FCSI appoints Julian Edwards as new chairman
Julian Edwards, director of GY5, has been appointed chairman of the Foodservice Consultants Society International UK & Ireland (FCSI).
Members have been notified in writing today (25 August) while the official announcement was made at a members' meeting on Tuesday at Mary Sumner House in Westminster.
Plans for taking the society forward with a new board of trustees were also discussed at the meeting.
Edwards said: "We currently work in trying times where unsuspecting clients opt for the cheapest unregulated consultants. It is therefore high time the FCSI attained the highest profiles in each sector of the hospitality and foodservice market and made it essential to only use an FCSI consultant to ensure transparency and integrity."
Having started his catering career with a summer job at the age of 17 as head chef at the Ship Inn, Gower near Swansea, Edwards went on to study at Neath Technical College. He later moved to London where we worked his way up the ranks in contract catering.
Edwards has been a catering consultant for 20 years and started at GY5 in 2007. He manages the day-to-day operations for a range of design projects and management consulting from single schools to multiple site contracts turning over more than £5m.
He also leads the allergen accreditation programme for all catering organisations UK wide.
The UK & Ireland branch of the FCSI disbanded in December 2015 following a dispute with the larger FCSI EAME operations.
The previous board all stepped down including the then chairman Andrew Etherington, but the UK division had never legally been dissolved and continued to exist as part of the EAME division.
Preparations are now being made for a ‘re-launch' event in the autumn to bring members together again after a period of re-structuring.
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