paul Carne - Exeter College
- Catering Manager of the Year (sponsored by Rational): Darren Klein - PJ Care Ltd
- Chef of the Year Award (sponsored by Unox): Michael King - Chartwells Universities
- Contract Caterer of the Year (sponsored by Lockhart Catering Equipment): ESS
- Education Catering Award (sponsored by Premier Foods): Scott Graham - EA Catering
- Health & Nutrition Award (sponsored by ACS): Valentina de Pascale - Palmer & Howells
- Hospital Catering Award (sponsored by Hobart Service): Catering Department - Stepping Hill Hospital
- Innovation Award (sponsored by Hobart UK): Education Catering - Cardiff Council
- Marketing Award (sponsored by Radnor): Juniper Ventures
- Prison Catering Award (sponsored by Winterhalter): Roland Ward – HMPPS
- Special Contribution (sponsored by Middleton Foods): Andrew Knight - Ministry of Justice
- Sustainability Award (sponsored by apetito): Andrew Cowan - Bury Council
- Team of the Year Award (sponsored by Essential Cuisine): NYES Catering - North Yorkshire Council
- Training & Apprentice Award (sponsored by Brakes): Daniel Phillpot - Care UK
- University Catering Award (sponsored by TUCO): Chartwells Universities & University of Sussex
- Unsung Hero Award (sponsored by Redbull): Millie Morgan - NHS Supply Chain
- Lifetime Achievement Award (sponsored by Unilever Food Solutions): Andy Kemp MBE
- Industry Recognition Award: Jayne Jones
- Industry Recognition Award: Beverley Baker