Exclusive Collection at The Cateys
Background
As the UK’s first B Corp certified hotel company, Exclusive Collection became the inaugural event partner of The Cateys 2026, one of hospitality’s most respected awards programmes.
Recognised as the industry’s highest accolade, The Cateys celebrate excellence across the hotel, restaurant and food service sectors, with winners selected by a distinguished panel of industry peers.
The Cateys, held in partnership with Square, took place at JW Marriott Grosvenor House London with a glittering awards ceremony.
Purpose
The partnership provided a platform for Exclusive Collection to showcase its blend of luxury hospitality and responsible business practices to nearly 1000 guests of the awards. Beyond being a named sponsor, Exclusive Collection played a central role in the guest experience, crafting the menu with its array of Michelin star and award-winning chefs and styling the event with a sensory-led, sustainability-focused approach that rung true to the brand’s ethos.
Objectives
To bring to life Exclusive Collection’s brand and ethos, B Corp values and responsible business practices, the following objectives were set:
Demonstrate a commitment to sustainable sourcing and minimum food miles by ensuring every ingredient, as well as all wines, drinks and water, originated from the British Isles.
Celebrate British culinary talent through a menu created by six Head and Executive Head Chefs, delivered by apprentices from the Exclusive Collection Chefs’ Academy.
Deliver as close to a zero-waste event as possible, ensuring that no food, materials or resources from the evening went to waste.
Create a holistic brand experience that brought to life the business principles, values and character to generate conversation on the night and encourage social sharing.
Balance styling with sustainability to deliver a sensorial guest experience that reflects both Exclusive Collection and the prestige of The Cateys.
Use the partnership to demonstrate that exceptional hospitality, responsible business practices and sustainability can successfully coexist on the hospitality sector’s biggest stage.
Help further donations for the event’s charity partner, Prept Foundation, with our own guest-facing initiative.
Key Considerations
Working with BrandSensory to create an experience that brings to life Exclusive Collection's brand promise at every touchpoint, translating the brand message "Eat well, sleep well, do you well. Take a breath from the everyday in beautiful surroundings" into a holistic sensorial journey. It needed to include the brand’s commitment to delivering sustainable luxury experiences, supporting British talent and love of good food.
As The Cateys 2026 took place at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, success relied on a close partnership between Exclusive Collection, its brigade of chefs and the venue’s service team, as well as The Caterer’s event team, to deliver an exceptional guest experience at scale.
Waste reduction was a central consideration with the careful management of food production to minimise waste and ensuring any surplus materials were reused, repurposed or responsibly redistributed wherever possible.
Sustainability needed to inform the event design, with table styling and floristry and print materials, all being carefully considered in how to minimise waste and celebrate sustainable best practices.
Outcomes
Championing British Talent
Michelin-starred chefs from Exclusive Collection’s destination restaurants included Rob Potter from Bybrook at The Manor House, Ben Wilkinson from The Pass at South Lodge, and Steve Smith from Latymer at Pennyhill Park. Also contributing to the evening’s dining experience were award-winning Sarah Frankland from Pennyhill Park, runner up of Bake Off: The Professionals, former MasterChef: The Professionals winner Tom Hamblet from The Avenue at Lainston House, and Tom Bartle from Botanica at South Lodge, which was awarded three stars, the highest accolade, by The Sustainable Restaurant Association.
Each chef worked together to curate the celebration event, and drinks paired to each dish, chosen for their local and sustainable credentials alongside their flavour combination.
Exclusive Collection’s Chefs’ Academy was central to the event, with Academy chefs working alongside the group’s Head and Executive Head Chefs and the JW Marriott Grosvenor House London culinary team. Established in 2014, the fully salaried two-year programme has developed
more than 136 graduate chefs, reflecting Exclusive Collection’s people first commitment and focus on nurturing future hospitality talent.
For the Love of Good Food
The menu was sourced entirely from the British Isles, drawing on regional produce and with ingredients harvested and foraged from the hotels’ estates, including pink elderflower from South Lodge that was made into a Hugo Spritz, served with the Eton Mess dessert.
The commitment to seasonal British ingredients meant some signature dishes were adapted at the last minute to reflect the available harvest. Due to June’s heatwave, the weather impacted the asparagus crop, meaning in-season, UK grown courgette was used in the main course to avoid importing produce. (* see menu)
Sustainability and brand ethos considerations also influenced the finishing touches. A caffeine-free herbal tea infusion was served instead of tea and coffee to encourage guests to sleep well, using freshly picked herbs from Lainston House alongside petits fours carefully designed to celebrate British flavours and therefore, without chocolate, as cacao is not grown in the UK.
Delivering Sustainable Luxury Experiences
Guests were welcomed to the event with an immersive installation featuring an orchard of apple trees, freshly harvested estate vegetables and flowers, the scent of South Lodge and large images of the grounds and gardens of the hotels. The trees were returned to be planted at South Lodge the next day where the apples will be used in the kitchens and to create an estate apple juice in years to come.
All brand storytelling installation materials were carefully chosen to be reused or repurposed with recyclable, seed and coffee paper used for menus, placecards, programmes and other styling elements.
