Contractor Amadeus makes Olympic catering appointments

Leading the team is Project Operations Director Andrew Taylor, who joins Amadeus following seven successful years as Stadium General Manager at the new Wembley Stadium overseeing their food & beverage operation. He has more than 20 years' experience in major sport and leisure events catering, having also previously been operations director of the British Grand Prix. Taylor says his real passion in life is food and drink and spent his early career as a chef: "The time I spent working in some excellent kitchens has proved invaluable for my career. It provided me with an affinity with the kitchen workforce and first hand understanding of what is achievable. "This allows me to work closely at all times with our chefs, blending my major sports event knowledge and experience with their culinary talents. "This is a really exciting time for me to join one of Britain's most experienced and creative contract caterers. I'm incredibly proud to lead the team which will deliver some Great British food and regional flavours to the Olympic Park North - home to the cycling velodrome, Basketball, hockey, BMX, Eton Manor and handball." Taylor will be supported by award winning Amadeus chef, Neil Ashton, who has previously worked on major events such as the Rugby World Cup and NEC highlights like the BBC Good Food Show. He will lead a dozen speciality chefs from Amadeus as they serve up menus for around 100,000 people every day. Samantha Bates has been appointed deputy project director after working as a key member of Amadeus' Olympic tender development team for several months. She was previously an Amadeus key account manager at the NEC Group. Other appointments include Rachel Hopkins as project support executive and Susan Cardno as business development finance manager – both previously held different roles at Amadeus. Alyson Cawley, acting managing director of Amadeus said "This is an exciting time for Amadeus and a huge honour for us to be part of London 2012. "We have some great people on board and as always are committed to setting the benchmark for catering excellence in the live events industry. "Our 35 years experience across events such as Horse of the Year Show, The Barclays Scottish Open and International Athletics have proved an invaluable grounding experience and we are all looking forward to what 2012 will bring."