Julian Edwards, director of GY5, has been appointed chairman of Foodservice Consultants Society International’s UK & Ireland unit.
The official announcement took place at a Professional members meeting on Tuesday, at Mary Sumner House in Westminster, London, where plans for taking the society forward with a new Board of Trustees were discussed.
Edwards said, “We currently work in trying times where unsuspecting clients opt for the cheapest unregulated consultants. It is therefore high time the FCSI attained the highest profiles in each sector of the hospitality and foodservice market and made it essential to only use an FCSI consultant to ensure transparency and integrity.”
Edward’s whole career has been spent in catering. A head chef at the ripe old age of 17 at the Ship Inn, Gower, near Swansea – a summer job that got him inspired to go to Neath Technical College, Edwards then moved to London and worked his way up the ranks in contract catering. Edwards has been a catering consultant for 20 years and started GY5 in 2007. After some years developing catering in the education sector, he now manages the day-to-day operations and is responsible for some of the most innovative design projects and management consulting from single schools through to multiple site contracts turning over £5m plus. He is also leading the allergen accreditation programme for all catering organisations UK-wide.
Preparations are now being made for a ‘re-launch’ event in the autumn to bring FCSI Uk & Ireland members together again after a period of re-structuring.
