We asked him, among other things, about his first interests in food, career progress and highlights, and their specialisms. Plus of course about the skills they need, the inspirations they draw from, and what they think the future trends will be in their craft.

I've been interested in food ever since my childhood in 1970s rural County Durham, where my mum and grandma made fresh, wholesome, seasonal foods. There were always cakes, and I was soon roped into baking. I studied catering, and by 1994, I'd earned my first head chef job, in Whitby. I really wanted to work as a pastry chef, though, and was fortunate to be offered a role with Marco Pierre White in 1996, under the wing of pastry chef Roger Pizet. I worked hard and became head pastry chef at QuoVadis in 1999.

Over the years, I've also learnt about commercial manufacturing, developing ready meals for M&S, pizzas for Sainsbury's and desserts for Waitrose. But after another leading pastry kitchen role, I decided to become freelance. My big break was becoming guest chef on Good Food Live, a daily TV show.

This was when chocolate took hold, with the TV show for practice. I created my own style, and my sea-salted caramel - a new direction at the time - took centre stage at the Academy of Chocolate Awards in 2004. This was the catalyst for opening my own chocolate shop - on Camden Passage - which is still going. Then in 2009, my first book, Adventures with Chocolate, won at The Gourmand World awards, up against some powerhouse chocolatiers.

Chocolate is very seasonal in the UK. In a hot summer, we may make a few thousand chocolates a week, but in winter around Christmas, we're doing six-figure sums. I love the flexibility and complexities chocolate has, it’s a fascinating and challenging thing to work with. You must like repetition and understand how to taste. I take my inspiration from life, which of course can be overwhelming!

If you’re asking me about cream, I find long-life cream gives our truffles an extended shelf life, with excellent taste and flavour. Though I think we'll soon see more dairy-free innovation in alternative creams. Cacao is another ingredient we need to choose carefully.

A significant amount of the world's supply comes from Ivory Coast and Ghana, where there are increased challenges for the farmers, so we need to offer increasing support and rally for better pay and pricing for the farmers. Sustainability, transparency and addressing forced labour, child labour and child abduction is, and will be, high on the agenda.