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Craig Hancox joined Amadeus as catering operations manager in 2004 and took over as general manager at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham in 2016. He is responsible for leading the delivery of all catering requirements and food safety at the venue, overseeing a team of 60 full-time staff and 280 team members on variable hours.

The judges were hugely impressed with the success of initiatives spearheaded by our winner to drive revenue and improve the offering for customers over the past year. Initiatives drive forward by Hancox include the launch of the MADE collective, a lunch concept that replaced the traditional buffet-style offer often found in conference venues with a menu where chefs cook live on the event floor in front of delegates. More than 30% of the client base chose the street food-style option, giving a six-figure boost to yearly revenue.

Hancox was also behind the launch of Crunch, a plant-based menu with free-from and vegan accreditation, which proved a huge success at the 2022 Conservative Party Conference, generating over 600 transactions with an average spend of more than £9. The team broke multiple records during the conference, where they catered for more than 12,000 delegates and 456 fringe meetings over three days with a food offer at each event. This saw the team achieve the highest catering revenue recorded at any Amadeus venue in one week, representing a 42% growth on when the ICC hosted the Conservative Party Conference in 2018.

Hancox also developed the Dine by Amadeus chef’s table concept, which launched in January 2023 and was the first of its kind to be offered by a large-scale event venue. Event organisers looking to choose their menu tour the kitchen and choose from buffet-style dining or a fine dining tasting sessions with a wine flight. More than 90% of menu tastings now take place as a Dine experience.

Hancox has also focused on reducing waste and has saved 3.5% on food costs compared to pre-pandemic levels by reducing stock holding days and using dynamic purchasing strategies. This has driven a wider change across the business and Amadeus has partnered with food waste management technology Winnow. Since it was incorporated into the ICC kitchen, food waste at the venue has been reduced by a third and more than 20 tonnes has been saved, the equivalent of over 51,000 meals. The ICC has now set a target of reducing waste by 50%.

Hancox also supports charitable and industry initiatives, including donating 50 meals a week to the homeless community through Birmingham charity Let’s Feed Brum and providing a coat bank outside the centre to help during the winter months.

Hancox has judged the Young Chef Young Waiter England competition for the past two years and hosted the awards ceremony at the ICC in November 2022. The judges said his passion for sharing his experience as well as successful commercial initiatives make him a worthy winner of this award.

What the judges said

“Impressive initiatives, both locally and company-wide. Also, it’s vital that managers like Craig support the wider industry. Well done.” Ian Thomas

The shortlist

Holly Finch, The Genuine Dining Co

Craig Hancox, Amadeus

Tabitha Kirby, BaxterStorey

Sam Lawrence, BM

Diana Pintrijel, BM

Past winners

2022 Nicola Collinson, Aramark

2019 Trevor Bostridge, Bartlett Mitchell (previously Catering Manager of the Year)

2017 Paul Bate, Amadeus

2016 Murray Soper, Bartlett Mitchell

2015 Emma Williams, Green & Fortune

2014 Jamie Stevenson, BaxterStorey

2013 Renier Oberholzer, Harbour & Jones