The Changing Landscape of Foodservice and Hospitality
THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE UNLESS YOU HAVE ALREADY ORDERED THEM. IF YOU HAVE NOT BOOKED TICKETS AND WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND, PLEASE CONTACT LORRAINE WOOD - LORRAINE@ARENA.ORG.UK.
Arena’s events have an esteemed reputation for engaging influential industry leaders on the important and relevant issues of the day and Arena’s first event to kick-off our 2025 calendar takes place on Monday 10 March 2025 at the Sofitel London St. James.
This event will bring together a panel of inspirational hospitality and foodservice leaders who will explore how the sector is changing, growth opportunities and trends, sector challenges, the importance of effective leadership and building strong business relationships. Given that this event takes place two days after International Women’s Day the discussion will also explore how companies can get more diverse thinking into their business to help women progress in their careers plus much more.
10.15am | Guest Arrival, Networking and Refreshments |
11.00am | 'The Future of Food and Drink' - presentation by Jill Livesey, MD, Lumina Intelligence |
11.45am | Drinks Reception |
12.30pm | Lunch |
2.15pm | Panel Discussion hosted by Rachel House, Co-Founder, Impetus Global |
3.15pm | Closing Speeches |
3.30pm | Guests Depart / Networking Continues |
The event will begin with an informative industry insight presentation by Jill Livesey, MD, Lumina Intelligence. Jill will discuss the future of food and drink, sharing Lumina’s market forecasts, exploring how consumer expectations are changing and the latest hot trends in hospitality.
After a drinks reception and three-course seated lunch and there will then be a panel discussion with key senior foodservice and hospitality leaders including Claire Morris, CEO, Sodexo Live! UK & Ireland; Sally Hillman, Managing Director for National and Global Accounts, Restaurant Associates; Karen Bosher, NED, Livelyhood Pub Company and CEO, Bootlegger Bars and Joanna Aunon, Chief Impact Officer, WiHTL. The panel will be hosted by Rachel House, Co-Founder, Impetus Global. Some of the topics up for discussion include:-
Growth Opportunities and Sector Challenges: what growth opportunities are our leaders seeing, what challenges are affecting the foodservice and hospitality sector, what other support do they feel they need from the government.
Leadership and Building Relationships – as a leader, how do you build strong, solid relationships with your teams, suppliers, customers and industry colleagues to build trust and integrity to foster growth
Career Journeys - our speakers will describe their career journeys to date discussing opportunities and challenges along the way
Diversity and Inclusion – how do you get more diverse thinking into your business to make it more inclusive, creating more opportunities for more people and encouraging your employees to feel part of your organisation?
Given that this event takes place two days after International Women’s Day, our leaders will also discuss:-
plus much more.
This event is for anyone working in the foodservice and hospitality sector either as a supplier to the industry or an operator within it. Regardless of your gender or job role or whether you are at the start of your career, a senior manager or have 30 plus years experience, there is a lot to be gained and learned from our fabulous panel of inspirational leaders. You will have he opportunity to learn from experienced leaders and gain valuable industry knowledge, become inspired by success stories and innovative ideas as well as keeping up to date with the latest trends and challenges in the hospitality industry. There will also be plenty of time to catch up with existing and new industry colleagues to build and cement those all-important business relationships.
Claire Morris, CEO, Sodexo Live! UK and Ireland, SVP & Global Head of Marketing, Sales & Digital
Claire Morris has been CEO of Sodexo Live! for the UK and Ireland since December 2023. She leads the UK&I business in addition to her responsibilities as SVP & Global Head of Marketing, Sales & Digital.
She has been with Sodexo for more than 17 years, in a variety of roles across the business. She joined the sports & leisure (now Sodexo Live!) global executive team in 2015 leading the marketing function and now also leads the growth organisation for the global business.
Claire has over 25 years’ experience in the food and facilities industry and has led many strategic marketing initiatives from acquisition integration to brand and concept development as well as developing a high performing growth team to accelerate sales performance. In the past year she has set up a dedicated digital & tech start up function for Sodexo Live! and is passionate about the customer experience in our venues and at our events.
She has a clear vision and ambition to do things differently in the live events and hospitality marketplace, by supporting the businesses and clients we partner with, through innovation, food, and pioneering technology.
Sally Hillman, Managing Director for National and Global Accounts, Restaurant Associates
Sally Hillman is a seasoned leader in the hospitality and foodservice industry, currently serving as Managing Director for National and Global Accounts at Restaurant Associates.
With a distinguished career spanning Restaurant Associates, Foodbuy, and Chartwells, Sally has played a pivotal role in shaping strategic initiatives and driving operational excellence.
More recently, she has been instrumental in leading high-profile mobilisations including Unity Place and overseeing the integration of Rocket and Grazing, reinforcing her expertise in business transformation and innovation.
Passionate about delivering exceptional dining experiences, Sally continues to drive growth, partnerships, and strategic development across the sector.
Karen Bosher, NED, Livelyhood Pub Company
An experienced C suite Director Karen has enjoyed a broad career in the Retail and Hospitality Industry for over 38 years.
Karen is best known as a former Managing Director at Greene King where she worked for 10 years - running Urban Pubs, Metropolitan Pub Company and Crafted Pubs. She was also Chair of Hickory's Smokehouse and the Hotel Division now known as Everly Hotels.
Karen has a formidable reputation as an ally in the DEI space and has won numerous awards for her work on equality - culminating in winning European Diversity Champion in 2022. She has been recognised as a Guardian Powerlist Ally twice in her career.
Now operating as a NED (Livelyhood Pub Company) and CEO (Bootlegger Bars) her recent projects are working in the SME space where she is a passionate advisor and mentor for independent businesses.
Karen is also on the Advisory Board of 'Women on Taps' - supporting the elevation and advancement of women in the beer industry.
Joanna Aunon, Chief Impact Officer, WiHTL
Joanna is a seasoned global talent senior leader with extensive experience leading transformative people strategies in blue-chip and private equity organisations across the industry. With a proven track record of driving talent excellence at the highest levels, she made a strategic career pivot to focus on her passion for equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) by joining Tea Colaianni at the beginning of WiHTL & DiR to build what has now grown into a thriving Collaboration Community of 115 companies.
As Chief Impact Officer, Joanna is responsible for driving innovation, shaping strategic initiatives, and articulating the value of WiHTL & DiR and inclusion across organisations. She plays a pivotal role in translating vision into action, supporting senior leaders and companies to drive measurable impact and long-term business success through strengthening their culture and leadership capabilities.
A well known keynote speaker, Joanna is widely recognised for her thought leadership in culture, EDI and her unwavering commitment to driving meaningful, lasting progress across the industry.
Jill Livesey, Managing Director, Lumina Intelligence
Jill has vast experience in the food and drink industry, in operator and supply side, formerly working with Marks and Spencer, Unilever and Birdseye.
Jill is now the Managing Director of Lumina intelligence and MCA. She and her team thrive on delivering innovation, quality data and intelligent insight to the industry.
A passionate supporter of the food and drink industry, Jill is obsessed with identifying the latest trends, news and importantly explaining complex data with impact.
Rachel House, Co-Founder, Impetus Global
Rachel House is the Co-Founder of Impetus, specialists in motivation, communication and human behaviour to help companies improve engagement, performance and retention. Rachel has over 20 years experience in recruitment, sales, training and operations predominantly within the hospitality and leisure industries and has a coaching business with prime focus in supporting individuals and businesses to reach their full potential by having a higher level of motivation in their teams, career, personal development and life.