Your host for today is Felicity Whitehead, Flick, as many of you know her: the Managing Director and driving force behind Square Mile Coffee and Prufrock Coffee. Before joining the team in 2011, Flick founded the café, Taste of Bitter Love, which was one of Square Mile's first customers.

James Hoffmann is the co-founder of Square Mile Coffee Roasters, a multi-award-winning coffee roasting company based in East London. He is the 2007 World Barista Champion, having won the UK Barista competition in both 2006 and 2007.

He has a YouTube channel with over 2 million subscribers where he makes videos about anything and everything to do with coffee. Author of 'The World Atlas of Coffee' (first edition 2014, second edition 2018, third edition 2025), James also wrote the Sunday Times bestseller 'How to Make the Best Coffee at Home' (2022).

Victoria will explain why employment law matters, discuss key contractual provisions, and offer practical tips for navigating life as an employer. Victoria will also discuss some of the changes expected with the Employment Rights Act.

A solicitor specialising in Employment Law with 18 years’ post-qualification experience, Victoria’s practice includes advising employers on day-to-day employment matters, including recruitment advice, contract and policy drafting, grievances, disciplinaries, performance management, redundancies, and everything in between. Victoria also brings and defends claims in Employment Tribunals across the country, and regularly conducts employment law training sessions, updating and coaching clients on the latest developments and the traps and pitfalls of employment law. Victoria is a Partner at Laytons LLP, a commercial law firm founded in 1875 that provides relevant and practical advice to its clients.

Laytons ETL

Drawing on experience of working between cheesemakers and customers, this talk explores how sellers shape meaning and value beyond flavour alone, and the ethical responsibilities that come with curating, interpreting, and representing producers at the point of sale.

Bronwen Percival is the technical director for Neal’s Yard Dairy in London. In addition to working with cheesemakers and the company’s maturation team to select and optimise the quality of the cheese they sell, she works to mobilise collaboration between cheesemakers and the scientific community.

In 2012, she instigated a biennial conference on the Science of Artisan Cheese. Along with Dr. Benjamin Wolfe, she co-founded the website MicrobialFoods.org, a scientific resource for producers, purveyors, and enthusiasts of artisan microbial foods. She is the co-author, with her husband Francis, of 'Reinventing the Wheel: Milk, Microbes, and the Fight for Real Cheese' (Bloomsbury, 2017).

Neal's Yard Dairy

Kate Nicholls OBE is the full-time Chair of UKHospitality, the powerful voice representing the broad hospitality sector, and leads its lobbying, campaigning and media work. Kate was previously its CEO for seven years, since its inception in 2018. Kate previously worked as CEO and Strategic Affairs Director of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR).

Kate sits on the Government’s Tourism, Hospitality, and Food & Drink Sector Councils, where she represents the wider hospitality and tourism sector. As a passionate advocate for inclusivity in hospitality, she is also the Government’s first Disability Ambassador for hospitality.

Kate is the Chair of the Institute of Licensing and ACC Liverpool, a board member of Best Bar None, and a trustee of Hospitality Action and Springboard. She has previously chaired the Tourism Alliance, London Night-time Commission, and London Tourism Recovery Board.

Kate initially worked as a researcher in the House of Commons and European Parliament on food, employment and environmental policy before joining Whitbread to work in Strategic Affairs. She has extensive experience as a political and strategic communications consultant and is a graduate of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and Kings College London.

UK Hospitality

An in-depth look at how Fallow Restaurant grew from a lockdown launch to a multi-site group by prioritising what the people actually want, and mirroring that philosophy in its social strategy. In the talk you'll get a detailed look into the radical transparency and education-first content that built a global audience, whilst retaining focus on product, culture, and guest experience.

Fallow was founded by three individuals in May 2019, two chefs Jack Croft and William Murray, and career entrepreneur James Robson. The essence of this combination makes up much of Fallows DNA, where conscious culinary creativity meets hospitality experience and passion. What followed from this meeting were a series of sold-out residencies to establish Fallow as one of the most exciting restaurant concepts on the UK restaurant scene.

Fallow’s permanent home in St James’s market was established in November 2021 and has since attracted a string of awards including both the Marie Claire and GQ ‘sustainable restaurant of the year’ and the Caterer award for ‘best new restaurant’. 

Fallow Restaurant

"An insight into all of the many highs and lows of growing a coffee business and what I would advise people on the same path."

Colin is the founder of 3fe Coffee in Dublin, a 4-time Irish Barista Champion and author of What I Know About Running Coffee Shops and, more recently, What I Know About Growing a Coffee Business

What I Know About Growing a Coffee Business

How do we define, train, and empower hospitality for the 21st century? In this talk, Nick will examine how a traditional generalised approach to hospitality training is damaging both the industry and the people who work in it. He’ll explore how we can develop a more progressive, empowering approach that not only improves individual businesses but elevates the entire industry.

Nick is the founder of Hop Training. He’s trained thousands of people both here in the UK and in New York. He’s been featured in The Times and The Telegraph, and since working with Hop, his clients have gone on to win many awards, including Michelin Stars, winning National Restaurant of the Year at the NRAs, and even making it onto the World’s Best Restaurant Awards shortlist. His clients include some of the UK’s most exciting and forward-thinking hospitality businesses.

Hop Training

A panel discussion focused around the choices cafes have when it comes to seeking finance for growth. Accessing capital is a huge challenge for most small businesses, and different choices can have significant impacts on the business and its viability.

After the Summit, we’d love to invite you to join us for drinks and some snacks at Fare, Old Street, from 4:30-7:30pm. 

Located a short walk away, you can find directions to Fare here.