Pictured above: (l-r) Neil Ashton, Rachel Hopkins, Samantha
Bates and Andrew Taylor
Following the announcement that Amadeus - The NEC Group's award
winning catering business - will be catering at Olympic Park North,
the company has made a string of stellar appointments to its 2012
project team.
Leading the team is Project Operations Director Andrew Taylor,
who joins Amadeus following seven successful years as Stadium
General Manager at the new Wembley Stadium overseeing their food
& beverage operation. Andrew has over 20 years experience in
major sport & leisure events catering, having also previously
been Operations Director of The British Grand Prix.
Andrew's real passion in life is food and drink and spent his
early career as a Chef. Andrew says "The time I spent working in
some excellent kitchens has proved invaluable for my career. It
provided me with an affinity with the kitchen workforce and first
hand understanding of what is achievable. This allows me to work
closely at all times with our chefs, blending my major sports event
knowledge and experience with their culinary talents.
"This is a really exciting time for me to join one of Britain's
most experienced and creative contract caterers. I'm incredibly
proud to lead the team which will deliver some Great British food
and regional flavours to the Olympic Park North - home to the
cycling velodrome, Basketball, hockey, BMX, Eton Manor and
handball."
Andrew will be supported by award winning Amadeus chef, Neil
Ashton, who has previously worked on major events such as the Rugby
World Cup and NEC highlights like the BBC Good Food Show. He will
lead a dozen speciality chefs from Amadeus as they serve up menus
for around 100,000 people every day.
Samantha Bates has been appointed Deputy Project Director after
working as a key member of Amadeus' Olympic tender development team
for several months. Samantha was previously an Amadeus key Account
Manager at The NEC Group. Other appointments include Rachel Hopkins
as Project Support Executive and Susan Cardno as Business
Development Finance Manager - both previously held different roles
at Amadeus.
Alyson Cawley, Acting Managing Director of Amadeus said "This is
an exciting time for Amadeus and a huge honour for us to be part of
London 2012. We have some great people on board and as always are
committed to setting the benchmark for catering excellence in the
live events industry. Our 35 years experience across events such as
Horse of the Year Show, The Barclays Scottish Open and
International Athletics have proved an invaluable grounding
experience and we are all looking forward to what 2012 will
bring."