Restaurant and coffee entrepreneur Laura Harper-Hinton, one of the founding forces behind London’s iconic and expanding Caravan concept, is the latest big name to join the speakers’ roster at this year’s CGA Peach 2020 conference in London on November 22.
Caravan was founded in 2010 by Harper-Hinton and fellow Kiwis Miles Kirby and Chris Ammermann with its first site in Exmouth Market. But it was its opening in Kings Cross, combining a coffee bar with all-day restaurant and bar, plus an in-house coffee roaster, that caught the public’s imagination and made Caravan one of the capital’s must-visit sites. The business is now expanding with new sites this year on Bankside and in the City
Harper-Hinton, Caravan’s creative director, will join the leaders’ panel, bringing her insight on the challenges of growing and staying fresh in an increasingly competitive and diverse market.
ALMR’s Kate Nicholls will lead the political discussion on the day, while CGA’s head of consumer research, and ex head of insight at the NUS, Sue Cambage-Hughes will present the latest thinking on consumer trends and habits, with We Are Spectacular’s Mark McCulloch suggesting different ways of engaging with an ever experimental public.
The exclusive, invitation-only event for the sector’s top executives and entrepreneurs – run by CGA, the sector’s leading research and insight consultancy – is being held at The Brewery, Chiswell Street, on Wednesday, November 22. It will be followed in the evening by the annual Hero & Icon Awards dinner, honouring the best in the industry.
“We will be presenting and debating the latest views on both consumer and business confidence within the eating and drinking-out market, as well as mapping out the shifting geography of the sector. Are operators right to be cautious or is now the time to be bold?,” said Peter Martin, CGA vice president and host of the 2017 conference.
“We’ll be hearing from investors and business leaders on where they think the out-of-home market is heading and the challenges it faces. We’ll also be looking at the political outlook, as well as practical issues of how brands and companies can stand-out in an increasingly competitive marketplace, be clever with pricing and picking the latest hotspots to trade in,” added Martin.
More speakers will be announced shortly.
The conference and awards dinner are both strictly invitation-only events, with places reserved for senior executives in operating companies. To apply for a place, visit www.cga.co.uk/whats-on/peach-2020/.
