Monday night may not traditionally be ‘party night’, but this Monday was the exception, as it saw the 11th annual Contract Catering Awards held at the Leonardo Royal Hotel in London’s Tower Bridge. The night attracted the great and the good of the contract catering world to celebrate the best in the business, from healthcare to CSR, education to innovation, and everything in between. The night kicked-off with bubbles and networking, and then it was onto the main event – the excellent meal and the awards themselves, as the excited nominees (including my local cobbler’s nephew – long story!) would finally find out who would be walking away victorious.

I was lucky enough to be on a table hosted by H20 including Dan Hillman, Tristan O’Hara and Henry Norman, but the highlight of the night was undoubtedly finding that Sam Rooke, formerly of jellybean, who is now living her best life in sport and leisure catering at Levy was also on my table.  It was great to catch up and the evening flew by as the awards were punctuated by each course (my favourite format for these things). Mark Durden-Smith was, as ever, the consummate professional and managed to pull a leg or two, having done his homework on the crowd, which always goes down well. We were also introduced to Chris Mitchell and Robbie Laidlaw the team behind ‘The Spirit of Hospitality’ the two-man crew who will be rowing the Atlantic in aid of Hospitality Action this December – now that is impressive! The night culminated in the Lifetime Achievement Award which went to the well-deserving Bill Toner of Host, a legend of contract catering. Well done to Jamie and the team at H20 on another great event and of course congratulations to all the nominees and winners, not to mention the sponsors.

To view a full list of the night’s winners click here.