Businesses must be tech-savvy, improve their service standards and ensure their menus and design are innovative if they are to succeed in the future.

An exceptional sommelier is proud of his work and adaptable to any given situation, according to the UK Sommelier of the Year 2011, Yohann Jousselin.

Brett Graham, chef owner of The Ledbury in Notting Hill, entered the S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards for the first time at number 34 this year.

Rasmus Kofoed, the Danish winner of the 2011 Bocuse d’Or and chef proprietor of Geranium in Copenhagen, has defied the odds and won a bronze, silver and now gold trophy in what is known as the Oscars of the culinary world.

Boutique hotel chain Hotel du Vin intends to grow its standalone Bistro du Vin concept to 12 sites by 2015 - concentrating only on London.

Raymond Blanc has set the benchmark for the UK hospitality sector for decades, with many chefs and waiters benefiting from his Oxfordshire hotel and restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons’ inspirational development and training practices.

With the 2012 London Olympics fast approaching, the hospitality industry needs to step up its service standards to provide visitors with a warm, British welcome.

Claude Bosi, chef proprietor of Hibiscus in London has recently been described as delivering “original, complex and highly-imaginative cooking” by Restaurant magazine, who claim he could be the best chef in the UK.

Jason Atherton is on the cusp of opening his first London restaurant apart from Gordon Ramsay Holdings, months after launching his first solo project in Shanghai.

Jason Atherton is on the cusp of opening his first London restaurant apart from Gordon Ramsay Holdings, months after launching his first solo project in Shanghai.