Great people are at the heart of our business – without them we simply couldn’t operate.
Our service is delivered by amazing people who work with care, integrity and diligence to meet the needs of all our guests. Motivated to achieve a service that everyone enjoys and can trust, they are integral members of the school community.
Matthew Wood | Managing Director, Lexington Independents
Matt Wood is our Managing Director. Matt leads Lexington Catering, Lexington Independents and Lexington Reception Services. He helps to define the company’s strategy, whilst overseeing commercial performance and growth opportunities through the provision brilliant food and unparalleled levels of service.
Matt joined Lexington from occupational health and wellbeing business Health Management where he was Managing Director. Previously, Matt has held senior operational roles at five-star hotels and restaurants inclusive of London’s Grosvenor House. More recently he spent eight years at Restaurant Associates where he held a number of high-profile operational and leadership roles, inclusive of the position of head of strategic partnerships. During this time, he won Foodservice Cateys Regional Manager of the Year in 2015.
Matt’s passion is in people development and he is looking forward to taking this agenda forward, moving Lexington onwards and upwards in its next stage of growth.
Jon Lilley | Group Development Chef
Jon started out as a chef over twenty years ago and has led the kitchen teams of some of the biggest staff catering sites in London. His experience working across many of our sites created a framework for the innovation and development in his role as Group Development Chef, leading the food team.
Jon ensures we continue to innovate and lead the way when it comes to providing fresh and tasty food to people at work. He works closely with our existing sites and sales team to develop menus and ensure our offer continues to meet each client’s needs.
He has played a huge role in helping the business attract and retain talented chefs, having coached over 20 chefs through his kitchen into more senior roles across Lexington. In addition to inspiring our chefs through organising chef forums, supporting our apprentice programme and managing events, he has also invested a considerable amount of time to drive sustainability across the business.
Dan Rampat | New Business & Innovation chef
Dan joined Lexington Catering in February 2018, working with the wider chef development team to ensure we deliver a continually fresh offer.
Dan’s forward-thinking approach to innovative culinary provision is recognised by all of the Lexington family. Dan will lead on the implementation of our forward-thinking and on-trend food strategy, working closely with the Sales and Marketing team. Dan will also ensure that new and market-leading culinary innovation is rolled out to the wider business.
After graduating from Westminster College he worked for a prestigious hotel, in Austria, and then Boodle’s Private Members’ Club, in London. It was whilst he was here that he really got a sense of the importance of using fresh, local, produce.
Dan is incredibly passionate about all things food. With a father from Guyana and mother from Austria he has been exposed to a variety of foods and flavours. His father loved cooking so they used to spend lots of time together in the kitchen and it was then that he fell in love with exotic spices and flavours that make the cuisine so unique.
Not only is he bringing his artistic skills but he is helping the wider team get a real sense of what ingredients can be used to create authentic cuisines from around the globe.
Richard Glass | Head of Lexington Independents
Richard has over 30 years of experience of working within the catering industry, across the UK, Ireland and USA. In this time, he has held multiple leadership roles with some of the catering industry’s biggest players - The Restaurant Group PLC, Mitchells & Butlers, Paramount Restaurants and most recently Tesco Hospitality.
Richard brings vast operational experience of managing, and growing, multi-faceted nationwide accounts to Lexington Independents. He takes great professional interest in engaging and developing his teams to achieve success and career progression. It is this passion for people development and sharing in success that plays a pivotal role in growing the Lexington Independents business.
Ben McEwen | Sales Director, Lexington Independents
Ben returned to Lexington towards the end of 2018, joining as Sales Director to lead the team on all business tenders and acquisitions.
He has a wide-range of hospitality experience across a variety of sectors, from corporate, retail and commercial to tech, start-ups, destination and large-scale events. This includes running the catering operation for the world’s press and broadcast at London 2012.
Having previously worked at Lexington as a General Manager, after completing the Graduate Programme, Ben is enjoying being part of the Lexington family again, helping the team to drive growth and continue to embed Lexington’s core values.
Ben also works hard to support emerging talent. Having graduated with a degree in International Hospitality Management in 2008 from Oxford Brooks he now mentors students. He is also a trustee of two charities in the Thames Valley, including No 5 a mental health charity set up to support children and young people.
Steven Snowdon | Group Development Chef
Steve joined the culinary team as Lead Development chef in 2022, having joined Lexington from Tom Kerridge restaurants in December 2021 (as Group Project Chef).
As a strategic member of the Lexington food team, Steve will be responsible for providing our teams with the necessary tools to deliver a high standard of food across the Lexington estate, both n retail, hospitality and events.
Steven has opened restaurants and pop-ups from the ground up. He brings a real creative flair to the kitchen that values seasonal, local, fresh produce and a commitment to preserve culinary traditions.
As well as doing chef consultancy in Japan, the Philippines, and London, he has also opened up restaurants in Singapore.
He has a lot of experience teaching cookery and has mentored and trained dozens of young people and helped them make their first steps into a chef’s career. Steven is passionate about food and loves sharing his vast knowledge of modern British, European, and Asian cuisines.
Jessica Osborn | People Manager, Lexington Independents
With over 10 years’ experience, spanning several industries and sectors, Jessica comes to Lexington with a vast HR understanding. Specialising in employee relations she takes a professional interest in making sure team members are treated fairly across the Lexington business.
Jessica’s passion for all things HR, people and training comes across from the first time you meet her!
Roshni Kondakis | Dietitian
Roshni works with Richard and Jon to ensure the menus we provide balanced, healthy and nutritious options across the day. She works closely with our Food Development Team to ensure all healthy eating initiatives are evidence based.
