Henley Business School - Coach

I work as a Learning Coach with Henley Business School, part of the University of Reading working with senior leaders to help them achieve the outcomes of the senior leadership apprenticeship programme.

I specialise in:

• Strategy

• Leadership

• Innovation & Change

• People Management.

Broadland Food Innovation Centre

The Broadland Food Innovation Centre is an ERDF-funded project which supports food & drink businesses in Suffolk and Norfolk to innovate, connect with academia and grow. They support food and drink businesses in Norfolk & Suffolk with the aim of increasing the rate at which we process food & drink in the region, creating economic impact through business growth and jobs. The project consists of three parts:

• Innovation Support: One-to-One support and advisory services for food & drink businesses in Suffolk & Norfolk (fully funded)

• Cluster: events and workshops (some face-to-face some online) to bring together businesses, academia and the public sector

• Space: A specialist centre offering 13 food-grade units, alongside sensory and test kitchens and meeting spaces which are avail to hire.

The project involves contributions from Broadland District Council, the University of East Anglia, Hethel Innovation and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership.

We have been appointed as PR agency for the final six months of the project to:

• Raise awareness and understanding of the project with Norfolk & Suffolk food businesses and community

• Generate interest in participation with the project including facilities at the Centre, business support and events.

• Generate publicity and awareness for the successful completion of the project in June.

Our work includes:

• Media Planning - pitching stories to the national and local media

• Media Relations

• Creating convincing, relevant and inspiring content

• Supporting Innovation Centre events through attendance and PR

For more information: Broadland Food Innovation Centre

The Silver Cup, Harpenden

The Silver Cup is a traditional British pub, restaurant and rooms serving high quality, contemporary dishes.

In 2020, The Silver Cup came under new management with an aim of maintaining the traditions of a classic British public house whilst bringing a contemporary twist to the food and drink offering.

Situated in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, The Silver Cup is the perfect spot for an afternoon drink, fabulous lunch or dinner. Upstairs there are 5 bedrooms.

Owned by two local lads, Matthew and Michael, with a shared love and experience of all things food, drink and hospitality.

The Silver Cup >

Fish & Forest, York

Fish&Forest is a forward-thinking sustainable fish and game restaurant, which sources the best ingredients and was recognised in the Michelin Guide within a few months of opening for its commitment to Sustainable Gastronomy.

Situated in the heart of York, on the top of Micklegate, Fish&Forest is an unpretentious sustainable fish and game bistro by Chef-Owner Stephen Andrews, supported by Yohan Barthelemy. The pair aim to bring the quality of fine-dining in the techniques we use to prepare and source the ingredients but are committed to maintaining a relaxed attitude on the restaurant floor, with a vibrant atmosphere and welcoming staff.

fishandforestrestaurant.com/

White Hart Inn, Mersea Island - new opening

The White Hart Inn, Mersea Island to reopen this spring after major refurbishment and under new management

Spring 2022 will see the relaunch of The White Hart Inn on Mersea Island as a pub with restaurant and rooms. It will be the third site operated by Piers Baker owner of the renowned local pub with rooms The Sun Inn, Dedham and bar & restaurant Church Street Tavern in Colchester.

The White Hart Inn, which has been closed since 2013, will benefit from a partial rebuild and major refurbishment to transform it into a tasteful, contemporary and eye-catching venue - somewhere for a casual pint, relaxed lunch or a special dinner with delicious, great value food. It will feel unique, tasteful and contemporary.

There will be light and welcoming bar and dining room with a vaulted ceiling and open kitchen, a cosy oak-panelled lounge with an open fire, plenty of outdoor seating in the terraced garden and six individually designed ensuite bedrooms, some with sea views.

Piers Baker says: “Mersea Island is a special place which deserves an independently owned pub with restaurant and rooms that welcomes locals as much as visitors. It has a great community many of whom are already friends and customers who have told us how much they look forward to us being there. I feel proud, grateful and excited to be opening in West Mersea and can’t wait to open our doors!”

The regularly changing menu will be a mix of casual bar food along with a restaurant menu using the best local ingredients. There will be roasts on Sunday and options for kids. On the bar, there’ll be real ale, craft lagers and cider, plenty of non-alcoholic options and a wine list similar to the award-winning lists at the sister venues.

Baker continues: “If someone told me back in March 2020 that I’d be opening a new, third venture in Spring 2022, I would never have believed them! The turmoil of the Covid-19 pandemic, with subsequent trials and tribulations of lockdowns, reopenings, restrictions and more lockdowns, made it impossible to look too far ahead. But when local businessman Lee Tyler, landlord of the White Hart Inn, approached me and was keen to work with Baker Hospitality on the basis of our reputation and local networks, I could immediately see the opportunity the site offered. The White Hart Inn has huge potential and ticks all the boxes we were looking for in a third site: a beautiful location close to the sea, a village feel on the high street opposite the church green, and a great island community.”

The exact opening date will be confirmed once work is underway but is expected around late May 2022.

