Local businesses win cookery challenge

24th June 2013

Yorkshire Bank ambassador Brian Turner led a team of local businesses – dubbed the Green Peppers – to victory in a cookery challenge among Birmingham professionals and business owners.
 
The television chef directed Yorkshire Bank customers Richard and Helen McCulloch (Cab Automotive), Henry Briggs (Haines Watts), David Doogan (Pinsent Masons), Sinita Kenth (Corporate Wear UK) and Martin Poole (Yorkshire Bank) in the cook-off at The Orange Kitchen Cookery School at Becketts Farm, Wythall, Birmingham, also a business customer of the Bank.
 
The team created a three-course menu made up of ingredients from the farm.
 
Judges Simon Beckett, managing director of Becketts Farm, and Richard Wallace, head of Yorkshire Bank’s Business and Private Banking Centre in Birmingham, handed victory to the Green Peppers.
 
Becketts Farm chef Simon Smith was in charge of opponents – the Red Tomatoes - who consisted of six more Yorkshire Bank customers – Jayne Smith and Barrie Smith (In Transit), Anne Wilkinson (GrowthAccelerator), Dani Saveker (Families In Business), Adam Jones (Sterling Power) and Jag Khatkar (Oakview Care).
 
Richard Wallace, head of Yorkshire Bank’s Business & Private Banking Centre in Birmingham, said Brian and Simon had been full of enthusiasm and ideas for the challenge.
 
Richard said: “The team at Becketts Farm was really accommodating and Brian was enthusiastic and encouraging but at times challenging his team to do the best they could.
 
“The 12 customers were split into two teams and although they didn’t know each other, everyone worked together and came up with some great ideas from the basket of food they were given.
 
“They showed why they are successful in business because they quickly got to grips with the task, were creative and had a really good plan in delivering a quality product.
 
Holly Beckett, of Becketts Farm, said it had been a pleasure to host the cookery challenge.
 
She said: “We used locally-sourced ingredients for all the recipes and I was impressed with the dishes that both teams created. It was great to have Brian here in our training kitchen and his sense of fun and knowledge impressed everyone who took part.”