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Westminster Kingsway College’s head of Hospitality and assistant principal, Geoff Booth, has been awarded a top hospitality and catering industry award for his longstanding contribution to education and training in the sector.

Booth, who has worked at Westminster Kingsway for 10 years during which time he has overseen a steady strengthening its hospitality and culinary arts provision, received this year’s Catey for Education and Training.

Booth has also held leading roles in the hospitality sector including chair of the PACE (Professional Association of Catering Education), is a founding partner in the Mercury Intelligence Group and BritCA Food Development Foundation and is also a board member of the IOH (Institute of Hospitality)

Booth said: “I am delighted to receive such an iconic award as a Catey and for the tremendous support from the Westminster Kingsway College team and from colleagues across the hospitality sector.”

The other shortlisted candidates in this Catey award category were David McKown at the University of Sheffield and Sue Parfett, a founding partner of the specialist independent school caterer The Brookwood Partnership.

However, Parfett was awarded the 2014 Foodservice Caterer Award, seeing off competition from Caroline Fry of CH&Co, Paul Robottom of Caterplus and Andrew Wilson and Caroline Vale of Wilson Vale, all of whom were shortlisted in this category.

This year’s Public Sector Caterer Award went to Mary Wedge of Talkington Bates, with Julie Barker of TUCO (The University Caterers’ Organisation) and Mark Davies of ISS Facility Services the runners-up.

And the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award was given to William Baxter for his work in contract catering, most recently with BaxterStorey, and his heavy involvement with the work of industry charity Hospitality Action.