Mark Lewis will step down as CEO of Hospitality Action in March 2027. The move closes a nine-year tenure that began in 2017 and reshaped the UK hospitality charity's core services.

Lewis joined Hospitality Action after 14 years at The Caterer, where he served as editor and publisher. He'd already logged 11 years as a trustee at the charity before taking the chief executive post. That runway let him move quickly once he got the job.

What has actually shifted under Lewis?

Three programmes now carry most of the load. The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) runs a 24/7 adviceline, counselling where clinically appropriate, legal information, debt advice, and parenting support. A welfare benefits advice service, launched under Lewis, has already pulled more than £1 million from unclaimed state entitlements. Hundreds of cases have moved to specialist housing advocacy and debt restructuring.

The grant figures tell operators something useful. In 2025, Hospitality Action awarded over £1.05 million in grants — its highest annual total since the pandemic. The charity also unlocked more than £500,000 in unclaimed benefits that year. Demand for charity-run support inside UK hospitality keeps outpacing pre-Covid baselines.

Why does a CEO change matter to operators?

Hospitality Action runs largely on industry donations and corporate partnerships. The CEO sets fundraising priorities and decides which operator concerns — housing, mental health, debt — get resourced first. A leadership change in March 2027 means the next chief executive will inherit a grant cycle and a coordinator they didn't design.

Lewis framed his departure as a continuation, not a wind-down. "It's been the honour of my life to be the custodian of our beautiful charity," he said. "I've always believed that when you understand what Hospitality Action is and what it does, you can't help but fall in love with it." He added that demand for the charity's services continues to rise, not diminish.

Jonathan Raggett, CEO of Red Carnation Hotels and Chair of Trustees at Hospitality Action, thanked Lewis and signalled a year-long programme tied to the charity's 190th birthday in 2027. "It has been a privilege to serve the UK's hospitality industry and to be part of a charity that delivers daily on its promise, 'We've got you,'" Raggett added.

What does this change for hospitality operators?

In the near term, nothing. Lewis stays in post through March 2027, giving trustees a runway to run a search and onboard a successor before the 190th anniversary. The EAP, grants programme, and benefits advice service all keep running through 2026. Operators who donate or refer staff to the adviceline should see no service interruption.

The longer question is more pointed. The charity's 2025 grant total (£1.05 million) is the highest since the pandemic, and the unclaimed-benefits pipeline (£500k-plus) signals that a meaningful share of hospitality workers aren't accessing state help they're entitled to. Whoever takes the seat in March 2027 inherits that gap to close.

Lewis urged the industry to keep funding the work. "I urge everyone working in hospitality to 'pay it forward' by finding a way to support our work," he said. The search for his replacement now formally begins, with a year of celebration already in the diary.