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Michael Aldridge will head Flemingo’s food & beverage division |
INTERNATIONAL. Flemingo International has named Michael Aldridge to head its food & beverage division as it maintains its drive to expand into new markets and channels.
Over the past 15 years Aldridge has worked in various and diverse roles including as a chef at The Connaught in London and as Vice President Global Brand & Marketing at Le Pain Quotidien Headquarters in New York. His career also includes periods at Roux, Eurostar, Gourmet Nova (Swissair) and Nuance.
At Flemingo he will be responsible for establishing the catering strategy for the company and to build the company’s F&B business at target locations. Flemingo said it had plans to open in a number of airports over the coming year, notably where it is also seeking master concessionaire status. In the next quarter it said it would also open outlets at the new Tanger Med Port in Morocco, and a further two outlets in the Caribbean.
Plans are underway for a further 20 sites within the next six months. Aldridge said: “To join Flemingo at this exciting time and head up the food & beverage business is extremely inspiring and motivating for me as there are a number of projects already in the pipeline. Hospitality is in my DNA, and here at Flemingo we are looking at making our mark in travel catering. It’s great to be a part of the team making this happen.”
Aldridge has lived and worked in Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, UK and USA. He is currently pursuing an MBA in international hospitality and service industries management. He also holds certificates in multi-unit restaurant management, food service management and executive leadership from various universities.
Flemingo Group CEO Atul Ahuja said: “We see a number of important aspects in developing our food & beverage expertise, and rolling out exciting facilities under our master retail solutions for medium to small airports, especially where the F&B units naturally fit into our existing geographical locations or other emerging markets strategy.”
