Hospitality Action has announced that its chief executive, Mark Lewis FIH, will step down from the role in March 2027, after nine years at the charity. The Institute of Hospitality published the announcement on 1 October 2026.
Lewis stays in post until then. His final months cover the launch of a year-long programme of celebrations for Hospitality Action's 190th birthday in 2027.
From The Caterer to Hospitality Action
Lewis joined Hospitality Action in 2017. He arrived with 14 years at The Caterer behind him, where he served as editor and publisher.
His connection to the charity began earlier. Lewis served as a trustee of Hospitality Action for 11 years before he took the chief executive role.
Nine years as chief executive
His tenure covered the Covid pandemic, Brexit and continuing global economic uncertainty. Hospitality Action states that strengthening the support available to people who work, or have worked, in hospitality and who face difficult circumstances remained a central focus of his leadership.
The services that expanded under him
Hospitality Action names three areas that grew during that period. The charity expanded its Employee Assistance Programme, developed new fundraising initiatives and introduced a welfare benefits advice service.
The advice service carries the reported result. Hospitality Action states that it has helped beneficiaries access more than £1 million in previously unclaimed benefits, and links the figure to its “We’ve got you” promise.
The trustee chair's tribute
Jonathan Raggett FIH, chief executive of Red Carnation Hotels and chair of trustees at Hospitality Action, leads the tributes in the announcement.
“I would like to thank Mark for everything he has done for Hospitality Action during his nine years as Chief Executive,” Raggett said. “On behalf of myself and the Trustees, I wish him all the very best for the future and know he will remain a passionate advocate of this much-loved and essential charity for the hospitality industry.”
Lewis in his own words
“It’s been the honour of my life to be the custodian of our beautiful charity,” Lewis said. “Hospitality needs and deserves a strong charity to act as its safety net, and 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.”
“I’ve been blessed to work alongside a fantastic team focused single-mindedly on improving the lives of others,” he said. “I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together and deeply grateful to everyone who has supported Hospitality Action along the way.”
He added that he would like to see a world where a charity such as Hospitality Action was no longer needed, and that continuing demand for its services keeps the work vital to the industry.
“I look forward to seeing our charity’s impact continue to grow in the future and I urge everyone working in hospitality to ‘pay it forward’ by finding a way to support our work,” Lewis said.
Handover and the 190th year
Lewis remains in post until March 2027. Hospitality Action attaches one task to that period: helping launch the year-long programme of celebrations for its 190th birthday in 2027.
The announcement names no successor to Lewis and sets out no recruitment timetable for the role.
The Institute of Hospitality closed the item by thanking Lewis for his outstanding contribution to Hospitality Action and to the wider hospitality community, and by wishing him well in his next chapter.