Foodservice Cateys 2024: General Manager of the Year – Benjamin Campbell, Restaurant Associates

Ben Campbell, the general manager for Restaurant Associates at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, has worked exceptionally hard to help the venue return to its pre-pandemic success. Since joining the business in 2021, he has helped establish the museum as the premier conference, events and exhibition space in Leeds, and was described as “unsurpassed” as a manager.

Campbell has overseen a dramatic increase in turnover and profitability at the Royal Armouries. While the venue had historically relied on outside agencies to find staff, Campbell invested in his HR team to drive direct recruitment and ensure employees could benefit from regular training, reward schemes and a clear career pathway. This resulted in 100% of the Royal Armouries staff being directly hired, saw 30 staff enrol on further development programmes and removed an expensive agency cost.

In addition to its five galleries, Campbell is responsible for running the on-site restaurant and conference and event business across the museum’s 13 spaces. Following a lost business review in 2023 and an analysis of competitors, Campbell led a £1.2m investment in the conference and events spaces at the museum, which led to a six-figure increase in sales.

The judges praised Campbell for his leadership qualities and how he has clearly had a strong impact on his team. However, he has also helped build relationships for the business outside the museum. This has included engaging with the 1,800 residents who live around the Royal Armouries to help business growth. The team have run monthly engagement sessions and discount schemes, which has seen a 35% increase in residents visiting its Masters Bistro, as well of a calendar of events outside the museum building.

Campbell has also worked with stakeholders including Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Combined Mayoral Authority to promote Leeds as a destination for conferences and events. This has helped secure high-value events, including the Conference of the North, for the city with the Royal Armouries as the host.

Campbell also helps to promote foodservice careers to young people and has worked with Temple Learning Academy to encourage students to take up roles in hospitality. The Royal Armouries team has trained and mentored 24 young people this year alone and delivered sessions at local schools.

Alongside his work in Leeds Campbell has proved vital to the wider Restaurant Associates business, assuming responsibility for its new venue, the Locomotion Museum in York, and is instrumental in wider contract negotiations.

His passion for supporting his team, promoting the industry, and boosting the financial performance of the business shows why Campbell is a worthy winner of this award.

What the judges said

“Some fantastic initiatives led by Campbell and his team, with strong evidence on innovations and how this financially improved performance.”

Anouk Van Den Ing

“Campbell clearly has great team engagement driven by the number of team on training programmes, increase in profitability and increase in sales”

Ian Thomas

See previous winners of the award here