Our team

We have brought together talent from across the travel, food and other complimentary industries to deliver world-leading operational and business excellence.

From our general managers on the ground to our board directors, our management are some of the most experienced specialists in the business; a truly international team of food travel experts.

Andrew is Chief Executive Officer of SSP. SSP is the leading dedicated operator of food and beverage brands in travel locations worldwide, it has a long heritage in food and travel, with over 60 years experience in the industry and employs more than 30,000 staff across over 30 countries.

Andrew was a Group Board Director of Compass Group PLC for 9 years from 1997 until September 2005, initially as Group Finance Director and from 2004 as CEO of SSP. Andrew led SSP through the sale process from Compass in June 2006 and now heads the company under its private equity owner, EQT.

Andrew has been involved in the foodservice industry since 1988 when he joined the management buy out team of Travellers Fare, the food retail arm of British Rail.

Andrew is a Non-Executive Director of DSGi plc; and has previously worked for Prudential Corporation PLC and KPMG.
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Jonathan has been the CFO of SSP since its formation as a division of Compass Group in 2004. He is responsible for SSP’s Finance, IT, Supply Chain and Legal functions.

Before joining SSP, Jonathan worked for Safeway plc, the UK food retailer, from 1995 to 2004. He was appointed to Safeway’s Operations Board as Finance Director in 2000.

Prior to Safeway, Jonathan worked for OC&C, the strategic management consultancy group, from its formation in 1987 until 1995. During this time he helped OC&C to develop from a start-up to become a leading international consulting firm. The majority of his work was for FMCG & retail clients.

He began his career in the food industry with Unilever, joining its management development programme in 1984.

He holds a degree in Chemistry from Oxford University and an MBA from INSEAD, France.
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Chris began his career in retail management with J Sainsbury PLC before moving on to join Texas Homecare, then part of the Ladbroke Group. Chris held various roles in store management and then management development within the Ladbroke Group.

Chris joined Coopers & Lybrand HR consulting in 1994 advising businesses on planning and implementing change in their organisations. He moved to Granada Motorways and was appointed Human Resources Director for Motorways in 1996, with responsibility for quality and customer service. In 1999 he became Human Resources Director for the Granada Restaurants division, which included contract catering, roadside restaurants and motorways.

Following the merger of Compass and Granada in 2000 Chris spent three years as Human Resources Development Director with responsibility for development and succession of the senior management team and internal communications. In 2003 he was appointed to the position of Human Resources Director, SSP.
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Noel has spent over 25 years working in international marketing across Europe. This has included extensive periods focusing on product marketing, brand marketing and strategic business planning.

Noel has held several senior international marketing roles in different organisations, including at Diageo, where he was head of worldwide marketing for Baileys. He was also managing director of Metaxa International.

Noel worked for Proctor and Gamble in Geneva and spent three years as head of marketing at the Irish Tourist Board in the 1990s. Noel joined the Board of SSP in December 2007.
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Nick graduated from University of Surrey with an Honours degree in Hotel & Catering Administration, and subsequently spent many years working in both the hotel and restaurant sectors with Whitbread, Ladbroke (now Hilton) Group, Harry Ramsden's and Scotts Hospitality.

Nick joined Compass Group in 1993, initially as MD of SSP UK Airports, becoming President of SSP North America and then MD SSP International, developing new concessions markets around the world and integrating the newly acquired business of Louis Catering.

In September 2004 Nick was appointed CEO of SSP France and took on responsibility for SSP’s business in the Benelux countries. In November 2007 Nick was appointed CEO SSP UK Airports, retaining his responsibility for France and Benelux. In December 2008 Nick’s role was extended and now covers all the Group’s activities in Northern & Western Europe.
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Tony graduated from Manchester’s Hollings College with a degree in Hotel and Catering Management in 1982 and joined British Rail's Catering operation, Travellers Fare, as a Management Trainee. He took on various roles within Travellers Fare, principally in operations and marketing before becoming Managing Director of the business in 2000.

Today, Tony is responsible for SSP’s UK operations of over 700 units including the Airports and Railway station businesses, the Millie’s Cookies retail chain as well as Rail Gourmet, which focuses on 'onboard' train catering and logistics in UK and Europe.
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Johann graduated from the Hotel and Tourism Management School in Salzburg, Austria in 1975. He began his working life in the hotel business, working for InterContinental Hotels and Sheraton in Austria, Germany, Kuwait and Turkey.

Johann joined SSP in 1992, in Turkey, as Area Manager Airport Restaurants. He then moved to the company's head office - at that time in Copenhagen - as VP Operations. In 2000 he became head of the SSP Global Business team in Chertsey, UK. In April 2004, Johann was appointed CEO of Central Europe and he is now based in Frankfurt. He also has overall responsibility for SSP’s Eastern European and North African business, as well as the Middle East, India and Asia Pacific regions.
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Les was formerly the Executive Vice President of Business Development and Design and Construction at HMS Host. While with HMS Host, Les managed a development team responsible for new contracts, landlord relations and improving portfolio real estate values. He was also responsible for Communications and Alliances/Compliance.

Prior to working with HMS Host, Les worked with Marriott Hotels, American Security Bank, and United Parcel Service.

Les serves on several association and corporate boards, holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in finance and economics, and resides in the Bethesda, Maryland area of the USA.
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Sukh started his career with Imperial Inns and Taverns. He joined Sutcliffe Catering South in 1987 in various finance related roles progressing to Group Financial Controller for Sutcliffe Catering Group. He qualified as a CIMA Accountant in 1991. Sutcliffe Catering was subsequently acquired by Granada Group.

Following the acquisition of Forte Hotels by Granada Group in 1995, Sukh was appointed Finance Director of the newly created Granada Purchasing Limited. Granada Purchasing was set up to consolidate the purchasing leverage of the Granada Group. Two years later he was appointed Finance and Commercial Director adding Non Food Purchasing responsibilities for Granada Television, Forte Hotels, Granada Technology, Granada Motorways and Sutcliffe Catering, managing a spend in excess of £500m p.a.

Following the merger of Compass Group and Granada Group in 2000, Sukh was appointed Commercial Director responsible for developing a separate purchasing services business for third parties. During this time Sukh also gained an MBA with Oxford Brookes University.

In 2002, Sukh was appointed Managing Director of Compass Purchasing UK, managing a spend of £1bn p.a. He also joined the Compass UK Board in September 2003. In August 2004 Sukh was appointed Group Commercial Director of SSP. Sukh’s core responsibilities include purchasing, cost management and supply chain as well as leading key commercial negotiations across major SSP territories.
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Expertise

We are truly the Food Travel Experts, skilled in combining global reach with a distinctive local touch .

• Food
• Travel
• Consumer Insight
• Operations

Join the experts

Developing talented people is an essential part of being the Food Travel Experts .

Recruitment Centre