Inspirational Leaders

Soren Lascelles
Executive Chef | Grand Hyatt Hong Kong

Soren is the Executive Chef of the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong and has previously held the title at the Grand Hyatt and the Andaz in Singapore. He With more than 20 years international experience in the F&B industry, Soren has achieved notable international accolades such as Electrolux Young Chef Award and the People’s Choice Award at the Venice World Cooking Cup. His rich leadership experiences to share from his journey, as well as perspectives for the future of the industry and outlook for Hong Kong.

Liam Collette
Managing Director | Bakehouse

Based out of Hong Kong, until recently Liam led the international business including market expansion, company owned operations and franchise management for Pizza Express, consisting of over 80 restaurants across 10 markets. Prior to moving into F&B, Liam worked for GM, one of the Big 4 and a UK retail bank. Over the past 12 years with PizzaExpress, he has launched new markets in India, China, SE Asia and Europe. Liam is a Board Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the F&B committee.

Matthew McKenzie
Key Account Director | Swire Coca-Cola 

Matthew has been a leader in supporting Australian F&B businesses into the Mainland China and Hong Kong marketplaces over the past 10 years. With innocent drinks in Hong Kong, Matthew applies is experiences to lead the team to immerse and expand a specialized brand in the Hong Kong market as well as across Asia. Across Australia and internationally, Matthew shares his reflections on international expansion and brand growth, and the opportunities ahead on the supply side in the Hong Kong market.

Tegan Waters
General Manager | Feste Group

Tegan Waters is passionate and highly experienced with over fifteen years in the hospitality industry. She began her Hong Kong career as an Events and Marketing Manager at Pomegranate Kitchen in 2014, during which she demonstrated her excellent interpersonal skills to build relationships quickly with clients, colleagues, and vendors alike. Joining Madame Fù Grand Cafe Chinois for three successful years before moving on to becoming General Manager of Gingers, she has now taken on the challenge to lead the team at Feste Group.

Along with her knowledge and dedication, Tegan is committed to delivering exceptional experiences to each client every single time.  Her goal is to try to reinvent events and catering in a way that brings a spark of excitement and novelty to each affair – while everything has been done before, everyone wants the newest and latest thing.  She’s driven to make that happen.  Building long-standing relationships with clients, she establishes trust and reliability that she can always be counted on to make each event a resounding success.

She is an inspiring and constructive leader, who exceeds at communication and high-level strategic thinking. Her confidence and leadership have made her best suited to guide the Feste team to becoming the finest there is in Hong Kong.  What’s important to Tegan is being able to mentor and teach her team, then allowing them to flourish with her complete faith in their abilities.  She has built an open environment where everyone feels supported by her guidance and is self-assured to go full speed ahead to create the best experiences for each and every client.