Event Timings

10.00am	Guest Arrival and Refreshments
10.15am	Welcome and Introductions by Freemans Event Partners and Lord's Cricket Ground
10.45am	Informative Research 'The Transformational Leadership Survey' presented by Jeremy Blain, CEO, Performance Works International
11.30am	Behind the Scenes Tour of Lord's
12.15pm	Drinks and Street Food Lunch in The Food Village
2.30pm	Panel Discussion: Digital Transformation in Foodservice and Hospitality - plus Audience Q&A
3.45pm	Closing Speeches
4.00pm	Guests Depart / Networking Continues

The Event

In partnership with Freemans Event Partners and FEP-Pay, this event will explore and showcase how the event and hospitality sector is leading the way in bringing technology to the forefront of the fan and guest experience and unifying the customer journey.  

Panel Discussion: Digital Transformation in Foodservice and Hospitality

Our panel of event and hospitality leaders, who are transforming their business from a digital perspective will take to the stage in a thought-provoking and inspirational panel discussion hosted by Jeremy Blain, CEO, Performance Works International and one of the authors of ‘The Digital Leadership Perspective 2024’.  

Our speakers are Stephen Freeman, CEO, Freemans Event Partner; Chris Miller, Founder & CEO, White Rabbit Projects; Tom Ford, VP Marketing and Strategy, Aramark and Lucy Worth, COO, Mowgli Street Food.

Stephen Freeman

As part of this panel, Stephen will discuss how digital transformation and the implementation of innovative fintech solutions can help revolutionise the customer experience at sporting event venues.  Stephen will be joined by Stephen Poole, FEP-Pay Director, and together they will explore how unifying the customer journey can help unlock incremental revenue for venues, events and brands. 

They will discuss the latest payment innovations at the Food Village, replicating the high street shopping experience with self-checkout tills, frictionless environments and how digital ticketing can present opportunities to upscale products and services.  They will examine how foodservice and hospitality businesses can leverage data insights to personalise their offering in an out of home setting.

Chris Miller

Chris launched White Rabbit Projects in 2016 as a specialist hospitality incubator, investing in and creating early-stage hospitality concepts. White Rabbit’s portfolio currently comprises of a team of 900 across 62 global sites in the UK, France, Japan and Portugal including Lina Stores – the iconic delicatessen and restaurant brand; Kricket – a collection of Indian inspired restaurants; Island Poké – serving fresh and healthy poke bowls; Soma -  Winner of GQ’s Food and Drink Awards Belvedere Best Bar 2022 and bespoke restaurant platform White Rabbit Hospitality. 

As part of our panel discussion Chris will share the digital journey across White Rabbit’s portfolio, how he is engaging customers and employees and future plans for the business from a technology perspective.

Tom Ford

Tom is an accomplished VP Marketing & Strategy with a history of driving growth, innovation, and profitability across food, beverage, leisure and hospitality sectors. As part of this panel discussion, Tom will share how Aramark has invested in sophisticated retail technology to enhance the guest experience, effectively eliminating wait times often associated with traditional purchasing methods. 

He will share examples of the frictionless experiences Aramark have introduced using market-leading technology aimed to minimise wait times and enhance guest satisfaction.  This will include Aramark UK's new partnership with Everton Football Club, which sees them deliver an all-new innovative food and drink offer whereby frictionless operations will be established at key touchpoints across the stadium including self-service beer systems, immersive food and beverage zones, and dark kitchen collection points. He will also share further information on Aramark's frictionless coffee and convenience store located within LEGOLAND Windsor Resort - DUPLO Coffee Co - the first of its kind in a European theme park providing guests with a truly frictionless shopping experience, transforming the way they can enjoy their visit.

Lucy Worth

Lucy is an award-winning operator with previous experience with well-known brands such as Byron, Jamie’s Oliver Restaurant Group and Pizza Express. Since joining Mowgli Street Food Ltd in July 2019, Lucy has supported founder Nisha Katona with the rapid growth of the beloved Indian Home kitchen now operating 24 restaurants in 23 cities with a further 5 openings planned this year.

As part of our panel discussion Lucy will share the digital initiatives that Mowgli Street Food are introducing within their restaurants, the challenges along the way and how digital is transforming the guest and employee experience.

Informative Research: The Transformational Leadership Survey

To set the scene Jeremy Blain will present highlights from brand new research 'The Transformational Leadership Survey' released earlier this year, which includes insights from 2138 leaders from across four continents.  This session will look at how leaders are leading in a digital world and will include case studies from outside and inside the foodservice industry – from around the world – demonstrating how businesses can shift thinking from ‘what’ needs to be done, to ‘how-to’ actually do it and get to action or accelerate existing progress.

Drinks and Lunch

The drinks and lunch element of this event will take place within Freemans Event Partners new food and drink retail concept  - 'The Food Village'.  This cutting-edge two-floor structure has brought a range of food and drink options together under one roof with self-service kiosks and we will be taking guests on a 'customer match-day food and drink journey' serving a range of award-winning street food to guests, matched with prosecco and wine from one of our event headline partners, Unity Wines & Spirits.

Given the lunch element will not be in the style of Arena's traditional three course seated lunch there will be much more opportunity for networking and building those all important business relationships.

Behind the Scenes Tour of Lord’s 

Your ticket price will also include a fabulous tour of Lord’s which will give you an opportunity to go behind the scenes at the ‘home of cricket’ and to experience some of the most inspiring views in sport.  

