Who we are

Kane Bridgman has recently joined the Amadeus team – he brings with him over 40 years’ experience within the foodservice industry, having previously worked in the contract catering, corporate hospitality and education catering sectors among others. A specialist in retail catering, Kane has acted as a catering consultant to a wide range of household brands including Merlin Entertainments, Premier League football clubs and Sainsbury’s. He joins Amadeus from Crystal Palace Football Club where he was the Head of Catering for two years overseeing retail and corporate hospitality.

He will be responsible for delivering catering operations at the NEC – with ever climbing visitor numbers, the venue currently hosts over 500 events every year and welcomes 2.4million visitors annually.

Since becoming General Manager over five years ago, Craig has spearheaded several changes for Amadeus at the ICC in the last financial year. Forever open to change, Craig’s business acumen and entrepreneurial mind has resulted in a number of new initiatives at the ICC, each designed to reflect the ever-changing tastes of diners.

For starters, old-fashioned white china has been abandoned in favour of contemporary tableware befitting the modern dishes coming out the kitchen. However, Craig’s proudest achievement has been achieving the Food for the Brain accreditation, which promotes the importance of nutrition in mental health and well-being. The ICC is the first conference centre in the UK to achieve this award.

From event planning and reporting, to rolling out ‘beer bugs’ and new payment methods, Annie interrogates every event to ensure no opportunity to enhance the customer experience is missed. And with up to 15,700 visitors at a single event, keeping revellers smiling all night is no small feat.

Fortunately for us, Annie’s level-headed approach and endless energy ensures every new initiative improves the show, while always delivering concrete results for Amadeus too. For example, the introduction of 16 beer bugs at the arena saw profits increase by £200,000 with only minimal staff costs, while the launch of a new contactless bar resulted in double the amount of drinks being poured. The result? Happier punters and healthier profits.

When Nick joined Amadeus as General Manager he bought with him an in-depth knowledge of consumer behaviours and food trends. In his role of heading up one of the world’s busiest and largest indoor sporting and entertainment venues, Nick is responsible for delivering brilliantly inventive catering options for anywhere up to 15,800 visitors a night.

Key to Nick’s success has always been a willingness to invest in insight, a trait that recently led to a complete redevelopment of Arena Birmingham’s food offering. So when you’re next tucking into some delicious Middle-Eastern street food, wolfing down a pepperoni pizza or enjoying a cheeky intermission gourmet burger, you’ll know who to thank.

With a background working in events, Emma’s methodical approach and managerial skills have supported the Vox through two years of phenomenal growth. Working closely alongside Executive Head Chef Aaron Johnson, Emma’s role is to firmly position the Vox’s catering offering as the best of its kind in the UK. It’s a role she takes very seriously. Day in, day out, Emma ensures the best training and support is available to staff, while making sure every guest experiences dining at a level unexpected at a conference centre.

Top among Emma’s personal Vox achievements was successfully hosting the BBC Sports Personality of the Year pre-show red carpet event and post-show party in 2016. Following months of planning the event delivered at every stage, on every stage. A win-win all round.

Cathy is responsible for managing marketing and business development across our ever-expanding portfolio of venues. Highly experienced in generating sales, shaping business strategies and effectively leading others, Cathy’s proven track record has resulted in a number of high profile successes at venues across the country including Dudley Zoo and Compton Verney Art Gallery.

Cathy was also directly involved in the delivery of the ‘factory in the garden’ concept restaurant at Cadbury World, which along with several other chocolaty initiatives has seen food and beverage profits at the attraction increase by 33% since Amadeus won the contract.

Marquee weddings, foreign tradeshows, Olympic games. Sam’s overseen catering at them all during her time at Amadeus. Her pragmatism and positivity have been invaluable to the events side of the business since 2012, when she made the permanent switch to this challenging, exciting and ever-expanding part of the business.

Whether helping to set up catering facilities from scratch, organising secret one-off events or immersing herself in foreign food trends, Sam has consistently delivered outstanding events that jump out from the pack. More importantly her methods delivers results too, with revenue doubling in the last twelve months alone.

Heading up the Northern Ireland arm of Amadeus, Ben is responsible for overseeing a number of Belfast’s most popular visitor attractions including Belfast Castle, Malone House, The Stables Coffee Shop and Belfast Zoo. A keen collaborator, Ben sets his multiple teams daily targets to ensure their approach remains as fresh and inventive as the menus they dream up.

Since joining Amadeus in 2016, Ben has drawn on his strategic knowledge and expertise in the world of catering to refine and restructure the management structure to increase efficiencies across each attraction. He was also integral to moving to a central production kitchen model based out of Belfast Castle, helping to greatly increase productivity and free up valuable resource.