Academic Governance

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As a recognised awarding organisation recognised and regulated by Ofqual, the UK government regulatory body for qualifications in England, CTH operates to exacting standards of academic governance.

Full details of procedures, oversight, and academic control are available to relevant authorities on request.

At the highest level, all academic matters are overseen by the CTH Advisory Board which is made up of experienced and responsible industry and educational practitioners with specialist expertise in the sector. In addition to the external industry and academic members listed below, three senior CTH staff sit on this Board to represent the CTH executive.

Meet the CTH Advisory Board

A circle cropped headshot photo of CTH Advisory Board member, Alistair Sandall

Alistair Sandall

Hospitality consultant

Alistair Sandall has a wealth of experience in the hospitality sector. Having studied at what is now West London University and trained with Concord Hotels, he worked his way up the ladder in management positions with spells in the UK and South Africa. He worked as a general manager for over 20 years with Macdonald Hotels & Resorts, Thistle Hotels, and Hanover International Hotels & Clubs. He also spent three years with Southern Sun Hotels in South Africa and joined AA Hotel & Hospitality Services in 2006, rising to Commercial Manager. He continued to inspect hotels and restaurants for a period of over 11 years, as well as heading up the training and consultancy division and looking after key client relationships.

He then served as Head of Professional Development at the Institute of Hospitality for 5 years, before going freelance to focus on different projects, currently with Quality International Assessment Services and consulting on F&B with Countrywide Hotels, as well as undertaking ‘mystery guest’ activities.

He is a member of the Tourism Society, a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, chairs the UK Hospitality Heart of England region and sits on the Advisory Board of Professional Assessment Limited – an End Point Assessment organisation.”


A circle cropped headshot photo of CTH Advisory Board member, Allan Pickett

Allan Pickett

Culinary consultant

Allan first trained as a pastry chef and then made the change over to the hot kitchen while working for Albert Roux’s Roux Fine Dining in the early 1990s. Allan has headed up some on London’s finest kitchens and has also worked with many high calibre chefs including the likes of Chris and Jeff Galvin, Nico Ladenis and Marco Pierre White. He also enjoyed his time working with the inspirational Ken McCulloch from the Dakota Hotel Brand while at Aviator. Allan is now currently heading up the kitchens at Pavilion Private Members Club in Knightsbridge which is overseen by the Tom Kerridge Group.


Amanda Ball

Head of Curriculum for Business, Travel & Tourism, and Hospitality & Event Management at North Kent College


A circle cropped headshot photo of CTH Advisory Board member, Ben Purton

Ben Purton

Culinary consultant

Having started cooking at 16, Ben has gone on to work in some of the UK's most prestigious and interesting kitchens from The Carlton Tower Hotel, Selfridges Department Store, Hyatt Regency London - The Churchill, Goldman Sachs, The Royal Horseguards Hotel & the Royal Lancaster London. During decades of working in high end establishments Ben’s kitchens were also used for the trade tests on MasterChef UK.

Sourcing and cooking local, seasonal and sustainable products is one of Ben’s culinary passions and being an ambassador for the charity Springboard UK and working closely with many schools, colleges and universities, Ben is also extremely passionate about developing and cultivating the skills of young Chefs.

Ben studied at Waltham Forest College where he completed both the 706 and NVQ qualifications. Ben then went in to complete an advanced diploma in culinary arts at TVU in Slough achieving a distinction grade.

In a quest for constant development, Ben only recently in 2018 completed a level 5 in leadership & management with Umbrella Training and qualified as an End Point Assessor completing his Cava Level 3 Award.

Ben has strong links with the industry working with as well as those already mentioned - Craft Guild of Chefs, Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, Chaine des Rotisseurs, Westminster Kingsway College, University of West London, EHAP and The Clink.


A circle cropped headshot photo of CTH Advisory Board member, Professor Graham Spickett-Jones

Professor Graham Spickett-Jones

Head of Department for Marketing, Fashion, Hospitality and Tourism at Coventry University London Campus

Graham is Head of Department for Marketing, Fashion, Hospitality and Tourism at Coventry University London Campus, where he helps to coordinate the work of the three academic subject groups in the Department. He is also a Principal Lecturer and his academic interests focus on marketing, especially within promotional marketing and the use of media in campaign practice.

Qualifications include: BA (Hons), Dip.M, MA, PhD, MCIM, MIDM, SFHEA

Graham has published in international academic journals up to a four star profile, and he has written for trade marketing publications, and written chapters for popular textbooks. In over two decades as an academic, Graham has had academic and senior management roles in business schools at a number of other Universities in the UK and the US, including Queen Mary University of London, the University of East Anglia, the University of Hull, the University of Lincoln and the University of Notre Dame.

