Business Leaders interview: Jay Burgesson-Carter

Tell us a little about yourself and your business.

Originally from Cambridge, Jay’s doting English mum and West African dad surrounded him with food, tradition and culture. From his fond memories visiting his Ghanaian family in West London to serving drinks at his parent’s legendary dinner parties, he caught the hospitality bug early, which has driven him ever since. Armed with only a handful GCSEs, and an 18 month ‘blip’ as a trainee quantity surveyor Jay decided it was time to go to University and study Events and Hospitality, in Manchester, ending up in halls just a few streets away from where his Ghanaian family lived after emigrating to England. From there he headed for the bright lights of London where he realised events, and catering specifically, were his calling. Fifteen years, and thousands of events later including his own two weddings to his husband Jonathan, Jay has amassed extensive knowledge of the industry. He has scaled premium SME events catering companies, acquired exclusive venue contracts and preferred supplier status for some of the capitals most iconic venues whilst working alongside and representing major blue-chip clients, luxury brands, celebrity chefs, British Royalty and leading industry event agencies. Jay feels the time is right to shake things up and bring his passion for hosting, inclusivity, diversity and unwavering dedication for his clients to the London and home counties events scene as a black, LGBTQ+ owned business.

What motivates you in your work and what do you find most fulfilling about being a business leader?

Nurturing talent, this for me is why I get out of bed every morning. I wouldn’t be where I am today without seasoned industry experts entrusting me to run their businesses at such a young age so I do all I can to pay this forward by mentoring multiple mentees, consulting with fledgling businesses and working with talent projects to offer training and experience in the London catering and events scene.

How did you develop your leadership skills and how would you define your leadership style?

Across my career I have worked with eccentric small business owners to billion-dollar conglomerates, and this has taught me there is no ‘one size fits all approach, but I have always believed in leading by example and it seems to have worked so far!

Innovating is crucial in our very diverse industry. How do you stay ahead of trends and incorporate them into your global strategy?

Travelling, as crazy as that sounds for someone running their own business the only way to remain responsive to diversity is to immerse yourself in different cultures, environments and experiences. Travel, in particular to West and South Africa has really excelled our food and service offering. Also having a finger on the pulse with new and upcoming restaurants in regard to food trends. When staying ahead of being inclusive we follow major pride events, acknowledge our team and clients’ cultural events and milestones and attend multiple networking events of varying attendees. Being innovative is being knowledgeable in your area, so it’s our utmost priority to be expertise in the innovative world of diverse hospitality.

Where do you think the most promising investments should be focusing on and/or made on?

ALWAYS people, without good people your business is nothing and so ensuring you incentivise and take staff welfare seriously will always pay dividends. I always think it’s misinterpreted that financial reward is always the answer, sometimes a thank you card and a bunch of flowers or a bottle of wine go a long way to saying well done to your team for delivering such a successful event or project.

What is or are your biggest career achievement(s)?

Being an integral part of a multi-million-pound M&A of an SME and then becoming MD of the business polishing all of my skills leading me to start my own business.

What’s the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned?

Never ask anyone in your team to do something you wouldn’t or haven’t done, leadership is all about earning trust and maintaining respect and I don’t believe you can earn trust and respect without showing humility. 

Have you achieved everything you wanted in your career so far? 

I don’t feel I ever will, as an entrepreneur you are always thinking of the next project! I am already thinking of what business to start next, and this one is only 7 months old!

How do you prioritise tasks when everything feels like a priority?

As an events planner, small business owner, mentor, consultant and employer it always feels like there’s multiple plates spinning and only two hands to spin them with, so I always work with a priority list system of today, this week and this month. It helps avoiding the mental block when it’s all too consuming, I also always deal with the hardest tasks first – it really helps you unblock the list!

What was the hardest decision you have taken as a leader? 

Making 34 people redundant at the start of COVID in order for the business to survive, the most difficult thing I have ever had to do knowing that everyone was suffering and how concerned the those being made redundant were for me and the business I was managing, it was gut wrenching. The best part of the story is that every single person joined the company when the world opened back up again.

What steps do you take to measure your own performance?

I have an industry mentor who has worked with me for over 15 years, they guide me on commercial decision making, managerial and business decisions and this gives me a compass of direction whilst giving me an objective respected opinion of my development. 

What does success mean for you as a business leader?

Success to me is doing all I can to make hospitality a more diverse, inclusive and ethical place to be! This job will never be complete, but my success is measured by clients hearing our story and booking us because they believe in what we are striving for.