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Brian Turner

 

They say political dictators employ body doubles to help them honour all of their public engagements. Clearly chefs must be following suit. How else could you explain how Brian Turner manages to squeeze as much into every day as he does?

 

This year's Catey Special Award winner achieves more in a year than many of us achieve in a lifetime, juggling TV appearances, charitable and social commitments and book launches. And he still finds time to oversee two highly respected restaurants.

 

As judge Amanda Afiya said: "He's everywhere. He's got so much energy. He's on the telly, he's in his restaurants, he's involved in more initiatives than you could name, and now he's on the motorway with his range of sandwiches. He must have doppelgéngers!"

 

Turner honed his chef skills at some of Europe's most prestigious venues, including London's Simpson's in the Strand, the Savoy Grill, Claridge's and the Capital - where he earned a Michelin star with Richard Shepherd.

 

By 1986, he had opened his first restaurant, Turner's, in  Knightsbridge. Though he sold this site in 2001, two other restaurants, Brian Turner's Restaurant in Birmingham and London's Brian Turner Mayfair, had opened by 2003.

 

A regular guest on TV's Ready, Steady Cook, the Food and Drink programme and Granada's This Morning, Brian has also written a line of cookery books, the latest of which, Favourite British Recipes, was published last year.

 

Despite all these commitments, Brian makes time to be a tireless supporter of a host of hospitality charities. A Springboard ambassador and Trustee of the Academy of Culinary Arts' Adopt a School Trust (which promotes food awareness among children), he also supports Barnado's, CancerBacup, the Anthony

 

Nolan Bone Marrow Trust and Children in Need. In recognition of these good works, Brian was awarded a CBE in June, 2002.

 

"Unselfish, generous - and omnipresent" are the words Catey judge Hans Lindh used to describe Brian. "He single-handedly manages to support industry in a way that most large companies struggle to match. It's extraordinary that an individual finds the energy to invest so much time and knowledge in the industry, while running his own businesses."