Ann Elliot
Ann is an experienced Chair and portfolio Non-Executive Director specialising in operator-led, multi-site hospitality and consumer businesses. She works with private, family-owned and PE backed boards to provide strategic oversight, governance and support for sustainable business growth.
Ann is Chair of Family Adventures Group and serves as a Non-Executive Director at Prezzo Italian, BlackRock, Tossed and TIPJAR.
Alongside her board portfolio, Ann is a regular speaker within the hospitality sector, co-founded Boardwalk Mentoring in 2025 supporting women to achieve Board roles and convenes the annual Female Leaders & Entrepreneurs Conference for Propel Info, now in its 9th year.
Steve Mangleshot
Steve mangleshot been at Wagamama for 25 years and in kitchens for nearly 40years!
Help build and grow wagamama to where it is today from 5 to 165+ uk restaurants and around 70+ worldwide.
Adriana Cavita
Adriana Cavita
Mexican-born Adriana grew up in Mexico City and often visited her grandparents in a small village called San Felipe Ixtacuixtla where food is an integral part of day-to-day life - fresh produce such as corn, tomatoes and avocados are staples of the region. Brought into this world of food from a young age - Adriana was inspired to enter the industry by her Grandma who owned a street food business selling Antojitos Mexicanos - quesadillas, huaraches, tacos and tamales, she also worked in restaurants around the city too, earning money to raise her eight children. Adriana’s first real memory in the kitchen is with her Grandma, milling nixtamal (soaked corn solution) and playing with the corn dough, cooking mini quesadillas and gorditas.
Her first role in cookery came at the age of 17 as an apprentice at Nicos in Mexico City. Here, she honed her skills on the bakery section before moving on to her first full-time paid job at Pujol - currently ranked at #9 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants - at just 19. Adriana’s commitment and skill pushed her to apply for roles in the best restaurants in Mexico - alongside Ferran Adria as Chef de Partie at El Bulli in 2011 and later with Eduardo Garcia at Lalo!. These restaurants are famed for their ongoing revolutionary approach to Mexican cooking, which Adriana cites as key in shaping her approach to food.
Adriana studied gastronomy at the Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana whilst cooking in the evenings, but it was learning about Mexico’s food history that set her on the path she follows today, cooking over charcoal, using the ingredients of Mexico in their rawest form. To extend her knowledge, Adriana travelled away from the city; it was on this journey that she met the mother of NY based Mexican chef Ovidio Pérez Amaya, Juanita Amaya Hernández. She stayed with her for six months, learning much about the cooking of small towns. From that starting point she travelled to many more small towns around Mexico and learnt their food traditions, experienced the fire and the smell of wood in the small towns, on the coast, in the mountains, where people cook barbacoa, cook agaves for mezcal and tequila, and when they make cochinita. Adriana says “Fire and charcoal give a unique flavour, it takes practice to speak with the fire and understand the skill behind these ancient techniques.”
Adriana moved to the UK to work as Head Chef at Peyotito in London and Ibiza but has long dreamt of opening her own restaurant that serves Mexican food cooked in the traditional way, with the best ingredients. Adriana completed a residency on the rooftop of The Dorchester in June 2021, introducing her food to the capital.
Adriana’s debut restaurant Cavita opened in May 2022 to a host of outstanding reviews including The Financial Times, The Evening Standard and The Independent. Cavita is intrinsically inspired by tradition. A beautiful 90 cover Mexican restaurant in the heart of Marylebone Village, Cavita is built around the knowledge acquired from food heritage across Mexico; from the capital, where Adriana was born, across to Oaxaca and the Yucatan. Cavita is a love letter to Mexico, written with fire, smoke and the vibrant flavours of the land.
Her first cookbook ‘Cocina Mexicana: Fresh, vibrant recipes for authentic Mexican food’ was released in 2023. Now in its third year, Cavita remains as lively as ever, with Adriana staying busy as she continues to take part in events like Meatopia, Woodfired Canteen, and more.
Robyn Black
Robyn Black is head of content at Fleet Street, where she works with c-suite individuals, organisations, and businesses across the food, drink, and hospitality industries.
A former journalist and editor on national, regional, and trade titles, including The Guardian, The Grocer, The Moening Advertiser and Imbibe Magazine, she works across a portfolio of operators, suppliers, and organisations, providing consultancy and strategic advice on corporate comms, media relations, issues management, campaign strategy, and stakeholder engagement.
Ayesha Kalaji
Ayesha Kalaji is Executive Chef and Owner of Queen of Cups in Glastonbury, a contemporary Arabic restaurant housed in a historic 17th-century coaching inn. With deep roots in North Wales and Jordan, Ayesha merges her heritage with locally sourced ingredients to craft a distinctive approach to Arabic cuisine.
Ayesha has garnered widespread recognition, including maintaining a Michelin Bib Gourmand for three consecutive years, the first and only in the area, and has appeared on both Great British Menu and MasterChef: The Professionals. Amongst many other accolades she won Best Chef at this year's Trencherman Awards, she’s a part of Code’s Top 100 Most Influential Women of the Year and was recently voted Chef of the Year at this year’s Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs.
Kate Harvey
Kate Harvey (she/her)
Kate brings experience across hospitality, FMCG and the third sector to her role at The SRA. She manages complex global partnerships to grow uptake of the Food Made Good Standard and support a more socially progressive, environmentally restorative hospitality sector. Before joining The SRA, Kate led ESG strategy at THE PIG hotels and previously worked in Twinings’ Social Impact and Sustainability team, improving quality of life in tea‑growing communities.
Tas Gaitanos
Tas Gaitanos is co-founder of Brother Marcus, the East Mediterranean all-day dining group he launched in 2016 with school friend Alex Large. What began as a brunch café in Balham is now eight London restaurants and a cocktail bar, employing more than 300 people, with a workplace catering arm in Canary Wharf. Of Cretan and Cypriot heritage, he grew up working in his father's taverna; today he leads the company vision, brand identity, menu development, and restaurant design. He is the author of Brunch with Brother Marcus, and shorlisted for the 2026 Catey Restaurateur of the Year (Group),
Two things I left out that you might want swapped in depending on the audience: the 2026 Catey shortlist for Restaurateur of the Year (Group), and the fact the estate doubled in the last 18 months. Say the word and I'll cut the heritage line to make room.