Mark Lewis to step down from Hospitality Action
The UK charity's chief executive will leave in March 2027 after nine years, including leading its welfare work through the pandemic years.
Mark Lewis will step down as chief executive of Hospitality Action in March 2027, ending a nine-year tenure at the UK charity that supports hospitality workers through hardship.
Lewis joined as chief executive in 2017, after serving ten years as a trustee of the charity while working as publisher of the trade title The Caterer. His departure was announced on 25 September 2026, with no successor yet named by the board, which said it would take its time over the appointment.
Mark Lewis Hospitality Action: nine years in charge
It's been the honour of my life to be custodian of our beautiful charity, Lewis says of nine years at the helm.
His tenure spanned the pandemic years, when Hospitality Action's grants and welfare support became a lifeline for a sector that shed hundreds of thousands of jobs almost overnight. Lewis also co-produced two cookbooks with chef Jon Croft during his time in charge, directing the proceeds back into the charity's grant fund.
"It's been the honour of my life to be custodian of our beautiful charity and I've loved every minute," Lewis said of the role. "The greatest highlight, the greatest blessing, has been the chance to be part of a team focussed single-mindedly upon improving the lives of others."
What Hospitality Action does next
Hospitality Action funds emergency grants, mental health support, debt advice and financial guidance for hospitality workers and their families, largely through donations raised from the industry it serves. The charity said the search for Lewis's successor will begin in the coming months, ahead of his departure next March.
"Hospitality needs and deserves a strong charity to act as its safety net," Lewis said, a line that reads as much like a brief for his successor as a reflection on his own nine years in the job.
Lewis will remain in post through the handover period to brief his successor on the charity's finances and casework before finally leaving in March. The charity's fundraising depends on the same hospitality trade currently pushing for a lower VAT rate and absorbing a wave of closures, which will shape how much the next chief executive has to work with.
