The committee is made up of 12 young people from the contract catering, hotels, wholesalers and supplier sectors. The group will meet regularly to discuss industry issues and help shape Arena’s approach to attracting new people to the industry.
Steve Norris, chairman of Arena, said: “The main Arena events have been going for over 30 years and are well attended events with guest speakers including Tom Kerridge, celebrity chef; Roger Whiteside chief executive of Greggs and Bill Toner, chief executive of CH&CO.
“The idea of ‘Arena Futures’, appropriately named by the new committee, is to attract new people to Arena and to organise events which are accessible to younger people or people new to the industry; with trendy venues and speakers relevant to people’s careers.”
The ‘Arena Futures’ group is led by chair Karis Thomas and will meet quarterly to review and plan events. Whilst an age limit for these events has not been imposed, it is expected that hospitality employees of the millennial generation will be the target audience.
Proposed events include:
- Spring event- to help people make better connections.
- Summer event- with key speakers to help people develop their transferable skills.
- Christmas event- enhance individuals growth for 2021 and a review of the calendar year.
- Fourth event- part of main Arena calendar to bring together existing and new Arena members in one location.
Lorraine Wood, director of Arena added: “Arena is all about networking and I know that sometimes it can be intimidating to walk into a room full of people you don’t know.
"The ‘Arena Futures’ committee are tasked with introducing new people from across the industry to existing events and members, through organised networking activities and using their own connections to make introductions.”
The committee members include:
- Bestway Wholesale - Karis Thomas (chair)
- Bidfood – David King and Emily Lowery
- Biotiful Dairy – Richard Anthony
- ISS - Adam Richards, Ellen Potts, Lewis Jansen and Natalie Tuckwood
- Just Eat - Charlie Fortune
- Nestle Professional - James Turner
- The Landmark Hotel - Oliver Darrington
- William Murray - Victoria Joseph