2009: Top 20 'Most Influential'

31st December 2009, 2:59pm

We live in an age that loves lists. We lap therm up whether it's tracking the leading stock market indices, a glossy magazine's tips for romantic success or Channel 4's Hundred Greatest War Films.

We like our information in bullet points – short and sweet. And we like to quantify and rank our opinions too. We know few lists are objective, but that misses the point. The fun comes in measuring your own personal list against someone else's and then arguing over the differences.

And it was in the spirit of the times that a casual remark in the Cost Sector Catering offices grew into a tentative list of names and then developed into a full-blown debate.

Who are the most influential people in the world of public sector catering? Our initial discussions quickly brought home the point that influence has to mean much more than simply purchasing power in the market. And the names bandied around made it clear very quickly the debate could well have interest beyond the office walls. It was at this stage a bit of idle speculation turned into something more serious and we decided the time was right to bring in reinforcements. We were lucky to persuade some highprofile industry figures this was a project worth supporting.

The judges were: Bob Cotton, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association; Jonathan Doughty, chairman of Foodservice Consultants' Society International UK and group managing director of Coverpoint Foodservice Consultants; Jane Carlton-Smith, manager of Oxford Bookes University's 'Centre for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industry - CESHI' project; Arnold Fewell, managing director of AVF Marketing and a school meals and disability legislation specialist; Malcolm Harling, chairman of the Catering Equipment Suppliers' Association (CESA) and sales & marketing director of Williams Refrigeration, part of Falcon Foodservice Equipment; David Foad, editor of Cost Sector Catering.

The brief was to arrive at a Top 20 list of names (not ranked) that are influential across the range of issues public sector caterers have to grapple with - from budgets and spending to environmental and sustainability concerns, training, health & hygiene issues, healthy eating, recruitment, disabilities, and food allergies and intolerances etc.

Our final list had to be forward-looking, but at the same time past achievement could not be ignored. For some past work has shaped our sector, for others it's provided the respect and necessary gravitas to continue influencing events today. What we've ended up with is, in fact, not an end at all. It is a starting point. Scan the names and agree or disagree as you choose.

But don't keep your thoughts to yourself. Let us know. You can comment on the website, email or do it the old-fashioned way and write it. All comments are welcome and we hope very much that this will be the start of a debate that we can follow up in 2010 and in all the years beyond. Contact Cost Sector Catering: Website – www.costsectorcatering.co.uk; E-mail –davidf@dewberryredpoint.co.uk; Post – Editor, Cost Sector Catering, Progressive Hoouse, 2 Maidstone Road, Sidcup, Kent, DA14 5HZ.