Lily Bell and Ryan Percopo have been announced as winners at the 2022 Acorn Awards, held at Rudding Park, Harrogate on the 29th and 30th of May. Lily and Ryan were celebrated for their contribution to BaxterStorey, the UK’s leading hospitality provider, where Lily currently works as an account manager, and Ryan as an executive chef.

Since joining BaxterStorey as a trainee manager in 2017, Lily’s progression has been outstanding, rising from department manager to deputy manager, to her current role as an account manager. Aged just 28, Lily now heads a team of 32 employees, as well as studying her Senior Leader Master’s Degree Apprenticeship.

Among her accomplishments, Lily has gone above and beyond to add value to her team. Throughout the pandemic, to lift morale, Lily encouraged her team to give back to the local community and created volunteering days (instead of furlough days) for team members to support a local food bank. She is also a trained mental health first aider providing wellbeing support in her location, which led to her becoming BaxterStorey’s first ‘patch wellbeing and mental health ambassador’.

Commenting on her win, Lily said: “I feel incredibly proud and honoured to have won an Acorn Award. It’s such a prestigious industry accolade, it’s been a career goal of mine for many years. Since joining Baxterstorey I have been fortunate to work in a brilliant team, have great line managers and inspirational mentors and I’m thankful to the business for their support and allowing me to flourish and develop into the manager I am today. I love the hospitality industry and to be recognised for my work and commitment is just fantastic!”

Ryan joined BaxterStorey in 2013 as a commis chef before being promoted to chef de partie at one of BaxterStorey’s most prestigious contracts in London. He then worked his way up the ranks from sous chef to group retail head chef, all before the age of 24. In this role, Ryan was responsible for five kitchens and a team of 15, producing retail, fine dining, a la carte and events hospitality for 800 covers a day. Ryan’s ambition to become an executive chef came true after being headhunted for the role in 2019.

Despite the challenges and uncertainty over the last two years, Ryan remained positive and kept focused on the long-term plan, concentrating on future-proofing his location and securing a future talent pipeline. To name a few of his achievements, he donated £1,000 worth of surplus food from his kitchen following its closure due to the pandemic to The Felix Project, a charity fighting hunger by delivering surplus food to those in need, as well as increasing revenue across his contract by 19% in just two years.

Ryan commented: “Winning an Acorn Award has been a career goal of mine and I was shocked when I found out the news! I’ve been incredibly lucky to work with some amazing people and had great mentors within the business who have supported me and given me the opportunity to progress.”

Sarah Miller, Regional Managing Director at BaxterStorey, added: “It has been fantastic to see two of our London-based stars win these prestigious awards. Both Lily and Ryan have made a great impact at BaxterStorey. We are extremely proud to see their determination, commitment and commerciality recognised at this year’s Acorn Awards. As well as playing an integral role in helping our business succeed, Lily and Ryan have gone the extra mile to drive innovation and consistently show great leadership in the care for their teams”.

The Acorn Awards, affectionately known as the 30 under 30, seek to recognise the brightest prospects in the hospitality industry. Past winners represent every sector of the hospitality industry and have been nominated by their peers for making an impression in their sector.