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18th October 2023

Be Inclusive Hospitality Spotlight Awards Announces Winners

Tuesday 17th October: Be Inclusive Hospitality announced the winners for their BIH Spotlight Awards during a sold out awards ceremony at M Threadneedle Street, London last night. The evening, presented by chef and restaurateur Shelina Permalloo, was a celebration of exceptional businesses and individuals from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds in the hospitality industry.

The BIH Spotlight Awards celebrated winners from 15 categories including Chef of the Year, Pastry Chef of the Year, Drinks Professional of the Year plus best in Caribbean Food, African Food, South Asian Food, East & Southeast Asian Food, Middle Eastern Food, Writer of the Year, Head Office Impact, Bar or Pub of the Year, Brand of the Year, Rising Star plus two Peoples’ Choice Awards for Person of the Year and Restaurant of the Year, which were chosen by the public.

This year’s judging panel played host to some of the hospitality industry’s most influential figures, including Culinary Director of Rare Restaurants, Mike Reid and Chief Executive of Umbrella Training, Adele C.Oxberry, who shared a few words during the ceremony about this year’s difficult judging process, due to the high quality of submissions.

Founder of Be Inclusive Hospitality, Lorraine Copes, said: “Last night marked an extraordinary celebration of outstanding talent in the hospitality industry. The ambience was unparalleled, and I express my heartfelt gratitude to all those who contributed to this event. Whether it was our esteemed judging panel, our sponsors, and the hospitality community who nominated their favourites. It was a privilege to be surrounded by so many passionate and dedicated individuals, and I offer my hearty congratulations to all our deserving winners.”

Winners for all 15 categories were:

 

Chef of the Year – Sponsored by caterer.com

  • Ahmed Abdalla, Head Chef, Legacy at The Grand – York

 

Pastry Chef of the Year

  • Ryan Panchoo, Owner of Borough 22 Doughnuts – London

 

Drinks Professional of the Year – Sponsored by Moet Hennessy UK

  • Jeri Kimber-Ndiaye, Head Sommelier at The NoMad Hotel – London

 

Caribbean Food

  • Liam Barker, Chef & Educator – London

 

African Food – Sponsored by Pedros

  • The Flygerians – London

 

South Asian Food

  • Manju Patel, Head Chef at Manju’s – Brighton

 

East & Southeast Asian Food – Sponsored by ESEA Eats

  • Amy Poon, Founder of Poon’s London & Poon’s Wontoneria

 

Middle Eastern Food – Sponsored by Persian Hospitality Network

  • Modern Persian Kitchen, Co-Founder of Modern Persian Kitchen – Durham

 

Writer of the Year – Sponsored by Decanter

  • Jimi Famurewa

 

Head Office Impact – Sponsored by DesignMyNight

  • Olajide Alabi, Equality, Inclusion and Wellbeing Partner at Turtle Bay Hospitality

 

Bar or Pub of the Year – Sponsored by Campari UK/WSET School London

  • The Village People – London

 

Brand of the Year – Sponsored by Coca-Cola Europacific Partners

  • Crazy Gin Ltd

 

Rising Star – Sponsored by Umbrella Training

  • Chef and Food Writer, Rahel Stephanie

 

Peoples’ Choice Person of the Year – Sponsored by Deliveroo

  • Director of Human Resources at The Biltmore Mayfair, Sting Khumalo

 

The Peoples’ Choice Restaurant of the Year – Sponsored by OpenTable

  • Akoko

 

-ends-

For further media information, please contact:

Lizze Chan-Foxley or Molly Allen, at The Relationship:

lizze@therelationship.co         07821 459 368

molly@therelationship.co         07837 184 237

Notes to editors

BIH is a not-for-profit organisation, founded by Lorraine Copes, with a mission to build a thriving community to accelerate race equity within hospitality, food and drink. The social enterprise was incorporated in 2020, due to the lack of representation of People of Colour in positions of influence, and the supply chain. The social enterprise now holds the prime position of igniting much-needed conversations and delivering initiatives to advance change within the hospitality, food and drink sectors.

Awards categories – https://bihospitality.co.uk/aboutawards/

Please see accompanying images here https://we.tl/t-KtAvoiYqDY


For further media information, please contact:

Lizze Chan-Foxley or Molly Allen, at The Relationship:

lizze@therelationship.co         07821 459 368

molly@therelationship.co         07837 184 237

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