Special Award
Bob Cotton, chief executive, BHA
The Special Award is one of the most coveted of all the Cateys. It rewards achievement that goes above and beyond the call of duty. This year the Special Award goes to British Hospitality Association (BHA) chief executive Bob Cotton in recognition of his successes during one of the most difficult years the hospitality industry has ever faced.
Cotton joined the BHA, the national trade association for the hospitality industry, as chief executive in January 2000. He was well placed for job, and well known to many through his part in the management buy-out of contract caterer Gardner Merchant from the Forte empire in 1993. Gardner Merchant was later renamed Sodexho, and when Cotton left at the end of 1998 he was director of communications and strategic development for Sodexho UK.
Using his communication skills, Cotton then went to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport where he spent a year acting as tourism adviser to the Government, working closely with ministers to raise the profile of the industry. During this time he got to know the intimate workings of Government, extending and consolidating the industry's relations with officials and ministers in Westminster, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Brussels.
Little was Cotton to know how useful this knowledge would turn out be. Last year, as the industry reeled from foot-and-mouth, the events of 11 September and the subsequent threat of recession, Cotton and his team went into crisis management mode, visiting the USA to convince Americans that the UK was a safe destination. He took every opportunity to shout for extra funding to put Britain back on the tourist map.
The upshot of this pressure was the granting of £20m of Treasury money for the British Tourist Authority, on the condition that the industry itself would match the sum. This in itself was a major coup: it was the first time that such a public/private partnership had been created in hospitality. It also laid down the foundation for future co-operation between Government and the industry. The BHA, led by Cotton, was largely instrumental in arguing the case for this additional funding, and Cotton is still pushing for similar amounts of money to be spent on the key issue of marketing Britain internally.
Cotton has also been behind the creation of the Best Practice Forum, a group of six leading trade associations, led by the BHA, offering a means by which every business in the industry can measure and improve performance.
Future priorities for the BHA include pressing for new licensing laws in England and Wales; lobbying for a fresh look at the effect of property taxes, particularly the Uniform Business Rate; and keeping up pressure to prevent a deluge of European laws from stifling the entrepreneurial spirit.
Apart from his role at the BHA, Cotton is also a fellow of the HCIMA and a trustee of Hospitality Action, the industry charity.
Judges
- Heads of department at Caterer & Hotelkeeper, based on nominations from all the Catey judging panels
Previous Winners:
- 2001 Francis Mackay
- 2000 Silvano Giraldin
- 1999 Sir Rocco Forte
- 1998 Sir Terence Conran
- 1997 Ramón Pajares
- 1996 Gary Rhodes
- 1995 David Michels
- 1994 John Jarvis
- 1993 Richard Shepherd
- 1992 Prue Leith
- 1991 Joe Hyam
- 1990 Alan Hearn
- 1989 John Taylorson
- 1988 Francis Coulson & Brian Sack
- 1987 Restaurateur's Association of Great Britain
- 1986 Garry Hawkes
- 1985 Roy Ackerman
- 1984 Victor Ceserani
Sponsored by: American Express
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