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VACANCIES
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David Edwards - Vice President of RHC NY
David Edwards moved from the UK to the US in 1995. He has worked in the luxury hotel, casino, independent restaurant and catering markets in L.A. Las Vegas, Hawaii, TX and NY.
Most recently David served as Regional Director of Starr Catering NY, overseeing revenue growth strategies and improving performance at Carnegie Hall, NY Historical Society, NY Botanical Garden, The Rubin Museum of Art and all off premise events.
In 1995, David worked alongside PB Jacobse and Alexandra Metz at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
As Vice President of RHC NY, David oversees all aspects of operations and mobilization of the NY portfolio of businesses, and provides direct leadership and oversight to Sonnier & Castle by RHC, Wild ink and Peak.
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Richard Prosser, Chairman
Richard has spent the vast majority of his Executive career in the global leisure, travel and tourism industry. He was on the Boards of the FTSE listed companies; First Choice Holidays Plc. and TUI Travel Plc. for 14 years. At TUI, he was CEO of the highly profitable Specialist Division, which comprised a portfolio of 35 premium travel companies in diverse international sectors, ranging from luxury bespoke and experiential holidays, to complex and adventurous ’round-the-world’ expeditions in customised private jets.
Over the past six years Richard has Chaired several successful high quality, private equity backed businesses including Audley Travel, CarTrawler and Tusker.
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P.B. Jacobse, Chief Executive Officer
P.B. has over 20 years’ experience in the food and beverage industry and is a respected figure in the community. After completing a Bachelor Degree of Business Administration at Maastricht Hotel Management School in the Netherlands, P.B. left for the US where he completed the Hospitality Summer Program at Cornell University. Upon graduation P.B. worked at the world-renowned Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York for 5 years. In 2005 P.B. was appointed as the first Managing Director and board member of rhubarb.
In his tenure at rhubarb P.B. has been instrumental in developing and implementing rhubarb’s business strategy, driving the portfolio development from a single channel events business to a multi-channel business incorporating events and locations, significantly increasing the group’s revenue.
As CEO, P.B. has an unwavering commitment to driving the company vision.
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Helen Bowey, Chief Development Officer
Helen has over 20 years’ experience in the food and beverage industry. Since joining rhubarb in 1998, she has overseen a number of different departments, accumulating a wealth of experience in all fields including Operations, Human Resources, Finance, Marketing, Health and Safety, Purchasing and IT. Helen was appointed as a board member in 2003 and was instrumental in the development of Sky Garden and Pilots at Terminal 5.
In her role as Chief Development Officer Helen is responsible for growth within the current portfolio of locations, and new acquisitions both in the UK and Internationally.
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Laraine Beament, Chief Financial Officer
After qualifying as a chartered accountant, Laraine Beament embarked on her financial career in the music industry, starting as a management accountant working for a record label, thereafter moving into media and film.
In 2003 Laraine was approached to join rhubarb and in her first six years, Laraine strategically facilitated rhubarb’s financial development and was instrumental in the company’s impressive revenue growth. In 2009 Laraine was appointed to the board.
As Chief Financial Officer Laraine is responsible for establishing major corporate financial strategies, objectives and policies for the Group.
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Coen Van Niersen, Chief Operating Officer
Coen has spent the vast majority of his career in the hospitality industry, having worked in Food and Beverage and Hotel Management roles in a variety of 4 and 5 star hotels in Europe.
Most recently Coen was General Manager of the renowned W Hotel in Leicester Square, after which he joined Californian aviation start-up Surf Air and launched their European chapter.
Coen joined rhubarb in 2017 and oversees the company’s day to day operations on all fronts. He holds a Bachelor from Hotel School The Hague and an Executive MBA from INSEAD.
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Amanda Underwood, Chief People Officer
Amanda started her career in Operational Management before moving into HR in 2002. An accomplished HR Director with a passion for growth and a track record of succeeding in dynamic and fast-paced industries. Amanda has held senior HR roles with Gordon Ramsay Holdings and Pizza Express; during which time the business grew from 325 to 450 restaurants and expanded into Asia. Most recently Amanda was Group HR Director at WSH.
Amanda joined rhubarb in 2018 and leads the People function to include talent management, learning and development, employee engagement and reward and recognition.
With a wealth of experience in hospitality in the UK as well as overseas, Amanda is perfectly placed to lead the People strategy as rhubarb grows in the USA and has a commitment to fostering a culture of inclusion and diversity.
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Katie Harel, Marketing Director
Katie has over 15 years’ marketing experience gained within luxury hotels; including The Lanesborough and The Dorchester, where her team won the much-coveted Cateys award for “marketing campaign of the year”.
Prior to rhubarb Katie was based in Hong Kong for 6 years where she held senior marketing positions at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and The Langham.
Katie joined the rhubarb team in 2014 and leads marketing, communications PR and creative for the business. Katie also supports the acquisition team on new business tenders and pitches.
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Chris Rettie, Director of rhubarb at the Royal Albert Hall
With a degree from Oxford Brookes University, Chris has worked in several of London’s finest hotels. Most notably spending nine years holding various Events and Food & Beverage Management positions at The Savoy and The Lanesborough Hotel.
