Ben Dutson

Head Chef of Ascot Racecourse

Ben is based permanently at Ascot Racecourse. He is a crucial part of their culinary team; whether catering for the thousands of hospitality guests at Royal Ascot, or looking after a conference or wedding reception on a non-race day.

He takes inspiration from all over the globe, including a recent visit to a Michelin starred restaurant in Madrid. His focus on making the guest experience truly amazing at Ascot means that visitors will enjoy world-class dishes and culinary creations alongside world-class racing. 

Gareth Billington

Executive Head Chef at Everton Football Club

Gareth Billington is Head Chef at Everton Football Club, managing 32 staff members, alongside overseeing the Everton Free School culinary team of 3. His responsibilities range from retail to hospitality, making sure the food output is of the highest quality and designing menus to delight season ticket holders and visiting dignitaries alike.  

Gareth is a big advocate of staff coaching and training and has mentored some of the brightest young names in the industry. He's a multiple award winner, including Springboard Ambassador, Mentor of the Year at the Shine Awards and the Craft Guild of Chef's People's Choice Award. He has been at Goodison Park for over 10 years, previously working at the Garrick Club.

Malcolm Emery

Principal Chef

Malcolm is no ordinary chef. He has been our Principal Chef for the past 20 years with a glamorous career that includes a number of the UK’s most impressive venues and events – not least among them Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace, the Lord Mayor’s Banquet and Buckingham Palace Garden Parties – and numerous awards. It’s, nevertheless, his incredible length of service at The Open which Malcolm credits as the most defining aspect of his working life to date.

Stephen Frost

Divisional Executive Chef for Scotland

As regional Executive Chef of Sodexo Sports & Leisure in Scotland, Stephen Frost lends his commercial experience and culinary expertise across Sodexo's entire Scotland portfolio of sports, leisure, workplace and events dining operations.

Stephen's passion for food provenance is one of his most admired qualities. This is reflected by the Taste of Scotland accreditation he has received across five different venues. He sources his ingredients from a range of independent local producers and states, “If you can imagine a larder full of fresh, tasty, exciting food that you could access any day of the week, 365 days a year – that’s the beauty of Scottish produce and why I’m passionate about using local suppliers".

Gemma Amor

Executive head chef of Ascot Racecourse

As Executive Head Chef at Ascot, Gemma Amor runs an incredibly busy and demanding kitchen operation. She produces over 400 different fine dining menus a year which are enjoyed by more than 500,000 customers, including those at the world-famous Royal Ascot race meeting.

Gemma has recently been recognised at the Cost Sector Catering Awards with the Chef of the Year award. Judges remarked upon Gemma’s ability to provide top quality food at scale while leading a team of 250 chefs and training them to the highest standards.

For this year's Royal Ascot she has worked with fellow chef at Ascot, Ben Dutson, to create the 'Dutamor' cheese. Take a look at the video below to find out more. 

Tom Beauchamp

Development Chef, UK & Ireland

Tom Beauchamp became Development Chef for the UK and Ireland in November 2017, and deservedly so!

A rising star since joining Sodexo just five years ago, in this new role Tom is responsible for not only menu development but innovation within the sector, supporting the culinary team’s technical, financial, and professional development and implementing new systems ensure our suppliers are always providing us with the freshest, finest foods.

His passion for food was discovered age 9 after receiving a Le Cordon Bleu cookery book. From there Tom went on to work with industry heavyweights -Raymond Blanc at Le Manoir ax Quat Saison in Oxfordshire and with Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles - and has since earned multiple awards (both within and outside of Sodexo) to qualify his extreme talent.