Winners revealed of the Staff Canteen Awards 2024

Tom Aikens, of Michelin-starred Muse by Tom Aikens, was among the winners crowned at The Staff Canteen Awards 2024.

Tom was named Chef of the Year during the ceremony at Scotland House in London on Monday, November 11.

He was one of eight award winners, whittled down from 262 nominations and almost 50,000 votes cast.

 

The winners were:

Chef of the Year: Tom Aikens, chef patron, Muse by Tom Aikens

One to Watch: Stevie Higginson, chef owner, Square Bistro, Lisburn

FOH Team of the Year: Laura Siddle and team, Faru, Durham

Sustainable Business: Tom Heywood and team, Pignut, Helmsley

KP of the Year: Lee Mullen, kitchen porter, Moss & Moor, Ilkley

Social Media Influencer: Craig Miles, development chef, Bidfood

Member of the Year: Jack Bond, head chef, Cottage in the Wood, Keswick

Hospitality Hero: Ursula Boardman, head of centre, CRUMBS Project, Bournemouth

 

Tom Aikens was shortlisted for Chef of the Year alongside Romy Gill MBE, Tim Allen and Dominic Chapman.

It follows him recently being voted as AA Chefs’ Chef of the Year.

Discussing 2024, Tom said:  "The year, I have to say, has been rather fantastic. I didn’t think I was going to get any of the awards, let alone both of them.

“I’m very happy. I want to thank all of you here. It’s been amazing to socialise with those in hospitality. Thank you for voting and to my team for everything you do."

Pignut won the Sustainable Business award for the second year in a row. 

Chef owner Tom Heywood commented: "We’ve got such a loyal customer base, who know what we do and can see how hard we work at it.

"This year has been great. We’ve won three AA rosettes, we’ve won this sustainability award again, have been super busy, had lots of good feedback, lots of returning customers. Everything is going great."

The Staff Canteen founder Mark Morris hosted the awards, while students were on hand from Westminster Kingsway College to help with the smooth running of the event, and a piper performed as guests arrived at Scotland House.

The TSC Awards give recognition not only to chefs, with prizes also for kitchen porters, front of house teams and a ‘hospitality hero’.

This year’s winner in that category was Ursula Boardman of CRUMBS Project.

"Our ultimate aim is to break down barriers in the hospitality industry to employ more people with disabilities as they are a great source of workforce," she explained.

For the first time, winners and sponsors will be invited to a lunch at Michelin-starred HIDE, in February 2025.

Sponsoring The Staff Canteen Awards this year were RATIONAL, Lightspeed, Major, Compass UK & Ireland, Alaska Seafood, Chef Works, Exmoor Caviar, Nyetimber and Scotland Food and Drink.

Adam Knights, marketing director of RATIONAL UK, said: "The awards ceremony was fantastic.

“As a manufacturer, to sponsor these awards is important because it’s our opportunity to give back to the industry that helps us.”

The Staff Canteen Awards are both nominated and voted for by our members and followers.

The Staff Canteen successfully launched its first hospitality industry awards in 2020, with this being the first year we have hosted the awards live in London, moving from Birmingham in 2023.