As well as carrying out teaching, research, administrative and management roles, his academic career has involved regular contact with industry through consultancy, knowledge transfer activity and working with professional institutes. He has professional marketing qualifications and membership of a number of professional bodies. He completed his PhD at the University of Hull, and he has a master’s degree in marketing and a first degree, in communication studies, which involved studying social psychology and media studies; these themes have informed his teaching and research interests across his academic career.

Before his academic career, Graham worked in industry in marketing, sales management and retail development, mainly in the beverage sector. In the commercial world, he worked on brand management and business development, and he led PR driven campaigns that achieved prominent national publicity.


A circle cropped headshot photo of CTH Advisory Board member, Keyth E Richardson

Keyth E Richardson

Hospitality consultant

Keyth has been the General Secretary of the CTH Advisory Board since 2009. He recently retired as Catering and Academy Manager at Gloucestershire College, where he was responsible for managing a range of courses from Schools Links for 14-16 year olds to a Foundation Degree, whilst also running three commercial restaurant operations offering a fine dining experience in a teaching and learning environment, and running the college’s £1m in-house catering provision across seven campuses.

He has over 30 years’ experience teaching catering, hospitality and tourism in a number of Further and Higher Education Institutions in the UK and Hong Kong. His work in industry includes contract catering management and head chef at Britain’s first theme park, Thorpe Park. He has experience as an external moderator and examiner with BTEC and AQA/C&G and consultancy with Hong Kong Tourist Association and Barrelfield Golf Network. In 2014 he published a book on Basic Cookery for Foundation Learners.

He is a Fellow of Confederation of Tourism and Hospitality FCTH, holds a Cert Dip AF from the ACCA and is a retired Fellow of both the Institute of Learning and Institute of Hospitality.


A circle cropped headshot photo of CTH Advisory Board member, Salvatore Fernandez

Salvatore Fernandez

Hotel & Hospitality Executive Search Consultant

Salvatore has more than 30 years’ experience in the hospitality industry and a proven track record of personally and successfully conducting his own restaurants and managing hotels. Having been a GM and MD, he appreciates the demands and pressures of running a successful hospitality business. Attraction, selection, recruitment and retention of key staff are now his primary focus as he supports his portfolio of carefully selected clients in increasing the profitability of their businesses by employing the right staff.

As Managing Partner at Antal International, Executive Search Consultants to the hotel & hospitality Industry, the key roles he offers is recruitment expertise in sourcing key staff for executive roles including Chief Executives, Directors, General Managers, Operations Managers, Directors of all in-house facilities and services, and Senior Hotel HODs.


A circle cropped headshot photo of CTH Advisory Board member, Sam Coulstock.

Sam Coulstock FIH MIEP

Head of Professional Development at the Institute of Hospitality (IoH)

Sam is currently the Head of Professional Development at the Institute of Hospitality (IoH), the global professional body for hospitality. At the IoH we are driving the CPD strategy, supporting our members globally with lifelong learning opportunities allowing them to raise standards of the profession. Supporting hospitality businesses with providing Company Sponsored Membership to allow them to retain and develop their leadership talent. He is also leading the strategy for our Education Membership Scheme (EMS) offers the Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism (HLT) departments of universities and colleges, the opportunity to sponsor individual Institute membership for their students.

Sam’s career started in hospitality as an apprentice chef, went on to be a F&B Director for an independent hotel. His career moved into Charity and Apprenticeships within the hospitality sector before joining the IoH in August 2021.


A circle cropped headshot photo of CTH Advisory Board member, Stephen Richard Letza

Stephen Richard Letza

Professor of Corporate Governance,
Director of the European Centre for Corporate Governance

Steve is a respected author and Professor of Corporate Governance at Bournemouth University, UK. Previously he held the post of head of department of Accounting, Finance and Economics and Chair in Corporate Governance at Bournemouth University. Steve has also held senior positions at Liverpool John Moores University and Leeds Business School. He is visiting Professor at the Universities of Poznan, Poland and Griffith, Australia.

He has an extensive research and publication record with well over 200 published papers. In 2013 his 2004 paper published in Corporate Governance: an international review was republished as one of the top ten most cited papers to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the journal.

In addition to holding a Masters degree from the University of Manchester and a Doctorate from the University of Bradford, Steve is an elected Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Steve is also a founder member of the Research Forum on Operational Risk, which advises bodies such as the Bank of England on policy. He has also acted as a panel member of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in the UK.

In addition to his research and university work Steve is a non-executive director in four companies. He was a member of the Department for Trade & Industry and the Economics & Social Science Research Council’s jointly sponsored ‘think tank’ on Corporate Governance. A widely sought after specialist, he has worked for government departments and multinationals including the large automotive company, Continental, and the British Broadcasting Authority (BBC).