Laurie Farris

Minister Counselor for Commercial Service at the U.S. Embassy

Mrs Laurie Farris took up the post in London in August 2023. Her previous assignment was as the Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China from August 2021 to May 2023.  Prior to her assignment to China, she was the acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Asia where she led the U.S. Commercial Service in fourteen countries across Asia, and a team of trade experts in headquarters. She is a twenty-seven-year veteran of the U.S Foreign Service.

From 2016 to 2019, Mrs. Farris was the Director of the Office of Digital Initiatives of Global Markets, International Trade Administration.  From 2013 to 2016, she served as the Executive Director for Asia.  Mrs. Farris has also served at the U.S. Embassy in Brussels, Belgium, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Amman, Jordan, Toulouse France and Paris France, as well as U.S. assignments in Chicago and Washington DC.

Marc Gorton

Regional Director of International Subsidiary Banking

Marc has in excess of 20 years’ experience with HSBC as a front line banker and leader across a variety of client segments from start up, SME’s, private equity owned and PLC’s. For the last 12 months he has led our International Subsidiary business regionally leading a team of Relationship Director’s assisting businesses to understand how HSBC can help them to operate globally via HSBC’s overseas capabilities.

Jamie Joyce

Global CEO, Flexeserve

Flexeserve is the world’s leading hot food equipment manufacturer, partnering with and supplying heated displays to global retailers like Pret, Greggs, M&S and Starbucks, helping them sell more and waste less. Jamie’s strong vision for the business has driven progress, with exponential year-on-year sales growth. Flexeserve continues to change the preconceptions of hot-holding and push the boundaries of what can be achieved.

Jamie joined Flexeserve in 1995 at the age of 16 and has since worked in every area of the business. As he progressed in his role, he saw and experienced Flexeserve’s journey from every angle, gaining a holistic view of the company.

He was inspired by the company’s pioneering hot air recirculation technology, which has won two Queen’s Awards for Innovation. Jamie was immensely proud to receive the most recent of these in 2022. Establishing Flexeserve’s competitive advantage within the market, he developed the vision to offer a unique combination of equipment and industry-specific expertise.

Now, Flexeserve’s game-changing products and all-encompassing service, Flexeserve Solution, deliver true hot-holding. Its team of world experts help customers unlock transformational benefits: amazing food quality, extended shelf life, diverse food range, reduced waste, total operational efficiency and happier consumers. Flexeserve Solution also now includes a new cloud-based service, Connect – enabling customers to collate performance data, and control and automate units remotely, helping them sell more and waste less at every location.

Jamie has been spearheading a transatlantic growth strategy. In 2022, he established Flexeserve Inc. and appointed a President to support customers across the Americas and transform the way American operators serve and sell hot food. Last year, the U.S. company celebrated the Grand Opening of its HQ in Southlake, Dallas TX, showcasing the new cutting-edge Culinary Support Center, extensive showroom and fully equipped studio and training facility.

Over the last 12 months, the business has built an extensive network of reps and authorised dealers that can now access this fantastic new facility and a team of U.S.-based experts to support customers throughout North America.

A brand of The Alan Nuttall Partnership and an Employee Ownership Trust, Flexeserve is a Patron of the Greater Birmingham Transatlantic Chamber of Commerce and of BABC Texas. They were winners of the GBCC 2022 awards for Excellence in International Business and Sales & Marketing, and in 2023 won LeicestershireLive’s Business of the Year and Global Britain Award.

Warwick Wakefield

Director of Customer Experience , Flexeserve

Involved in every element of the customer interface, Warwick is responsible for the sales, marketing and culinary support areas of the brand. He ensures that customers have the best possible experience of Flexeserve Solution – the industry’s only hot-holding service.

Warwick first joined Flexeserve as Development Chef in 2014, a time when the business was undergoing significant growth, with evolving demands for its core technology. Working closely with Flexeserve’s Global CEO – Jamie Joyce, Warwick was pivotal in unlocking a new business opportunity by developing Flexeserve Solution. This six-part, all-encompassing service supports Flexeserve’s world-leading foodservice equipment and sits at the core of today’s customer experience.

As the brand’s unique defining proposition, Flexeserve Solution helps retailers refine their hot food operation – or build one from the ground up – to achieve the best results from their hot food range. To help craft a complete solution for end users, Warwick also built relationships with key partners in food packaging and manufacturing.

In appointing Warwick to the newly formed Board of Management in 2022, his accountabilities included supporting the company’s wider strategic activity to shape its sustainable future and develop its global operations, including the brand’s transatlantic journey to expand into the Americas.

Today, Warwick is involved in every element of Flexeserve Solution, leading a team of in-house experts in sales, culinary and implementation that partner with customers to establish a tailored solution for their hot-holding requirements. Working closely with the brand’s creative team on a breadth of marketing assets, communications and digital presence, as well as a global programme of exhibitions and events, he is pivotal in the development of Flexeserve’s marketing and business strategy.