Chef de Parties Ryan Dare and Ben Edwards, who are both from Coventry, and David Webb, who lives in Kenilworth, will be competing in the UK heat of the International Association of Conference Centres’ (IACC) Copper Skillet competition.

Ryan, Ben and David are members of the catering team at Warwick Conferences, the University of Warwick’s conference, meeting and events business.

They will be in the senior category of the UK heat of the competition, which is open to any chef working at an IACC member venue across the world, taking place at Wyboston Lakes in Bedfordshire on Monday, June 3.

They will be tasked with making a dish suitable for conference catering from a mystery basket of ingredients and then be given 30 minutes to cook and present their dish.

The judges will assess their presentation, balance of flavours, technique and the hygiene standard of their workstation.

The winners of the senior and junior heats will go on to compete in the European final in Belgium in October, with the champions then taking on the winners from The Americas and Australia Asia-Pacific at the IACC Americas Conference in the USA next spring.

Mark Ralph, head of catering at Warwick Conferences, said:

The IACC Copper Skillet competition is a great opportunity for our chefs as it really showcases the skills which each member of the award-winning catering team here at Warwick Conferences possess."

“David, Ryan and Ben all have our full support here at Warwick Conferences and we can’t wait to see what dishes they will create.”

Warwick Conferences’ catering team has been recognised for their support of using local produce and has bronze level accreditation with the Soil Association.

The IACC is a global community of passionate people and companies delivering innovative and exceptional meeting experiences. The Copper Skillet competitions run alongside the annual meetings which take place on a country, regional and global level.