Next up is Jo Fleet, MD of Flat Iron, who’ll be taking part in an exclusive panel session on ‘Coping with Crisis’. Head to Casual Dining’s Keynote Theatre 2 on opening day to hear expert advice from Jo — plus the Yummy Pub Co’s Tim Foster, MEATliquor’s MD Scott Collins, Brian Keeley-Whiting, owner of Whiting & Hammond, and Simon Stenning, founder of FutureFoodservice.com — on how to protect yourselves, your teams, your customers, your property and your brand in the event of disaster.
Prior to joining Flat Iron in 2017, Jo was MD at Wahaca for seven years. She also spent over ten years at ASK and Zizzi, part of the Gondola Group, as CEO — overseeing the opening of over 200 restaurants.
What do you feel is the key for operators to successfully compete against their competitors in 2019 and beyond?
To constantly challenge what you do and improve.
What’s your bestselling dish / drink at the moment?
Not surprisingly steak and red wine!
What do you see as key trends in the coming year?
Value for money and quality.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job?
The people and customers and great environment in the restaurants.
And the most challenging?
Keeping great people.
How important is the Casual Dining show to the casual dining sector?
Really useful in seeing new ideas concept and meeting people in the industry
Who or what inspires you to be even better?
Any great business or idea. And thinking how can we be better.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Use your power of choice wisely.
Describe the casual dining trade show in 3 words:
Informative, unique, innovative.
How important is the Casual Dining trade show to you and the sector?
Very important. It is a great opportunity to meet, share and celebrate the sector we are in.
See Jo at Casual Dining 2019
Coping with a Crisis?: 2.15pm in Keynote Theatre 2 on Wednesday 27 February. The session will feature —
- Jo Fleet, MD of Flat Iron
- Brian Keeley-Whiting, owner of Whiting & Hammond
- Scott Collins, co-founder & MD of MEATliquor
- Tim Foster, co-owner & head of being awesome at Yummy Pubs Co
- Simon Stenning, founder of FutureFoodservice.com (session chair)
