Nicolas Gross - Principal
Nick comes from a long line of successful restaurateurs and chefs and entered the restaurant industry straight out of university when he joined the Marco Pierre White Restaurant Group in London in 1995. After six years working in operations for the group where he was involved in the opening and running of some of London’s top restaurants, including; L’Escargot, The Criterion, Quo Vadis, The Mirabelle, The Oak Room, The Grill Room at the Cafe Royal, The Belvedere, Titanic and Drones, Nick left to open his own restaurant; The Clerkenwell Dining Room and Bar in London, EC1. In 2002, he set up and ran The Restaurant on the Square near Winchester, winning 'Newcomer of the Year' in The Good Food Guide. In 2003, he opened his second venture; The Devonshire House gastro-pub in London, W4, eventually selling this on to Gordon Ramsay. Since 2001, he has consulted on a wide range of projects ranging from Michelin-style fine dining to casual fast food to pubs to hotels, in the capital, nationwide and overseas. Since 2010 he has worked as Restaurant and Food Consultant for The Gorgeous Group on food and beverage projects including the Waldorf Astoria Hotel - Syon Park, the Hilton Hotel - Liverpool, Dishoom - London and The Balcon at the Sofitel Hotel St James - London. From January 2011 until July 2012, he was Pre-opening Project Manager and then Operations Director for ex-Gordon Ramsay Head Chef; Mark Sargeant, opening his two new highly-acclaimed Kent restaurants; Rocksalt and The Smokehouse. Since July 2014 he has been operational lead off a major client project for global auditors KPMG.
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Maurice Abboudi - Principal
Maurice moved into the hospitality industry after completing his MBA at Manchester Business School. In 1992 he founded Famous Moe’s Pizza which became the UK’s leading independent pizza delivery chain. After selling the group in 2002 he joined Domino’s Pizza as Director of Business Development. Within a year and under his guidance, Domino’s topped the UK Pizza Delivery sector with an annual turnover of £150m. In 2004, he was approached by ASK Restaurants to advise on a new concept launch. Following this he has taken on numerous contracts with some of UK’s leading Food Service companies, advising specifically on Operations, Marketing and Franchising. These include Wagamama, Chipotle, Tortilla, Ed's Easy Diner, Le Pain Quotidien, Firezza and Masala Zone. Maurice is also the leisure advisor to Chrysalis Venture Capital Trust and a partner in Red Hot Restaurants which owns K10 and Lupa restaurants in London.
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Katie Earwaker - Marketing Consultant
With over 15 years' experience in the industry and having held senior marketing management roles with some of the most influential operators in the London restaurant and event scene; including Marco Pierre White, the Gaucho Restaurant Group, the 5 star Westbury Hotel and Fortnum and Mason, Katie specialises in all aspects of hospitality marketing providing bespoke, targeted solutions for your restaurant, hotel, pub, bar or club.
A consummate professional, Katie will work with you from conception to completion of each project making sure that all opportunities are optimised, awareness is raised and the message is loud, clear and consistent. Whether a one-off promotion or showcase evening, daily Tweets or Facebook updates, a monthly email newsletter, a new website or the implementation of an annual marketing and social media strategy, Katie will support your business when you might not have the time, resources or specialist knowledge in this area.
Christine Rees - Associate
Christine started her career in recruitment where she set up her own company which quickly grew to eleven offices. After selling the business on, she joined Bass Charrington in 1975 as a Regional Administrator, working across London and the Home Counties. She joined Grand Metropolitan in 1982, dealing with the operation and leasing of its extensive tenanted and leased pub estate. For the next twenty five years, she worked for Inntrepreneur and Unique Pub Company. Her experience covers selecting tenants and lessees, negotiating leases, training, developing both single and multiple operators’ businesses, conducting rent reviews and dealing with assignments. She also conducted regular business reviews with tenants and lessees, covering all aspects of their business to minimise failure and maximise profit. Since leaving Unique following its take over by Enterprise Inns, Christine has become an independent consultant to the licensed trade.