The industry teams up for Catering Academy’s P.R.I.D.E event

The event is the second company conference hosted by Catering Academy and included a number of culinary festivities for both suppliers and team members from both contract and office locations. The team hosted their very first 'Salon Culinaire' competition, organised by board director Densie Marks and Chefs Academy leader Mike Ham, whereby team members of all levels were invited to submit culinary creations inspired by their own recipe favourites. Winners included; Kim Donald from All Saints C of E School for her entry of 'Lemon Marmalade' in the Homemade Preserves category. Lex Brain, from South Staffordshire Council, picked up first prize in the Sweet round for her 'Chocolate Meringue Roulade'. The Grab & Go section was won by the Think Cafe team for their entry of 'New York Bagels'. The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama were well represented in winner's row with Kirsty Winter-Hayes and Andrew Mason picking up prizes in the Packed Lunch and Hospitality categories. Finally, the Pastry section was won by a deserving Andy Crouch from Kelham Hall. Following the Gala dinner was the awards ceremony. Notable winners of the evening were Team member of the year, Tracy Prescott. For her achievements, Prescott won a corporate hospitality box at the 02 arena for a show of her choice, along with transport for her and 13 friends or colleagues. The first ever contract of the year was awarded to the Think Cafe team who have significantly raised standards across the board and consistently continued to deliver outstanding service levels throughout the year. They were awarded a coveted contract of the year trophy and each team member received £200 in gift vouchers. Catering Academy founder director, Louise Wymer said: "Our P.R.I.D.E road shows last year were a great way to open the channel of communication with all our suppliers and team members. To continue and develop the scheme further we decided a celebratory event would be a great way for all our team to meet the suppliers and showcase the wealth of talent we have within the company."