Henry Richard Melville DimblebyMBE(born May 1970)[1]is a British businessman and cookery writer who is a co-founder ofLeon Restaurantsand theSustainable Restaurant Association.He was appointed lead non-executive board member of theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairsin March 2018.[2]He is a son ofBBCbroadcasterDavid Dimblebyand ofJosceline Dimbleby.
Henry Dimbleby | |
|---|---|
 Dimbleby (right) with hisLeon Restaurantsco-founder,John Vincent | |
| Born | Henry Richard Melville Dimbleby May 1970 (age 54) |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Occupation(s) | Cookery writer and businessman |
| Known for | Co-founder ofLeon Restaurants Co-founder of theSustainable Restaurant Association |
| Board member of | Leon Restaurants |
| Spouse | Jemima Lewis |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | David Dimbleby Josceline Dimbleby |
| Relatives | Dimbleby family |
| Website | HenryDimbleby.com |
Early life
editDimbleby was born to broadcasterDavid Dimblebyand cookery writerJosceline Dimblebyin May 1970. His sisterKate Dimblebyis a cabaret singer. He was educated at theDragon SchoolandEton College,where he was aNewcastle scholarand a contemporary of Tory MPJacob Rees-Mogg.[3]Later, he attended theUniversity of Oxfordwhere he read Physics and Philosophy.[4]In 1984, he played Tom Dudgeon in the TV seriesSwallows and Amazons Forever![5]
Career
editCookery writing
editDimbleby's first job was as acommis chefwithMichelin-starredchef Bruno Loubet, before joiningThe Daily Telegraphas a food columnist.[6]
Later, he was a regular cookery columnist forThe Guardian,[7]and has appeared onBBC Radio 4'sThe Kitchen CabinetandBBC One'sSaturday Kitchen.
Management consultancy
editDimbleby worked for management consultantsBain & Cofor seven years from 1995 to 2002.
Restaurant entrepreneurship
editDuring his time at Bain, Dimbleby metJohn Vincent,and together they formulated the idea ofLeon Restaurants.[8]Leon Restaurants was subsequently co-founded by Vincent and Dimbleby with chefAllegra McEvedy.[9][10][11][12]
Dimbleby co-founded the Sustainable Restaurants Association in 2009, and The London Union, which controls some of London’s biggest street food markets.
Campaigning
editSchool meals
editIn 2013, Dimbleby and John Vincent were invited by the then Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove to write a report onschool meals in the United Kingdom.[13]They produced the School Food Plan, which made 17 recommendations to improve the quality of school meals and food education. As a result of the plan, the government now provides free school lunches to all infants in years Reception, 1 and 2. In addition, practical cooking and nutrition is now part of theNational Curriculumfor 4- to 14-year-olds, and two major food flagships have been launched across Lambeth and Croydon.[14][15]On 25 November 2015, the government stated that free infant school meals would be safe from national spending cuts.[16]
National Food Strategy
editIn July 2020 the National Food Strategy, Part One,[17]was published, which Dimbleby led.[18]This proposed actions to help disadvantaged children and to promote environmental and animal welfare standards. The recommendations for disadvantaged children were supported byMarcus Rashfordin his 2020 Covid-related campaign.[19]
Other
editFrom 2018 to 2023, Dimbleby was the a non-executive board member of theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.[20]
In January 2024, Dimbleby founded Bramble Partners, a venture capital firm, that invests in businesses seeking to improve food security.[20]
Recognition
editVincent and Dimbleby were appointedMBEsin the2015 Birthday Honoursfor their work on the School Food Plan.[21][22]
In 2017, Dimbleby received theSustainable Restaurant Association's Raymond Blanc Sustainability Hero award along with Vincent.[23]
Personal life
editDimbleby is married to Jemima Lewis, a journalist.[24]They have three children[25]and live inHackney,east London.[26]
Bibliography
edit- The School Food Plan(2013)
- Dimbleby, Henry; Lewis, Jemima (23 March 2023).Ravenous: How to Get Ourselves and Our Planet Into Shape.United Kingdom:Profile Books.ISBN9781800816510.
References
edit- ^"LEON RESTAURANTS LIMITED - Officers (free information from Companies House)".Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk.Retrieved19 May2016.
- ^"Henry Dimbleby".gov.uk.Retrieved14 January2019.
- ^Hughes, Laura (18 December 2015)."Video: Jacob Rees-Mogg takes down David Dimbleby after attempts to mock his Eton education".The Daily Telegraph.Archived fromthe originalon 18 December 2015.Retrieved19 May2016.
- ^Denham, Annabel (9 June 2014)."Kings of Leon: Meet fast food entrepreneurs Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent".City AM.Retrieved23 July2016.
- ^Henry DimblebyatIMDb
- ^"Henry Dimbleby".NOEL GAY.Retrieved14 January2019.
- ^"Henry Dimbleby".The Guardian.Retrieved19 May2016.
- ^"JavaScript is disabled in your browser".Thecaterer.com.Retrieved19 May2016.
- ^Evans, Simon (16 August 2009)."Henry Dimbleby: nine restaurants and growing".The Independent.London.Retrieved23 September2012.
- ^"John Vincent, co-founder, Leon Restaurants".Marketing.25 September 2013.Retrieved5 October2013.
- ^Bordell, Tom; Jaffer, Mehdi."If God owned McDonald's..."London: The Gateway. Archived fromthe originalon 26 October 2011.Retrieved23 September2012.
- ^"Food chefs: Allegra McEvedy".London:BBC website.Retrieved23 September2012.
- ^"Plan to increase take-up of school dinners launched".gov.uk.Retrieved28 November2023.
- ^Bremner, Myles."School Food Plan".schoolfoodplan.com.Retrieved21 January2015.
- ^Ping, Andrew (1 January 2015)."New rules for healthy school dinners".BBC News.Retrieved21 January2015.
- ^Treanor, Jill; Mason, Rowena (25 November 2015)."Autumn statement and spending review – the key points at a glance".The Guardian.Retrieved14 December2015.
- ^The National Food Strategy: Part One – July 2020
- ^"Like Marcus Rashford, Henry Dimbleby wants to fight food poverty — and he has Government's ear".8 September 2020.
- ^"Marcus Rashford outlines three new initiatives to combat child poverty in letter to No10".September 2020.
- ^abBoles, Tracey (29 January 2024)."Henry Dimbleby sets up fund to transform global food system".The Times.ISSN0140-0460.Retrieved29 January2024.
- ^Burns, Judith (12 June 2015)."MBE honour for school food plan restaurateurs".BBC News.Retrieved14 December2015.
- ^United Kingdom:"No. 61256".The London Gazette(Supplement). 12 June 2015. p. B18.
- ^"The winners of the SRA Food Made Good Awards 2017".Foodism.5 October 2017.Retrieved9 August2020.
- ^"Like Marcus Rashford, Henry Dimbleby wants to fight food poverty — and he has Government's ear".8 September 2020.
- ^Dimbleby, Henry (1 March 2012)."Henry Dimbleby's Diary".Evening Standard.Retrieved31 March2017.
- ^"Like Marcus Rashford, Henry Dimbleby wants to fight food poverty — and he has Government's ear".8 September 2020.