The tables were set with wooden plinths cut from a local sawmill and British grown flowers and plants in coir pots. To help support fundraising as well as reduce waste, attendees were invited to make a donation to Prept Foundation, the event's charity partner, in
exchange for taking a plant home. More than £14,500 (the highest ever funds raised at The Cateys to date) was donated to help advance Prept's mission of delivering food education programmes for young people.
Exclusive Collection worked with the Grosvenor House team to select beautiful table linens and intentionally omitted the standard chair covers to minimise environmental impact, reducing water and energy consumption associated with laundry services.
Styled with a sensory focus, the experience extended into the bathrooms, where guests were immersed in a biophilic installation. Featuring diffusers infusing the space with South Lodge’s signature scent, a specially curated calming playlist and British vinotherapy products made by Pelegrims using South Lodge vineyard extracts.
The bathrooms also featured cocooning spa chairs, live plants and imagery of the estate grounds and vineyards, reinforcing Exclusive Collection’s ‘take a breath from the everyday’ message, encouraging guests to pause, relax, and discover moments of calm beyond the lively main event space.
The depth of the brand experience extended even to the smallest details, including replacing standard toilet paper with products from fellow B Corp, Who Gives A Crap. The swap is one of many demonstrations of how every touchpoint was considered through the lens of responsible hospitality.
Fast Facts
The menus and wines
Pain Suisse with Ampersand butter OR Barkham Blue scone with Ampersand dairy butter
Cornish crab, custard, cucumber, apple, cultured cream
English tomato salad, custard, summer herbs, English verjus
Buckwheat and seed loaf
Roast loin of lamb, dumpling of lamb shoulder and liver, grilled gem lettuce, turnip, asparagus, roast lamb sauce,
roasted new potatoes*
Sundried tomato gnocchi, pickled confit celeriac, charred spring onion, Padrón pepper dressing, celeriac velouté, basil oil
Estate elderflower, Pennyhill Park honey, gooseberry curd, New Forest strawberries, meringue,
English apple cider balsamic sorbet
Lainston apple juice and Churchwardens pâte de fruit, lemon verbena fudge, cobnut and raspberry nougat
Fresh herb tea from Lainston House kitchen garden
Ridgeview Bloomsbury, Ridgeview
Chapel Down Bacchus 2024, Chapel Down
Luke's Pinot Noir 2023, Balfour Winery
Fitz English Sparkling Wine, Fitz
Chefs and the menus
Rob Potter:
Bybrook at The Manor House
Pain Suisse with Ampersand butter or Barkham
Blue scone with Ampersand dairy butter
Buckwheat and seed loaf served with starter course
Steve Smith:
Latymer at Pennyhill Park
English tomato salad and cornish crab dish
within starter course
Ben Wilkinson:
The Pass at South Lodge
Roast loin of lamb, dumpling of lamb shoulder and liver, grilled gem lettuce, turnip, asparagus, roast lamb sauce,
roasted new potatoes*
Tom Bartle:
Botanica at South Lodge
Sundried tomato gnocchi, pickled confit celeriac, charred spring onion, Padrón pepper dressing, celeriac velouté, basil oil
Sarah Frankland:
Pennyhill Park
Estate elderflower, Pennyhill Park honey, gooseberry curd, New Forest strawberries, meringue, English apple cider balsamic sorbet
Tom Hamblet:
The Avenue at Lainston House
Lainston apple juice and Churchwardens pâte de fruit, lemon verbena fudge, cobnut and raspberry nougat
Fresh herb tea from Lainston House kitchen garden
Our supplier partners
Ampersand: Butter
Chapel Down: English wine partner
Ridgeview: English sparkling wine partner
and vineyard partner
Balfour Winery: English wine partner
Fitz: English sparkling wine
Pelegrims: Vinotherapy scent, hand wash and lotion
Churchwardens: Pâte de fruit
The Hairy Pot Plant Company: Plant supplier
Lainston House Kitchen Garden: Herbs, produce and apple juice
South Lodge Vineyard: Ingredients and pink elderflower cordial
BrandSensory®: Concept, design and activation
Chefs Biographies
Rob Potter, Executive Head Chef, Bybrook, The Manor House
Rob Potter is Executive Head Chef at Bybrook, the Michelin-starred restaurant at The Manor House in Wiltshire. With more than 24 years' experience, he is known for seasonal British cooking inspired by the surrounding countryside and built around exceptional local produce. Having begun his career as a Commis Chef under Andy Waters before working alongside acclaimed chefs Dominic Chapman and Hywel Jones, Potter has developed a reputation for elegant, ingredient-led cuisine. At The Cateys, he showcased this philosophy through breads made with locally sourced grains, demonstrating the care and craftsmanship that have helped secure Bybrook's Michelin recognition.
Steve Smith, Head Chef, Latymer, Pennyhill Park
Steve Smith leads the Michelin-starred Latymer restaurant at Pennyhill Park, where his refined approach to modern British cuisine has earned widespread acclaim. Beginning his career with Jean-Christophe Novelli and later working with respected chefs Shaun Hill, Paul Heathcote and Simon Gueller, Smith has built a reputation for precise, technically accomplished cooking. His dishes celebrate the finest seasonal British ingredients and strong supplier relationships. He has held a Michelin star for 25 consecutive years.
