Ravenous – How to Get Ourselves and Our Planet into Shape

6pm Thursday 1 May 2025

Henry Dimbleby is one of the UK’s leading voices on food systems, health, and sustainability. He co-founded and led the Leon restaurant chain, known for its mission to make fast food taste good and do you good. Under his leadership and that of his business partner John Vincent, Leon grew into a £100 million international business, before being sold in 2021.

As an advisor to the UK government, Dimbleby authored two landmark independent reviews that have shaped national policy. The School Food Plan (2013) introduced free school meals for children under eight and made cooking lessons mandatory for students up to age 14. His National Food Strategy (2021), praised by both the footballer Marcus Rashford and King Charles III, has significantly influenced both Conservative and Labour government policies. It was described by Prue Leith as “the best government document that’s ever come out”. He was the lead non-executive board member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2018 to 2023.

In 2023, Henry co-authored Ravenous: How to Get Ourselves and Our Planet into Shape with his wife, Jemima Lewis. A Sunday Times bestseller, the book was celebrated by The Guardian as a “shocking and highly readable account” of how to tackle the intersecting crises of public health and climate change.

Dimbleby is now the co-founder and Managing Partner of Bramble Partners, which invests in food businesses which are playing an active role in fixing the system and advises companies, governments, and NGOs on how to accelerate that change.

Dimbleby also co-founded the not-for-profit Sustainable Restaurant Association in 2009 and the charity Chefs in Schools in 2018, which he chairs. He previously worked as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company; as a journalist at The Daily Telegraph; and as a commis chef at the Michelin-starred Four Seasons Inn on the Park.

Ticket includes a welcome glass of bubbly, author talk of 40 mins and 3-course dinner in the Wilding Kitchen.

Hosted by Charlie Burrell, with audience Q&A and book signing.