One month on, Lockhart Catering Equipment is reflecting on the success of its hugely popular Catering Innovation Show, which returned to London’s Business Design Centre in October for its second year.
The new trade show was launched in 2025 and has quickly become a foodservice calendar essential. This year, it returned bigger and better, showcasing more than 70 exhibitors and drawing over 1,100 attendees with a combined purchasing authority of £110m+.
Mark Lombard, Managing Director at Lockhart Catering Equipment, is extremely pleased with the attendance:
“The Catering Innovation Show was designed to put innovation at the heart of the foodservice industry and bring together leading equipment suppliers in one place. Visitors are able to easily find out what’s new, while our curated itinerary ensures guests leave feeling inspired. The feedback from exhibitors has been fantastic – not only from a volume perspective, but particularly in terms of the quality of leads the show generated.
We’re already planning how we can make 2027 bigger and better, and can’t wait to welcome everyone back.”
Attendees were treated to Michelin star-studded chef demos from Ben Murphy, Jean Delport, Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Mark Tuttiett, Tom Shepherd, and Victorinox Chef Ambassador Tommy Banks. The Staff Canteen Live theatre also hosted a Public Sector Catering Panel, which comprised the winners of Chef of the Year across school, university, NHS, and care catering, chaired by Andrew Archer.
The Catering Innovation Show also hosted the first public Compass Chef of the Year competition since 2018. Visitors were able to watch the finals live on Rational’s competition workstations, with an awards ceremony hosted at the end of the show. In the Junior cohort, Jamie Kennerley-Bradshaw, Alex Barnes, and Fernando Carmeluti, were awarded first, second, and third place respectively. In the Senior group, Rishi Patel was awarded third place, Dang Pham scooped second place, and Blaine Shannon secured first place.
Sustainability remains a driving force for innovation in the industry, and as such, The Catering Innovation Show has been designed to operate as efficiently as possible. Working with the Business Design Centre, the event generated zero waste to landfill, with almost 60% of all waste fully recycled, including 2559m2 of carpet saved. By partnering with instarinse® to provide multiple cup-cleaning stations throughout the venue, the show saved 231L of water and 17.3kwH compared to traditional dishwashing.
Lockhart was keen to create an event that resulted in a positive lasting impact. As the show’s official charity partner, over £17,000 was raised for Prept, including through a raffle that included a top prize of a £5,000 catering equipment voucher donated by Lockhart. Tying into the theme of innovation and future-focus, Prept is dedicated to developing young people’s cooking skills for healthy relationships with food, across primary and secondary school ages.
Excitement is already building for the next event on October 4th 2027. To register interest for 2027, please visit cateringinnovationshow.co.uk.
