Mark Lewis, Chief Executive of UK hospitality’s benevolent charity, Hospitality Action, has this week joined the Advisory Board of the Accessible Hospitality Alliance (aha).
The announcement follows other recent high profile appointments to the Board, including Donna-Marie Edmonds, Chief Executive of The Clink Charity; former Chief Growth & Marketing Officer for GroupM, Mike Tunnicliffe; and leading inclusive employment and neuro-inclusive access advocate, Richmal Maybank.
Mark’s appointment underlines the aha’s commitment to creating a truly inclusive hospitality industry, one that welcomes everyone through its doors. Hospitality Action’s work to provide lifelines to hospitality workers at crisis point gives it a unique perspective on the impact physical and mental health challenges can have on the individual.
As Editor and Publisher of The Caterer, for well over a decade, Mark steered the media brand’s campaigning editorial work in the field of accessibility. And he was proud to introduce the Accessibility Catey category to the Cateys Awards, in 2008.
Mark said: “meeting inspirational accessibility advocate, Arnold Fewell, in the Noughties lit a flame in me, and I’m delighted to have this chance to contribute to an initiative which will, I’m sure, result in all the wonderful and enrichening experiences hospitality has to offer being available to everyone.”
Welcoming Mark to the aha’s Advisory Board, Robin Sheppard, Co-Founder and Chair of Accessible Hospitality Alliance said: “We are thrilled that Mark is able to join us. We are certain that he will contribute substantially to the cause and renew the focus on the ground breaking work that Arnold initiated many years ago.”
Fellow Co-Founder and Managing Director of Accessible Hospitality Alliance, Denis Sheehan added: “Mark’s experience and expertise in both hospitality and media compliments our advisory board significantly, I am very much looking forward to working alongside Mark in developing aha’s purpose.”
Following the success of the inaugural aha Forum, the next edition will take place in October 2025 in the City of London. The date, venue, and itinerary will be announced soon. Tickets for the first Forum were quickly snapped up after release, if you’re interested in attending the next one, you can register your interest here.
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