Fuelling Productivity

The Industry is ready to fight back in 2021

As difficult and painful as this year has been, there are a number of positives which have emerged. Our Fuelling Productivity campaign has progressed substantially during 2020 and there is little doubt that the thinking on this issue has really developed, evolved and progressed even further in the past 9 months. The Industry has never been higher in profile either, especially within Government and in the minds of the general public. Food, access to it and the importance of it has played a key role in daily life and in conversation throughout lockdowns and during the year. It is therefore fair to say that the Food Service Industry has a central and essential role to play as society and the Industry starts to find its feet once again.

Therefore as we look towards and plan for 2021, we aim to continue to organise and host events, share knowledge and provide essential discussion platforms for the Industry with will include the following:

Creating a series of clear and visible platforms for those included in the Fuelling Productivity campaign to highlight the importance of food service within business, schools, hospitals, universities, hotels and in stadia. During this period, there has been some great thought leadership, innovation and collaboration displayed by leading operators, consultants, businesses and schools – our aim is therefore to give visibility to this as we believe 2021 marks a genuine opportunity to build on this and create positive change.

We are in discussions to host a show, established originally in Milan on sustainability, veganism and vegetarianism. The aim is to bring this show to the UK together with some leading Italian and European chefs and experts to join forces with those experts already within the UK. Pietro Leeman, the Michelin star vegetarian chef, is one of the driving forces behind the Milan show and has agreed to come to the UK to attend the show.

Sustainability is and continues to become ever more centrally positioned within our Industry and business and as such, we aim to launch an annual lecture on Sustainability with a global expert and presence during 2021.

We are presently in discussions to host a webinar event on the importance of food service within schools and education within the UK. In addition to this we are aiming to launch an awards dinner in partnership with Catering Scotland for Nov 2021.

We are presently working on a webinar event on the future of stadia which was prompted by an interview with Paul Fletcher MBE who talked about future stadia not just being based in the centre of communities but on level 3 of a complex (just like Cinemas often are) and surrounded by colleges, shops and offices. A bit different to the 1970s. It is worth listening to -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi6AbBfq16Y

Another focus for 2021 as part of Fuelling Productivity is Leadership. As such we aim to launch a Leadership Development Hub in in partnership with leading figures and venues from the worlds of business, sport, law, the forces and hospitality. As part of this we aim to both:

Take role models and leaders into schools to inspire future generations on the subject, knowledge share and impart life skills.

Develop hubs where emerging talent is able to access excellent expertise, mentors, coaches and advice to aid development. Our core philosophies are to enable emerging talent as best we can for the future and to break down traditional boundaries. We firmly believe that it is better if we all learn from one another and that this is essential for 2021 and the future beyond.

We would love your involvement and participation so please get in touch if any of the above resonates with you, if you have events you would like our support with or ideas you would like us to explore for the betterment of the Industry and to continue to fuel productivity and purpose.