Workforce & Skills Event 2024

Greg joined the Resolution Foundation as Research Director in September 2020. He also works part-time as an Associate Professor in the University of Nottingham’s School of Economics. Prior to this, he had been Head of International Research at the Bank of England, and worked for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and the Independent Commission on Banking (the ‘Vickers Commission’), inter alia. He received his PhD in economics from LSE under the supervision of Silvana Tenreyro. He has research interests in the macroeconomics of demographic and structural change, firm-level data, macroeconomic policy and inequality and distribution.

Rachel’s career began in retail management where she progressed in operations-focused roles with major players before embarking on a career in agency recruitment. She progressed further to in-house, holistic talent roles before joining Sodexo in 2015. In her current capacity, she brings her rich blend of skills and experiences to provide strategic direction and leadership to a varied and diverse set of HR centres of excellence. She is currently responsible for reward, pensions & wellbeing, HR shared services and lifecycle, talent acquisition & management, learning, performance & engagement, and OD. Rachel is based in the Midlands.

Born in Cambridge and attended a Quaker secondary school. First job, at 14, was in the kitchen in the local village pub and later became a village publican for a while but her first real career was as a Secondary School English & Drama teacher for 12 years before heading into hotels as the L&D Manager for Taj hotels. Shannon was the UK’s Business Excellence Manager for Tata, conducting assessments in the UK and India and compering the European Innovista award ceremonies.
Joining Lime Wood & THE PIG hotels in 2013 as Group Trainer, over the last 10 years she helped open 6 PIG hotels and the Ski hotel Portetta, in the French Alps every year. During Covid Shannon was Group Training & Regional HR Manager, and created the Lockdown Learning, Emerging as Experts programme. In October 2022 she moved over to work solely with Lime Wood Group.
Shannon enjoys the sunshine, snorkelling, collects wine and clocks (is usually late) loves Golden Retrievers, has an amazing garden but zero interest in tending it, and would like to live in the Bahamas!

Chris is head of the immigration team at Boyes Turner, and alongside his work advising UKHospitality on immigration policy he advises clients on all areas of UK immigration including Sponsor Licence matters, international recruitment strategies and workforce compliance.

Having started his career in immigration with the Home Office, Chris has extensive experience of the inner workings of the UK’s immigration system. Combine this with his time working as consultant at one of the Big 4 accountancy firms and most recently heading up the global mobility programme for a global IT company, Chris has a wealth of experience across the whole of the immigration system.

In addition to speaking regularly at conferences on immigration matters, Chris is regularly asked to provide expert option for industry publications, national print media and specialist journals.

Since joining Wells & Co Pub Group’s executive board circa 2022, organisational design and strategic change expert, Franki Hale has played a vital role in formulating and executing the fifth generation, family-owned business’s people, and service strategy.

During her time with Wells, Franki has set her sights on creating an enjoyable environment and nurturing a performance-related culture to underpin business growth, having identified that the shortage of talent the hospitality industry has faced post-pandemic means that the need for a strong culture is greater than ever.

Preceding her appointment, Franki boasts a long and fruitful career building strong, diverse, and service-focused teams and applying her leadership and management skills to various renowned companies within the hospitality sector, with the likes of Greene King, Starbucks and various independent coffee chains and restaurants under her belt.

Jody Bennett is the People Director for Brewhouse & Kitchen with over 25 years’ HR and operational experience in both Food Retail and Hospitality. As an award-winning leader, Jody is responsible for developing and implementing strategies to attract, develop, motivate and retain top talent. This is evident through her passion to put people first and provide educational opportunities such as apprenticeships, to support people’s development, raise capability and create career pathways for everyone. Jody is currently studying to become a Master NLP Practitioner, along with pursuing her interests in Coaching and developing her skills as a Time-Line Therapist and Hypnotherapist.

David Beeney enjoyed a successful career in newspapers and magazines for over 30 years, he was the MD of a regional daily newspaper and Commercial Director for Auto Trader. However, since outing himself in 2016 about his secret battles with panic attacks he believes that he has now found true purpose and has committed to spend the rest of his life eradicating the stigma of mental health. His business Breaking the Silence has quickly established itself as one of the leading advisors in the UK on ‘mental health in the workplace’ and David has helped many of the leading brands in the UK to create kinder more compassionate cultures of trust. He was recognised in 2018 , 2019 , 2020 and again in 2023 as one of the top 101 influencers globally on employee engagement. David is a qualified Mental Health Counsellor affiliated to the BACP (British Association of Counsellors and Practitioners) and a trustee for Mind.

Kate was appointed CEO of UKHospitality, the powerful voice representing the broad hospitality sector, in April 2018, having previously worked as CEO and Strategic Affairs Director of the ALMR.

After gaining a degree in English and a post-graduate diploma in competition law, Kate worked as a researcher in the House of Commons and European Parliament before joining Whitbread as Government Relations Manager, starting her careers in hospitality in 1993.

Sandra is the Skills Director at UKHospitality and leads the drive for an employer-led approach to skills in the hospitality sector. Her focus is to ensure there is a strong talent pipeline from education into employment at every level, with options to continue learning in workplace.

Prior to joining UKHospitality in May 2022, Sandra worked as the Skills and Policy Director for People 1st International. Sandra has worked in hospitality for over 30 years in operational, learning and development roles.

Barons Pun Company is a standards and people driven company, passionate about providing meaningful careers within the hospitality industry.

