Celebrating individuals who have ‘trained, nurtured and inspired chefs in restaurant, hotel, catering and education kitchens in the UK,’ the awards launched at a ceremony last week (July).

‘Humbled’ and ‘shocked’ to have been recognised, Jones - executive head chef at Lucknam Park (Colerne) - added: “Amazing, it’s quite humbling. I don’t consider myself as a mentor but I guess, at my age, I have got young people working under me.

“To be a good mentor, you have to have been mentored by good people.

“I have had some very good mentors during my career, including my parents. This award is as much for them as it is for me.”

Gray meanwhile, who works for Capital Cuisine (Caerphilly) and is vice president of the Culinary Association of Wales, said: “I didn’t expect to win the award.

“I have been involved in mentoring chefs over the years without expecting recognition. To be honoured in this way is very humbling, and hopefully it will inspire other Welsh chefs to become mentors.”

Taking pace during the two-day H&C EXPO event, chair of judges chef Cyrus Todiwala commented: “We’d like to congratulate all the winners in what was an incredibly difficult competition to judge.

“Every single one of the chefs who were nominated have given so much to the industry and have helped us continue to be one of the most significant contributors to the UK economy.

“All the mentors deserve recognition and we’d like to express our sincere thanks for all they do.

“Our industry is built on the talent, hard work and total commitment to development of many of our winners tonight.”