Simon Woods

I started my professional career at The Savoy Hotel in London before working at many

of the best kitchens in the country, including Wentworth Club, Sopwell House

and Luton Hoo hotels.

I then taught and trained at Westminster Kingsway College and the University of West London, becoming a qualified

chef lecturer, before moving into a chef development role with Bettys and Taylors of

Harrogate.

I have won many cooking and BBQ competitions including Grand

Champion at the British Open Freestyle BBQ Championship in 2024 and 2025 and

numerous gold medals at Hotelympia.

I am the co-founder of Hog & Beyond, a street food and BBQ company

which uses Cranswick’s pork and chicken to showcase local produce with global

flavours at food festivals and BBQ competitions across the world – many of my

BBQ recipes and techniques are found in both White Meat and Omnivore cookbooks.