Having joined rhubarb, Chris was challenged with the newly won prestigious Royal Albert Hall contract, where through focusing on the customer journey, core product and growing the breath of the offer Chris led the team to double the turnover in the first term.
Chris continues to strategically drive the business forwards to identify new opportunities as well as being charged with the responsibility of mobilising Mamma Mia! The Party and working on other new business.
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Sebastian Grygier, Director of Sky Garden
Sebastian has over 15 years experience in the luxury hospitality industry with time spent at a number of 5 star hotels and resorts across the globe; from Europe to Asia and America.
His early career days were spent working in his family hospitality business in Germany, Sebastian developed his love of food and beverage and from here he quickly worked up the ranks holding various positions in reputable international restaurants, resorts and hotels. His previous roles include looking after the expansive Food and Beverage operations for the famous Sandy Lane in Barbados and The Setai in South Beach, Miami.
Sebastian joined rhubarb in March 2015 as the Deputy Director at the iconic Royal Albert Hall where he efficiently managed a large team across the six dining spaces, fourteen bars as well as the hospitality for the venue’s spectacular shows. In November 2017 Sebastian was appointed Director of Sky Garden, a position he has earned through his hard work and focus on quality and attention to detail. Sebastian aims to take the Sky Garden to new heights under his leadership with a strong management structure and team ethos.
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Patrick Donaldson, Director of London Event Sales
Patrick joined rhubarb as an event planner in 2007 and quickly became an integral part of the events team. Within his first few years at rhubarb, Patrick was made a senior planner and was involved in planning Simon Cowell’s 50th birthday party at Wrotham Park, as well as a state visit by Nicolas Sarkozy to Gabon. Patrick is now Director of London Events Sales and manages the complex quoting and conversion system we have put in place as well as the excellent CRM database.
Patrick loves the personal and professional triumph of delivering large, complex and creatively driven events and is proud to work directly with such top-class London and international venues.
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Sarah Hammond, Director
Sarah has lived and breathed the catering industry from a young age. After training as a chef, Sarah travelled the globe extending her culinary knowledge. On her return to the UK she worked as a chef for several prestigious companies, including Leslie and Godwin, Golladetz and the Hay’s Group. At the same time, Sarah was busy building up the family business, and after her first daughter was born, she started working full-time for Cottage Caterers, now rhubarbCranleigh.
Since then, Sarah has worked tirelessly to grow the company and has been instrumental in building a business that is known for its dedication to quality and taste. Sarah has catered for a diverse range of events, from intimate dinners for ten to spectacular galas and royal occasions for over 1,000 guests. Her wonderful charm and extensive experience make her every bride’s caterer of choice.
Today Sarah is director of rhubarb Cranleigh and oversees all aspects of operations, cooking and planning.
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Chris Hammond, Director
Chris heads up service, logistics and finance at rhubarb Cranleigh. After meeting Sarah at catering college, he became instrumental to the Cottage Caterers team, managing contracts, perfecting logistics, and just about everything else vital to a seamless service.
Today Chris still manages many ground-up aspects of rhubarb Cranleigh events and more recently has taken on much of the administration and strategy involved in developing business at rhubarb Cranleigh.
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Alex Metz - Events Director, Peak Events
As a seasoned, creative and passionate sales professional, Alex has more than 20 years of experience in the luxury event space in New York, working with the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, CxRA and Constellation Culinary Group.
Alex joined RHC’s US team in January 2018, assisting and leading various tasks related to operations in New York such as brand development, financial planning, analysis of competitive sets, development of vendor relations as well as catering sales, planning, coordination and execution of events; from small exclusive dinners to large scale celebrations.
Alex was appointed as Events Director in May 2019, and oversees the sales and delivery of Peak Events, a spectacular venue on 101th Floor of 30 Hudson Yards, opening March 2020.
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Russ Sonnier - Director, Sonnier & Castle by RHC
After college, Russ left Louisiana for New York City where he worked at a travel agency during the day and developed his culinary skills in the evenings as a chef for Glorious Food.
From 1990 through 1997, Russ worked exclusively for Henry Kravis as a private chef. Traveling more than one million miles during that period. Russ was encouraged by Kravis to experiment with local foods and to get a sense of local cultures – an experience that Russ describes as “the best education in the world.”
Having satisfied his taste for travel, Russ returned to New York City and forged a partnership with David Castle in 1997 their company, now known as Sonnier & Castle by RHC
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David Castle - Director, Sonnier & Castle by RHC
While attending Syracuse University, David worked to fulfill his hopes to train as a chef by washing dishes in exchange for cooking lessons from friends at La Varenne Cooking School in Paris.
Upon returning to New York in 1982, David spent 6 years under the umbrella of Glorious Food, where he met associate Russ Sonnier. Following a stint in California, David left In 1993, David left California to work and travel with Sonnier and client Henry Kravis.
During their shared travel and professional experiences, David and Russ decided to create their own catering force, and thus began their partnership in 1997, now known as Sonnier & Castle by RHC.