British Indian chef Nisha Katona is among over 20 hospitality industry experts appointed to a new UK government council set up to help with the country’s restaurants and cafes with their post-Covid recovery.
The founder of the Mowgli Street Food restaurants and the Mowgli Trust charity joins the Hospitality Sector Council to help identify and oversee actions related to the government’s Hospitality Strategy and create solutions using expert knowledge and assess the strength of the sector.
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Katona received an MBE in the 2019 New Year Honours List for services in the Food Industry and is also the author of four cookbooks – ‘The Spice Tree’, ‘The Mowgli Cook Book’, ‘Pimp My Rice’ and ‘The 30 Minute Mowgli’.
The first meeting of council took place this week, co-chaired by UK Business Minister Paul Scully and hospitality entrepreneur Karen Jones.
“The hospitality industry has shown incredible creativity and resourcefulness through the pandemic, pivoting to new ways of doing business like al fresco dining and takeaway pints to stay safe, meet changing consumer demands and protect livelihoods,” said Scully.
“With the launch of this council, we’re taking the next step in the journey to build back better from the pandemic by unveiling the experts who’ll be driving the reopening, recovery and resilience of the sector. It’s a real ‘Avengers Assemble’ moment for the industry,” he said.
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The UK government’s Hospitality Strategy is designed to support the reopening, recovery and resilience of the sector following the pandemic. This includes making it easier for pubs, restaurants and cafes to offer al fresco or outdoor dining by making pavement licenses permanent, and extending takeaway alcoholic drinks in England and Wales until September 2022 to further boost sales.
The strategy also sets out ways to help the sector grow and boost its creativity, including through exploring options for vocational skills and training such as apprenticeships, bootcamps and other qualifications.