For most of Tanya’s career she worked as a Health and Safety and Learning and Development Consultant. She inspires stakeholders at every level to realise the value of compliance and training, and their contribution to the hospitality provided. Everyone has a right to be safe, and their wellbeing considered whilst at work. Tanya feels fortunate to have a role at Barons where she can lead the strategy for key areas of the business: Compliance, Training and Operations. This has enabled her to use learning and development as a tool for problem solving and implementing preventative measures. Great strategy empowers and engages employees at every level to take ownership for their development and value their contribution to their success and the success of Barons. Driving a belief that everyone can learn; you just need to find out how.

Barons Pub Company has won Publican Awards Employer of the year for two years running, and Operations Team in 2023.

Chris is CEO of hospitality charity Springboard, which helps attract talent into the industry, gives young and disadvantaged people the skills to launch their careers, and futureproofs the hospitality talent pipeline.

Prior to joining Springboard, Chris spent more than 15 years in print and digital communications, covering everything from fashion and restaurants to retail and the weather. Most recently, he spent just under three years as editor of The Caterer, the hospitality industry’s leading media brand, overseeing the weekly magazine, suite of print and digital products and 35 annual events including flagship event the Cateys.

Jane has worked for the Civil Service for 38 years.

An experienced public sector professional with key skills in:
• External Relations and Partnerships
• Recruitment/Resourcing
• Change and Project Implementation
• Operational Management.

Jane manages a portfolio of national employers, partners and trade bodies in the IT and Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure sectors. She is passionate about supporting disadvantaged people into employment in partnership with employers with a focus on developing skills, confidence and experience to help people navigate the changing world of work.

Jane is a proud mum to Harrison and Oliver and in her free time loves to travel and walk her beloved dog Lola.

Kay is an accomplished senior executive who has worked at Hilton for more than 30 years. She is a Pension Trustee and Trustee of Springboard Charity, which helps disadvantaged people of all ages, backgrounds and walks of life to find a fulfilling career in hospitality, and has held a number of non-executive roles in the public sector. Kay is an enthusiastic ambassador for the industry, and loves nothing more than demonstrating what makes hospitality a great place to work, showcasing the range of opportunities available and helping individuals to achieve their career ambitions.

Patricia is a seasoned hospitality leader with over 36 years of expertise in the industry. Currently serving as the General Manager of the prestigious 601-bedroom Hilton London Kensington, she orchestrates all facets of the hotel’s operations. Patricia is deeply committed to fostering a culture of inclusivity and authenticity, championing an environment where team members thrive and excel. Her passion for excellence and nurturing talent underpins this leadership philosophy.

Alison has been with the DSA since April 2015. She manages the WorkFit programme throughout the UK. Her professional background is HR Management and Commercial Development and she has worked with people who have Down’s syndrome in a voluntary capacity for over 17 years, following the birth of her niece, Olivia who has Down’s syndrome and is her inspiration.

Brian is Managing Director at Dishoom and has helped to oversee the day-to-day running of the business for the past 13 years, along with co-founders Shamil and Kavi Thakrar. Prior to taking on the role of MD in 2020, Brian had worked with Dishoom for almost a decade in his role as "Chief Operations Wallah”. He continues to support the founders and co-ordinate the work of the company’s senior team.

Jo Churchill was appointed Minister of State for the Department for Work and Pensions on 13 November 2023.

She was previously Vice Chamberlain of HM Household (Government Whip) between 7 September 2022 and 13 November 2023.

She was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs between 17 September 2021 and 6 July 2022.

She was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care from 26 July 2019 to 16 September 2021. Before that, she was Assistant Government Whip from 9 January 2018 to 26 July 2019.

Born upstairs in The Happy Man pub in Nottingham, Jeremy has spent his entire life in licensed trade. His parents were publicans and so were his grandparents, aunties and uncles. It’s fair to say that public houses run in Jeremy’s blood.

Aged 25, Jeremy – known as Jez - became the youngest tenant to run a pub and during this time, he developed a strong interest in managing and training his own team. In 1998, while managing The Anchor Inn, he set up and ran Charnwood Training Group, a specialist training organisation for the Licensed Retail sector.

“As an operator, I could see the benefits first-hand that quality training had on both staff retention and team morale,” says Jez. “My absolute passion has always been for everyone to see a career in hospitality not just as a job, but as the profession it truly is.”

After 18 years at the helm, Jez sold Charnwood Training Group to a Nottinghamshire college and joined HIT in October 2017. On his fourth day working for HIT, he dressed up as an Arabian genie for the company conference panto. It was his birthday too!

During Jez’s time at HIT, he has been instrumental in building the UK’s first brewer apprenticeship in collaboration with the University of Nottingham’s International Centre for Brewing Science and the Institute of Brewing & Distilling.

Jez is an active member of the British Institute of Innkeeping, Society of Independent Brewers Association and National Pubwatch. He is also a trustee of the British Institute of Innkeeping Awarding Body.

A Nottingham Forest season ticket holder, he once did a 175ft bungee jump in his pub car park.

Graham joined Greene King in 2014 and is now Head of Apprenticeships and Employability Programmes. Graham’s role is to maximise apprenticeship opportunities across Greene King and expand its ever-growing social mobility programmes including prison leavers, supported internships, sector-based work academies and other initiatives aimed at attracting diverse talent pools across the UK. Greene King has now supported over 17,000 apprentices with over 35 different apprenticeships available, recruited over 220 prison leavers and working towards further commitments for apprenticeships and social mobility in its Untapping Potential Report 2022.