Orry Shand crowned National Chef of the Year 2025

Orry Shand, executive chef of Scottish catering company Entier Ltd, has been crowned the 2025 National Chef of the Year.

He received the award during a ceremony at the Hippodrome Casino in London’s Leicester Square last night, where judges said he had set a new standard for how to compete in the event.

Ten finalists had battled it out in the kitchen at the University of West London earlier on Tuesday to serve up three final dishes in three hours.

Judges included Matt Abé, Aktar Islam, Brett Graham, Gary Jones, Roberta Hall-McCarron, Kenny Atkinson, James Golding, Tom Shepherd, Mark Perkins, Stephen Trigg, James Petrie and Andrew Gravett.

Shand took the top spot with his menu of turbot from the North Sea with smoky Orkney scallop for starter, Lumina lamb with the Scottish autumn for main course and a celebration of Manjari Valrhona with influences from Asia for dessert. 

Second place went to Cleverson Cordeiro, head chef at Frog by Adam Handling while Paul Gamble, senior brand innovation chef for Waitrose & Partners, took third place.

Shand said he was “speechless” after receiving his award. “I got a push on [in the final] and it went to plan so I’m very humbled,” he said.

This year Matt Abé, chef patron of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London, took over as chair of judges and changed the format to allow finalists an extra hour to prepare their dishes.

“I feel this has made a huge difference to the quality of dishes that the chefs have put out there,” said Abé.

“They have had more time to relax, prep and showcase impressive culinary techniques which has resulted in some amazing food. Orry has completely set a new level for this competition. He was outstanding and I know he will be a fantastic ambassador for both this competition and the industry.”

New for 2024 was a wine pairing competition hosted by Hallgarten & Novum Wines who asked the finalists to select a wine from their extensive range to pair with their main course. The winner of this element of the competition was Jethro Lawrence from Apetito.

The top three chefs will be taken on a trip to the Champagne region in France with Hallgarten & Novum Wines and Champagne Collet and also receive a culinary experience with Tommy Banks at the Black Swan at Oldstead.

Shand’s prize also includes a two-day culinary tour with Valrhona, a trip to the 25th anniversary of Northcote’s Obsession, £3,000 to spend on culinary development and the opportunity to be featured in the Waitrose Weekend newspaper.

David Mulcahy, competition director and food innovation & sustainability director at Sodexo UK and Ireland, said: “Seeing the focus, dedication and skill from the ten chefs in the kitchen today was incredibly inspiring to watch. Congratulations to Orry who is a very worthy winner.”