Conference Leeds enlisted the help of national celebrity and fundraiser Sir Jimmy Savile to celebrate one of Yorkshire’s finest culinary treats – the Yorkshire Pudding - on Sunday 3rd February which was “National Yorkshire Pudding Day”!

Sir Jimmy and the Conference Leeds staff were happy to help chefs at Saviles Hall at The Royal Armouries in Leeds whip up a batch of Yorkshire puddings to celebrate the event in recognition of how catering standards have changed in the meetings industry over the last few years.

Nicola Lockwood, Head of Conference Leeds explains:

“we know how important conference catering has become to Conference Organisers, it is no longer acceptable to serve boring and predictable buffets to delegates! We are proud that in Leeds and West Yorkshire our venues understand how important food is to the success of an event and we wanted to celebrate that.”

“What better way of doing that than creating a batch of Yorkshire’s most famous treat – the Yorkshire Pudding and celebrating at one of our most exciting venues – the Royal Armouries?”

Local cuisine and other services will be featured in this years Northern Venue Exhibition and Big Wow! Show (previously the Yorkshire Corporate Hospitality show) on March 12th at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. The event showcases some of the regions top meeting venues and services to conference organisers.

Local legend, Sir Jimmy Savile (81) said:

“I don’t have an oven and have never made Yorkshire puddings. But I like them. They should always be made in a large flat tin and served as a starter cut up into squares with beef gravy.”

Yorkshire pudding is one of the UK’s most favourite dishes – with a staggering 10 million puddings being eaten every week. Yorkshire Pudding day is the brainchild of www.recipes4us.co.uk and the event has got the backing of the Yorkshire Tourist Board, Visit Britain, the English Beef and Lamb Executive, British Lion Quality Eggs, the Flour Advisory Bureau and Auntie Bessie’s, the largest producer of frozen Yorkshire puddings in the world.

John Hendy from Auntie Bessie’s says:
“Research has shown that British people have a serious inferiority complex about our rational food and drink but this is the perfect opportunity to be proud of our heritage and cuisine”.


ENDS

EDITORS NOTES:
Nicola Lockwood is available for interview on 0113 220 6356,
email: nicola.lockwood@conference-leeds.com

About Conference Leeds

Conference Leeds is the organisation responsible for promoting meetings and events across Leeds and West Yorkshire. The recently restructured Conference Leeds is now a “super convention bureau” representing almost 250 venues across the area.

Conference Leeds is a Leeds City Council organisation with funding from Yorkshire Forward, Bradford, Wakefield, Kirklees and Calderdale Councils.

Conference Leeds can offer a free venue finding service for anyone wanting to host an event in Leeds and West Yorkshire and markets the area through a series of initiatives.
Business tourism is worth over £450million a year in direct expenditure to the Yorkshire economy.

About Yorkshire Forward

Conference Leeds is supported by Yorkshire Forward. Yorkshire Forward is the regional development agency for Yorkshire and the Humber, it exists to represent and help generate sustainable business for the region’s tourism industry, an industry worth £4.1billion to the region annually and employing over 165,000 people, making it one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the region. Yorkshire’s goal, as identified in Bold Vision, Bright Future - The Tourism Marketing Strategy for Yorkshire and Humber 2006 - 2010, is to achieve and increase in the value of tourism earnings to the region by 5% per annum to £5.9bn by 2010.

Further details can be obtained from:
Nicky Lockwood
Conference Leeds
T: 0113 220 6356
E: nicola.lockwood@conference-leeds.com

Press release issued by
Sue Crawley
Fire Circle Ltd
T: 01642 714999
E: sue@fire-circle.co.uk