Jill Whittaker, managing director of HIT Training
24th February 2022

ACE names fifty inspiring women in foodservice

Written by: Edward Waddell
The Association of Catering Excellence (ACE) has announced the foodservice industry’s leading women who will meet up on Tuesday 8 March 2022 to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD).

The event will be held at the Princess of Shoreditch where executive chef and ACE patron Ruth Hansom heads up the kitchen. The Princess is the only pub in London to have been awarded three AA Rosettes and it has also recently been voted Best Newcomer in the top 50 Gastro Pubs Awards.

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women across the world.

Sarah Prentice, chairman elect of ACE, said: “I am delighted that in this section of hospitality women play such a prominent role and we are at our highest level ever in the history of the society, which started in 1935 as the Industrial Catering Association. I am proud to be the third female in succession taking on the role of ACE Chair.

The event will raise money for industry charity Hospitality Action, which offers assistance to all who work or have worked within the hospitality industry.

The top fifty women in foodservice are:

  • Bee Armstrong, Genuine Dining Company
  • Wendy Bartlett, Bartlett Mitchell
  • Suzie Boyd, Troika
  • Niccola Boyd Stephenson, Panache Consultancy
  • Fiona Boyd-Thorpe, Boyd Thorpe Consultancy
  • Gaye Bullard, Aramark
  • Sarah Burgess, KFF
  • Jessica Clark, BaxterStorey
  • Linda Creegan, ISS
  • Lin Dickens, Bartlett Mitchell
  • Clare Downes, Enhance
  • Jane Dyer, Stern Consultancy
  • Jeni Edwards, Ijess Consulting
  • Ann Elliot, Ann Elliot Hospitality
  • Tracey Fairclough, TAF Catering Consultancy
  • Karen Fewell, Digital Blonde
  • Mary Jane Flanagan, MJ Inspire
  • Kerry Ford, Chartwells
  • Morag Freathy, Eurest
  • Caroline Fry, Thomas Franks
  • Rebecca Harris, Green & Fortune
  • Jules Heckman Hughes, Smart Group
  • Deborah Homshaw, CH&Co.
  • Lisa Jenkins, The Caterer
  • Lucy Knowles, Holroyd Howe
  • Sarah Jane Law, KFF
  • Sharon Linney, Vacherin
  • Gemma Lynch, Sodexo
  • Natalie Mainwaring, BaxterStorey
  • Sarah Miller, BaxterStorey
  • Helen Milligan-Smith, Aramark
  • Danielle Mitchell, Genuine Dining Company
  • Debra Morrell, Bidfood
  • Kate Nicholls, UK Hospitality
  • Jules Ogier, Troika
  • Simona Oproiu, Graysons
  • Sarah Prentice, Blue Apple
  • Penny Richards, Caterlink
  • Diane Rollinson, CH&Co.
  • Jane Sanderson, The Clink
  • Sara Senior, Restaurant Associates
  • Wendy Sutherland, Consultant
  • Sue Thompson, Restaurant Associates
  • Katy Thompson, CH&Co.
  • Jenny Walklate, Enhance
  • Zoe Watts, Bennett Hay
  • Jill Whittaker, HIT
  • Janet Wigley, Aramark
  • Emma Williams, Green and Fortune
  • Louise Willis, LWPA Solutions