Ben Wilkinson, Head Chef, The Pass, South Lodge
Ben Wilkinson is Head Chef of The Pass, South Lodge's Michelin-starred 28-cover tasting menu restaurant. Centred around an open kitchen, The Pass offers guests a unique and immersive dining experience, showcasing Wilkinson's creativity and commitment to seasonal British produce. Before joining Exclusive Collection, he held senior roles at Midsummer House, Holbeck Ghyll, Savelberg in The Hague and The Cottage in the Wood. His passion for local sourcing and ingredient-focused cooking has helped establish The Pass among the UK's most respected fine dining destinations and won a Catey for Hotel Restaurant Team of the Year in 2024.
Tom Bartle, Head Chef, Botanica, South Lodge
Tom Bartle leads Botanica, South Lodge's pioneering dairy-free, zero-waste restaurant. Built around sustainability, seasonality and locally sourced ingredients, Botanica challenges perceptions of plant-led dining while delivering bold flavour and creativity. Bartle has become
a champion of environmentally conscious hospitality, developing menus that are allergen-aware and waste conscious without compromising on the guest experience. At The Cateys, his vegan course demonstrated how sustainable cooking can sit comfortably alongside luxury hospitality, showcasing innovation rooted in responsibility.
Sarah Frankland, Executive Head Chef, Pennyhill Park
Sarah Frankland is Executive Head Chef at Pennyhill Park, where she oversees one of the UK's most respected hotel culinary operations.
Widely recognised as a finalist on Bake Off: The Professionals, Frankland has earned a reputation for technically accomplished cooking inspired by provenance and exceptional ingredients. Her menus celebrate estate-grown produce and showcase the best of British seasonality. At The Cateys, her dessert course reflected this philosophy, combining ingredients including estate elderflower, Pennyhill Park honey and New Forest strawberries to create a dish connected to its surroundings.
Tom Hamblet, Head Chef, The Avenue, Lainston House
Tom Hamblet is Head Chef at The Avenue, the flagship restaurant at Lainston House, and winner of MasterChef: The Professionals 2023. Having started his culinary journey working alongside his father in the South Lodge kitchens, Hamblet has gone on to build an impressive career across award-winning and Michelin-starred restaurants. His cooking is inspired by Lainston House's 63-acre Hampshire estate and renowned kitchen garden, where seasonal ingredients shape every menu. His named Squeeze em ins and fresh herb tea provided a fitting finale to the meal asserting British produce, craftsmanship and sustainability.
Andy Mackenzie, Executive Chef
Andy Mackenzie founded Exclusive Collection’s Chefs’ Academy in 2014.
Having spent more than 30 years with Exclusive Collection, he is passionate about developing future culinary talent and continues to
lead the programme today. The Academy gives aspiring chefs hands-on experience across professional kitchens, alongside valuable
insight into farming, artisan food production and sustainability. Andy has been named Hampshire Chef of the Year multiple times and serves on the board of Hampshire Fare. He has delivered hundreds of cooking demonstrations at schools, colleges, food festivals and was instrumental in launching Create and Cook, a competition designed to showcase and inspire the culinary talents of young people across Hampshire.
Academy chefs who helped at The Cateys included:
Year 1
Daisy Boreham, Olivia Dack, Georgia Doughty, Stefano Giurgea, Sophie Noel, Aston Prideaux, Jack Read, Leanne Santos, Alfie Stuttard, William Webb, Oli Wellstead
Year 2
Connor Bennetta, Emma Bigmore, Sam Huth, Sam Kemp, Lewis Pierce, Elycia Rayner, Anceline Sanchez
The Circular Economy
Pelegrims
At South Lodge, our 5.2-hectare vineyard, planted with neighbour Ridgeview, provides sparkling wine across the collection while supporting a circular approach to sustainability. Through our partnership with Pelegrims, vineyard by-products are transformed into premium skincare ingredients used in our signature spa range, delivering antioxidant and hydration benefits.
At harvest, grape seeds, stalks and skins are collected; in spring, vitamin C-rich vine sap is gathered; and in summer, leaves removed to aid ripening are harvested.
Pelegrims extracts compounds including resveratrol and viniferin from this seasonal waste, creating hperlocal products that minimise processing, transport impacts and waste.
We used the handwash, lotion and diffuser scent products in the bathrooms at the event.
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Always innovating, a breath of fresh air in business.
Our hotels and estates are not just bricks, mortar and acres of land, they are places where ideas are born, team bonds are formed, and no two experiences are ever the same.
Proudly the first hotel group to become a B Corp,our commitment to people extends to every group and guest. Creating events that are not just sustainable and positive for the environment, but understanding your needs and creating bespoke itineraries and experiences. Putting your team's wellbeing at the forefront with circadian synced event design, brain boosting snacks and so much more.
Drop us an email or give us a buzz and let's start planning and plotting to make your next event a memorable one.