The University of West London honours Raymond Blanc OBE and top hospitality stars at prestigious ceremony celebrating student achievement 

Raymond Blanc OBE, Lorraine Pascale and Ramon Pajares OBE were among 11 experienced professionals honoured and 51 students awarded prizes by The University of West London's Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter John at The London School of Hospitality and Tourism’s Annual Prize-giving Awards Ceremony.  The prestigious ceremony took place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Syon Park in West London.

Honours awarded at the ceremony included:

• Mr Raymond Blanc, OBE, Restaurateur and Celebrity Chef as Honorary Fellow
• Ms Joanna Rzymoska, Managing Director, Royal Caribbean International as Honorary Professor
• Mr Graham Bamford, General Manager, Royal Garden Hotel as Honorary Doctor
• Mr Ramon Pajares OBE, Previously Chief Executive, The Savoy Group as Honorary Doctor
• Mr Michael Shepherd, General Manager, Hilton Park Lane as Honorary Doctor
• Mr Nigel  Boschetti, Executive Chef, Grosvenor House Hotel as Honorary Fellow
• Mr Anthony Marshall, Executive Chef, Hilton Park Lane as Honorary Fellow
• Mr Steve Munkley, Executive Chef, Royal Garden Hotel as Honorary Professor
• Mr Derek Quelch, Executive Chef, The Goring as Honorary Fellow
• Mr Gilles Quillot Executive Chef, The French Embassy as Master of the University
• Mr Simon Hudson, National Restaurant Designer as Master of the University
• Mr Sean Davoren, Head Butler, The Savoy as Honorary Fellow

Guest of Honour Sir Rocco Forte, Chairman and Chief Executive of The Rocco Forte Collection and William Brake, Founder and Former Chairman of Brake Brothers presented students with their prizes which included trophies and shields. Raymond Blanc addressed the audience to congratulate everyone on their achievement; he later spoke individually to all students to offer them advice about their future careers.



Current student Lorraine Pascale received an award for “the most outstanding contribution” to the life of The London School of Hospitality and Tourism.  Lorraine has been enjoying success with a prime-time television show on BBC2 called ‘Baking Made Easy', a book which went straight to the top three for Amazon's Food and Drink bestsellers list and her own cupcake business.

The University’s Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Professional Studies Professor David Jones and Master of Ceremonies Professor Kathryn Mitchell Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Student Services) also attended to show their support for the awards.  The occasion was then celebrated with a meal prepared by hospitality students themselves.

Professor David Foskett MBE CMA, Head of School said: ‘We are honoured that senior industry professionals, who have given so much to raise the profile of hospitality and tourism, have accepted the recognition they deserve and congratulations to our best performing students.  I would also like to say an extra special thank you to our sponsors who have generously supported the prizes and all those who worked so hard to make this a memorable event.’

Among those celebrating was Alice Clark, a Catering Manager at St Gregory’s Primary School, Ealing, who received the Ealing Schools Catering Consortium Award. This was in recognition of the highest level of practical skills that she showed while completing an NVQ level two in Professional Cookery. She attended the programme once a week and said: ‘It very enjoyable to learn at the University and I valued it so much that I encouraged my assistant to enrol’.

The University is extremely grateful to The Ability Group, in particular Chairman and CEO Andreas Panayiotou and Lionel Benjamin, Head of Asset Management and Lead Governor for Hospitality at the University for generously giving the facility for the prize-giving ceremony to take place at the prestigious Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

The school received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for excellence in the sector and has formally been recognised as one of the top four ‘hotel schools’ in Europe.

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