James Ellerby

He has worked closely with leading hotels, food businesses, universities, the NHS, local government, stadiums and major event venues to review and develop catering strategies and outlet concepts, manage design projects, and lead partner procurement. James has also written, developed, and delivered training programmes for leading international hotel, travel, and leisure operators. Qualified to master’s level in Organisation Development and Consultancy, James is a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and is an experienced university lecturer in hospitality management. 

Russell Partnership Collection are the UK’s leading Food, Nutrition and Technology Collection delivering creative and commercially viable results to over 600 clients across 30 countries, including over 100 UK universities. 

“Switching the lights on in university academic venues”

Academic venues are renowned for having great event spaces, but are often constrained by institutional priorities, and are now under increasing pressure to deliver commercially. This talk draws upon the work of CUBO and Russell Partnership to highlight the power of benchmarking, data-informed decision-making, and enabling continuous improvement.