White Hart Inn https://whitehartinnmersea.co.uk

About Baker Hospitality

Baker Hospitality has earned a reputation for warm and convivial inns and taverns with seriously delicious food and drinks. The Sun Inn, Dedham and Church Street Tavern, Colchester are seen as unique and consistently outstanding for every day as well as special occasions. They enjoy wide community support, have had continual national acclaim and awards.

The Sun Inn, Dedham opened in 2003, followed by Church Street Tavern, Colchester in 2014.

Brassica Restaurant & Mercantile, Dorset

Brassica Restaurant is not what you might expect from a country restaurant in the small Dorset town of Beaminster, not far from the Jurassic Coast.  It’s a confluence of good food and good design led by culinary and design double act, Cass Titcombe, and his wife Louise Chidgey. The couple describes the restaurant as an extension of their own home, where you can enjoy Cass’s skilled cooking showcasing amazing local produce in an intimate setting with a convivial atmosphere effortlessly created by Louise’s use of colour, pattern and lighting.

“It is a simple, deft cooking, with attention to detail” Jay Rayner, The Observer 2015

Brassica presents the very best food, beautifully cooked, with pride but without pretension.

The menu evolves daily and features seasonal produce cooked simply, with a strong Mediterranean influence, and with a refined edge. The majority of the ingredients are produced within 15 miles and much of it is organic -  you’ll find Devon Ruby Beef from Haye Farm; organic dairy from Dorset’s Liberty Dairy’ fish, seafood from Lyme Bay and vegetables grown a few miles down the road. Typical main courses may be: Organic Devon Ruby steak frîtes with black garlic;  Spaghettini with crab, lobster, chilli and basil; Asparagus with Jersey Royals, parmesan & pickled wild garlic’ or Cod fillet with chickpeas, cavolo nero and aioli.

Brassica won The Good Food Guide Award for Best Local Restaurant South West in 2020.

“All the signs of a chef slipping out of the constraints of a formula and just cooking what he fancies, using fine local produce.” Tracey Macleod, The Independent 2015

Cass, who co-founded Canteen in London in 2005, published the Canteen cookbook in 2010 and Louise, previously a buyer at The Conran Shop and manager/design manager for Tom Conran Restaurants, upped sticks from a hectic London life in 2014 to open their own restaurant in this beautiful corner of Dorset. A long search for the right site, led them to Beaminster Square to a Grade II listed building, which featured in Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles. The building manages to be both light and airy in summer, and warm and cosy in winter.  

Nextdoor, Louise has opened Brassica Mercantile, an understated food & homes shop in the with a carefully curated collection of homewares sourced from her favourite designers across the world - there are textiles, tableware, ceramics & glassware and books. You’ll also find food from local farms and producers and cheese, charcuterie and more from Italy and Spain. There are handmade meals prepared by Cass which change daily but may include aubergine melazana, fish pies and soups. If you can’t make it to Dorset, the beautiful collection is available from their online shop. 

Brassica is a true family business, with Louise’s father, Graham Chidgey, who led wine merchants Laytons Fine Wines for nearly 30 years, curating the wine list of mainly Old World Wines.

Brassica Restaurant & Mercantile 

4-5 The Square, Beaminster, Dorset DT8 3AS

https://brassicarestaurant.co.uk/

Cass Titcombe - Chef Director

Cass is best known a co-founder of micro London chain Canteen in 2005 and as author of Canteen: Great British Food (Ebury Press 2010). After leaving Canteen he consulted with some leading hospitality brands before upping sticks from London to Dorset in 2014 to start a new life and open his own restaurant Brassica in 2014. 

Cass began his career in the 1980s at the renowned Hole In The Wall, Circus and Woods restaurants in Bath. In 1994 he moved to London to the celebrated Daphne’s in South Kensington and went on to found The Collection and Pasha for Mogens Tholstrup.

Louise Chidgey - Co-founder/Director

Louise co-founded Brassica with her partner Cass Titcombe in 2014 fleeing a hectic life in London juggling being a mother with a career in interiors and lifestyle with plenty of intonational travel. Louise has not only established the restaurant but launched homes & food shop and online store Brassica Mercantile combining  her love of good design and good food.

Louise is one of the UK’s leading design and retail creatives, with expertise in home, interiors and lifestyle. She has extensive experience in the retail sector as well as the influential global trend forecasting business.

After working as a senior buyer for The Conran Shop she became manager/design manager for Tom Conran Restaurants, Marks & Spencer and Selfridges. From 2005-2014 she gained an international reputation as global trend forecasting at WGSN.com and in product design at agency Stylus.com. 

Graham Chidgey - Wine Consultant

Louise’s father Graham, held a long a prestigious career in the wine trade 1953. In 1965 Graham took over a small London merchant, Laytons Fine Wines, which he ran successfully until its sale in 1997. He’s also worked with Laytons Fine Wines, André Simon and Malmaison Wine Club. Following the sale of Laytons, Graham moved to Tuscany where he extended the sales potential for Montalcino, Chianti Classico and Piedmont. He also move do to West Dorset in 2014 with his wife, the painter Angela Chidgey