People on the move in hospitality: August 2020

Mario Perera​

Mario Perera has been named executive chef of The Dorchester Collection’s The Dorchester hotel with immediate effect. Mario joined the Mayfair hotel 18 years ago and has risen through the culinary ranks, most recently working directly under his predecessor Stefan Trepp. In his new role as executive chef, Mario will assume responsibility for overseeing the brigade of more than 100 chefs within The Dorchester’s six kitchens serving; The Grill, The Promenade, The Bar, Private Dining & Events, in-room dining and The Spatisserie at The Dorchester Spa. Other chefs to helm the hotel’s restaurants include Jean Baptiste Virlogeux - who launched the hotel’s Chef’s Table in the 1940s - Eugene Kaufler and Anton Mosimann.

Jamie Shears​

Sticking with The Dorchester Collection, Jamie Shears has been appointed as executive chef of Mayfair’s 45 Park Lane. He will oversee the culinary direction of the hotel including Wolfgang Puck’s CUT steak restaurant. Shears CV includes time with Gordon Ramsay and Chris Galvin and was most recently head chef at Fortnum & Mason’s 45 Jermyn Street. He takes over from David McIntyre who held the position since the hotel opened in 2011. Shears started out as a chef in the British Army aged 16 and did a long stint with Gordon Ramsay Group working at restaurants including Maze, Petrus and Bread Street Kitchen before spending two years as executive sous chef at Galvin at Windows.

David Charlton​

Ordering and payment app OrderPay has appointed David Charlton as CCO as it integrates with his former employer Zonal. He brings 18 years’ experience, having worked in both the hospitality and mobile payment solution industries, with brands such as Bookatable, as UK sales director, and Zapper. Charlton assumes responsibility in sales, customer onboarding, account management and commercial partnerships. Charlton's appointment further strengthens ties between OrderPay and Zonal and coincides with an ‘exciting partnership’ between the two technology players. The OrderPay app has integrated with many of Zonal’s iOrder functionalities such as handling price variation, updating stock availability in real-time as well as click and collect solutions and table service. The partnership aims to further enhance OrderPay’s suite of tech functions by ‘providing a user-friendly solution for operators which complements their current offering whilst enhancing the customer experience’.

Chris Trundle​

Former Lyle’s head chef Chris Trundle has taken over the kitchen at wine-focused Hove restaurant Wild Flor. Trundle was most recently at Manfred’s, a farm-to-table restaurant in Copenhagen and has also worked under Robin Gill and Adam Byatt. He will work with founders James Thomson, Faye Hudson and Robert Maynard to develop a new daytime offering that majors on fresh breads, pastries and light lunch dishes. Wild Flor’s evening menu will continue to ‘celebrate the best of British ingredients and European cookery’.

Ruth Hansom​

Chef Ruth Hansom has joined the team at The Princess of Shoreditch in London. The Million Pound Menu chef will oversee the gastropub’s new 30-cover restaurant space, which will open on its first floor. The pub revealed last month that it was undergoing a refurbishment, and is yet to confirm when it will reopen post lockdown. Announcing her new role on Instagram, Hansom said: “I’m so excited to share this news with you all, after months out of the kitchen I can’t wait to get behind the stoves! You’ll find me at The Princess of Shoreditch. We are working very hard creating a new menu to welcome you back.” Hansom, who was a finalist on this year’s series of Great British Menu, was previously head chef at Pomona’s in Notting Hill.

Rooney Anand​

Rooney Anand has stepped down from his role as non-executive chairman of the Casual Dining Group (CDG). Anand joined the business in late 2018, having previously spent 14 years at the helm of pubco Greene King. The specific reasons behind his departure are yet to be confirmed. CDG, which owns the Bella Italia, Café Rouge and Las Iguanas brands, announced earlier this month that it had entered administration, with 91 sites in its c.250- strong restaurant estate closed with immediate effect.
Clare Kennedy, Peter Saville, Daniel Imison and Catherine Williamson of Alix Partners LLP were appointed joint administrators, ahead of an expected sale of the business. The closures have impacted 1,909 employees in CDG’s 5,959-strong workforce.

Marc Hardiman​

Marc Hardiman has been appointed head chef at the Galvin at Windows restaurant in the London Hilton on Park Lane replacing Joo Won. Having previously cooked at The Ritz Hotel, Hardiman’s career includes more than 10 years of ‘senior level experience’, working at multi-Rosette and Michelin-starred establishments in both the UK and Australia. They include stints as executive head chef at the four-red-AA-starred Great Fosters Hotel in Surrey; and executive chef at the five-red-AA-starred Bovey Castle in Dartmoor. Galvin at Windows opened earlier this month with a new menu that includes Portland crab, heirloom tomatoes, fresh almonds; and Anjou pigeon farci à gratin, celeriac, damson and black olive.

Nick Backhouse​

Thai restaurant group Giggling Squid has appointed Nick Backhouse, a senior independent advisor to Loungers, as a director. Backhouse is also a senior independent advisor to Hollywood Bowl, and was a non-executive director of Marston’s for six years. He replaces Simon Kossoff,co-founder and former CEO of Carluccio’s, who stepped down as chairman in August 2019 after four years in the role. “Over the past few months, I’ve had the chance to speak with many people in the Giggling Squid family and I’m impressed not only by what the brand has achieved to date, but also by its resilience and future potential,” says Backhouse. ”I’m looking forward to bringing my experience to support its continued success.” Giggling Squid was founded in 2009 and has 35 restaurants and one delivery only kitchen across the UK.

Bob van den Oord ​

Langham Hospitality Group has appointed Bob van den Oord as chief operating officer to support the international hotel company's operations and core business functions.Van den Oord steps into a newly created position at the group reporting directly to chief executive officer Stefan Leser. A highly 'respected hotelier', van den Oord brings over two decades of experience to his new role based at the corporate office in Hong Kong. He was most recently managing director at The Langham, London as well as regional vice president for operations in Europe the Middle East and the US. In his new capacity as COO, van den Oord will oversee the regional vice presidents, hotel managing directors and general managers to elevate the operational success of the group’s property portfolio in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. At the corporate level, van den Oord will steer the food and beverage, spa, rooms and quality divisions to ensure that the hotels around the world' meet and exceed operational, strategic, branding, fiscal plans and guest service, while maintaining the highest standards of regulatory compliance'.