Wednesday 14th July 2010 / 06.30pm / £150 + VAT

Description

Sinclair Beecham graduated from the Polytechnic of Central London in 1983 after studying Urban Estate Management, where he met Julian Metcalfe. He then joined Crest Estates, a property developer as development and marketing executive.

He then teamed up with his partner Julian Metcalfe to form Pret A Manger. .

In 2002 McDonald’s reached an agreement to acquire a minority interest in Pret A Manger. Founders Julian Metcalfe and Sinclair Beecham said, “.Since opening the first Pret A Manger in 1986, we have been obsessed with selling good natural food to people who are in a rush at lunchtime. After 14 years, we are fortunate to have thousands of loyal customers in the U.K. and many visitors who have urged us to open Pret A Manger abroad. But to do this, we need a huge amount of support. Every new country will be an enormous challenge.”

In 2009 Sinclair Beecham sold his remaining stake in Pret A Manger.

He was a non executive Director of Virgin Active. In 2005 it was sold back to Virgin Group at an enterprise value of approx £350m with 20 Health Clubs in the UK, 8 in Italy, 6 in Spain and 77 in South Africa. He resigned from the company after the sale. He was also a non-executive director of Molton Brown which was sold to Kao for approx £170m in 2005. Again, he resigned from the company after the sale.

Sinclair Beecham has now moved into the hotel business. He is the Founder and Chairman of WS Hotel Ltd and has opened the Hoxton, a 205-bed hotel in which he invested £18 million. It opened in September 2006 in Shoreditch, East London.

Format

6:30pm – Meet in the vault for pre-dinner drinks
7.00pm – Chaired cross table discussion with John over 3 course meal with wine
9.15pm – Coffee and Supper Club feedback and updates 9.30pm – Retire to bar for optional drinks and networking

Please let us know of any dietary requirements in advance