Alison & David Kennedy

Alison's catering career started at BBC Broadcasting House in London, before moving to the Cordon Bleu Cookery School at Winkfield and then to the famous Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel on Lake Ullswater, where she became Head Patissier. A Winston Churchill Fellowship in 1989 took her to Switzerland and France to study chocolate making and patisserrie in small owner run businesses. Michel Roux of the Waterside at Bray and Francis Coulson and Brian Sack of Sharrow Bay Hotel helped her find the placements for her work experience. Returning from her travels abroad she joined forces with her brother David to establish Kennedys Fine Chocolates with the knowlege she had gained.

David, with a degree in Mathematics, started with a career as a statistician with an insurance company, before getting the bug to work for himself with the formation of a small chain of national chocolate shops called Maxwell & Kennedy - who were at the forefront of bringing the experience of fine Belgian chocolates to many in the UK in the 1980’s. It was a natural progression for David and his sister Alison to team up to create a family business both making and selling a range of high quality handmade chocolates.