Eat Social to enter London B&I market

A new contract caterer has launched into the London B&I market bolstered by an executive team with a wealth of experience from across food service.

Eat Social is led by the MD of Two Hands Food Group, Christina Ronsyn, with its senior team including the former F&B director of WeWork, Simon Wade, and head of food Paul Bloxham who has joined the business from Aramark, where he was UK culinary director for nearly six years.

The caterer will be part of Two Hands Food Group which operates 11 cafes within flexible working spaces in the UK, as well as one site in Brussels and a further three European cafes set to launch in the next year. The group, which first launched in 2021, also has Dorothy and Marshal restaurant in Bromley, south-east London, which opened a year ago.

While the new caterer is in conversations with a number of businesses, no clients have yet been announced.

Ronsyn, who has worked across commercial restaurants, international co-working brands, start-ups, hotels and B&I foodservice, said she wanted to create a business that “re-energised the workplace through food, hospitality and social connection” in a bid to attract workers back to the office.

“I’ve worked in hospitality for decades and feel really lucky to be able to combine my experience, and lessons learnt, with such a talented and ambitious team whose credentials span every aspect of F&B operations,” she said. “Through our collective experience we bring a commercial mindset and a true hospitality led solution to our clients.”

Wade added: “We have been fortunate enough to develop this business in parallel to operating our existing hospitality brands and have used this time to really drill down into what makes us tick, learn from our collective experiences, and bring to life our love for the hospitality industry. It is this that has formed the foundations of Eat Social.”

Bloxham joined the group this summer as head of food, following senior chef positions at Aramark, LifeWorks restaurant group and BaxterStorey. He said: “I’m incredibly excited to bring our Eat Social food vision of ‘super powering the basics brilliantly’ to life. By building a business from the ground up we set the bar for every aspect of our growth, ensuring we are totally fixated on delivering the best possible experience every time.”

Dishes offered to clients may include smashed falafel flatbreads, chopped herb salad, hummus, pickles and tahini and sour cream mayo as well as a butternut squash, mushroom, spinach and Montgomery cheddar pie accompanied by mash with green sauce.

Also part of the team is finance director Hetna Patel who was previously head of finance at BaxterStorey, as well as head of marketing Iona McCaie who has held senior marketing roles at Lexington and Levy. Ellen Bly is head of people, having held senior HR positions at the likes of CH&Co, Gather & Gather and Holroyd Howe.

The business plans to offer staff bespoke training programmes to encourage its workforce to go “above and beyond to create truly memorable interactions for guests every time”.