Meet our Speakers

Stephen Freeman, CEO, Freemans Event Partners

Since being appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2015, Stephen has developed Freemans Event Partners into a major, multi-service event solutions partner, doubling the company’s size in under a decade, whilst operating at more than 650 events and reaching in excess of 25 million people per year.

Stephen has driven innovation and empowered growth throughout Freemans Event Partners, taking it from a conventional food and beverage service provider to a multi-faceted event partner. The business structure consists of a fully bespoke food and beverage solution, including tailored infrastructure and build projects, end-to-end PCI compliant payment services powered by FEP-Pay, an AA-graded BRCGS accredited foodservice solution and a commercial partnerships arm of the business delivering immersive activations for global brands such as Moët & Chandon, Coca-Cola, Nestlé and American Express.

Under Stephen’s stewardship, the business has built long-term partnerships with the most prestigious stadia and venues in the world, including Silverstone Circuit, Twickenham Stadium, Murrayfield, London Stadium, Lord’s Cricket Ground and Wembley Stadium. Through these venue associations, the business has been transforming the fan and spectator experience at world-class events, including the Formula One and Moto GP British Grand Prix, the Ryder Cup and Olympic Games, the Cheltenham Races, Six Nations, the Badminton Horse Trials as well as the award-winning Major League Baseball World Tour London Series and the Taylor Swift Eras tour.

Freemans Event Partners won the prestigious Fan Experience award for its outstanding delivery of the MLB World Tour London Series at the 2024 Stadium Business Awards and in 2023 Stephen Freeman was named Senior Executive of the Year at the Contract Catering Awards.

Steve Poole, Director, FEP-Pay

Steve Poole’s experience in technology and payments spans over two decades. Previously Technologies Director at Freemans Event Partners where Steve launched a new Technologies division, Steve’s leadership was instrumental in transforming Twickenham Stadium into a card only venue during the Rugby World Cup in 2015.

Since then, Steve has spearheaded the launch of FEP-Pay, an ISO fintech business, which provides innovative solutions for the biggest stadia in Europe and major e-Commerce retail businesses.

Throughout his time in fintech, Steve has developed partnerships with global fintech brands such as Mastercard, American Express, Discover and VISA.

 

Chris Miller, Founder & CEO of White Rabbit Projects

Chris launched White Rabbit Projects in 2016 as a specialist hospitality incubator, investing in, and creating early-stage hospitality concepts.

White Rabbit’s portfolio currently comprises a team of 900 across 62 global sites in the UK, France, Japan and Portugal including: Lina Stores, Kricket, Soma, Island Poké, and bespoke restaurant platform White Rabbit Hospitality. 

Prior to launching White Rabbit, Chris was the Commercial Director for The Soho House Group; opening clubs, restaurants and spas around the world. Working on projects including Farm House, the NED, and houses in London, Amsterdam, Barcelona and New York. 

Chris started his career in Private Equity and Corporate Finance.

 

Tom Ford, VP Marketing and Strategy, Aramark

Tom is an accomplished VP Marketing & Strategy with a history of driving growth, innovation, and profitability across food, beverage, leisure, and hospitality sectors.

With extensive experience crafting memorable experiences at renowned sports and entertainment venues, Tom oversees Marketing, Retail, Communications, Health, Wellbeing, and Nutrition for Aramark UK & Global Offshore.

Tom's strategic thinking, creative approach, and passion for excellence ensure our organisation remains a leader in delivering market-leading concepts, products, and experiences.

 

 

Lucy Worth, Chief Operating Officer, Mowgli Street Food

An award-winning operator with previous experience with well-known brands such as Byron, Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group and Pizza Express.

Since joining Mowgli Street Food Ltd in July 2019, Lucy has supported founder Nisha Katona with the rapid growth of the beloved Indian Home kitchen now operating 24 restaurants in 23 cities with a further 5 openings planned this year.

Mowgli was also announced one of the UK’s Best companies to work for in 2021 – 2023.

 

Meet Our Panel Host

Jeremy Blain, CEO, Performance Works International

Jeremy is the multi award-winning Chief Executive of Performance Works International (PWI), a modern leadership research and learning journeys company that helps organizations, executive boards, leaders, and teams succeed in the digital climate amidst disruption, opportunity, and uncertainty.  .Jeremy has been recognized most recently for this by The Independent newspaper, UK, and Business their Reporter magazine as winner of the ‘Best of Global Business 2023’ Award for his work in leadership, workforce and business transformation.

Jeremy combines business and digital transformation expertise, leadership knowledge and commercial success as an international CEO and executive board officer in the UK and Asia, with his experience as a corporate learning and human capital professional of over 25 years. Jeremy helps boards, leaders and managers define strategies to implement digital and human transformations for the modern workplace, with buy in, involvement and on a foundation of psychological safety, across the business; through a robust learning and development path.

In parallel, Jeremy produces and hosts his own multi-platform ‘Rethink Leadership’ Podcast, since 2020, which is now one of the top 1.5% of podcasts globally, also available to watch on YouTube, bringing new leadership and transformation next practices from global experts to an international audience. He is also a global expert on empowered distributed leadership, backed up by his international #1 best-selling book: ‘Unleash the Inner CEO – Make distributed leadership a reality’ which is available at all online booksellers and on audiobook through your favoured platform.

Jeremy is a regular Keynote speaker, researcher, and author of over 30 industry white papers. He is also a media commentator and has received coverage in high profile publications including Forbes, CEO Today, Medium, The Times of London, Dialogue by DUKE CE, Business Matters, HRM, HR Online, and more.