Meet Adam Jones from the University of Brighton

We’re excited to introduce Adam Jones, a multi-faceted professional at the University of Brighton. Adam is a lecturer, researcher, and currently serves as the Director of Help to Grow Management. In an exciting partnership, Restaurants Brighton is collaborating with Adam and the University of Brighton to develop a dynamic Sustainability Toolkit.

This innovative resource aims to promote sustainable practices within the restaurant industry.

Learn more about Adam’s roles, his insights on sustainability, and the details of our collaboration in his interview.

1. What is your role at the University of Brighton?

I have a number of roles at the University of Brighton, I am a lecture, researcher and at the moment the Director of Help to Grow Management. This is a business growth support scheme, 90% funded by the government which several restaurants in Brighton have participated in. It was through Kyriakos of Nostos who completed this course that I became aware of Restaurants Brighton and identified they would be an ideal partner to work with in understanding how restaurants and the hospitality sector can be supported to be more sustainable. 

2. Tell us about your sustainability in hospitality research. How did this come about and can you tell us about your progress to date?

My first degree is Hospitality Management, or Hotel and Catering Management as it was called in those day, which supports my over 30 years connected to the sector. My initial interest in sustainability was a very practical one. While I was Head of Marketing for a large tour operator, we investigated the marketing opportunities of developing a sustainable tourism policy. This made me aware of the philosophy  of sustainability being ’development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs ‘(Brundtland, 1987).

This I considered a fantastic principle to underpin my teaching and research as I has moved from the tourism industry, to tourism and hospitality education.

3. What is your vision with the Sustainability Toolkit, what are your objectives and what is the end goal?

With its significant resource usage and waste generation globally, the restaurant industry ranks as one of the least sustainable sectors. 

My vision for the Sustainability Toolkit is that it is a practical resource that can help and support our wonderful local restaurants and cafés in their journey to meet present needs, without compromising the ability of future generations.

Restaurants and hospitality are a people business that nearly everyone engages with at some point and so provides a great opportunity to help shape a more sustainable future at a local level.

4. Which partners in the city are you collaborating with for research and tell us about your findings?

Through Restaurants Brighton we have engaged partners from across and beyond the city, these include the amazing restaurant owners and managers, but also Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, Visit Brighton, Cllr Ty Goddard, , Real Junk Food Project,  Designs Woodcraft, Uber Eats, Alliance Southeast, University of Sussex, Community Works, and Visit England.

Our engagement through focus groups identified the need for some form of tool-kit and checklist. The findings provided the supporting evidence to secure funding from the University of Brighton Research and Knowledge Exchange Policy Support Fund to pilot the video blogs, case studies and Policy workshop. 

Initial findings are there is a hunger by restaurant owners to engage, a thirst for knowledge and information but also a realisation that the sustainability is not a sprint but a journey with many twists, turns and even wrong routes.

Sustainably is about the three p’s, planet, people and profit and our findings are showing the importance of how these are integrated in supporting the business case for engagement with sustainable policy and practices.

5. What successes with this research have you had so far?

The response has been amazing, there is so much energy and desire to get involved. The success is multifold, but if I had to pick one is the great case studies that are being developed of the fantastic work that is already going on. If just a handful of these case studies support and help restaurants in their sustainable journey to ensure we don’t compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs then great.

We hope our research and input will support considerable and sustainable positive change across the sector.

6. When dining out in Brighton or Sussex, where would you visit for brunch and dinner and why?

I am so lucky to live in such a vibrant and exciting city in relation to what it has to offer when I eat out. I have become a bit lazy recently as I live around the corner from Seven Dials with its great range of eateries. For a quick treat its Murasaki and The Chimney House for Modern British pub grub. When time allows it’s a train to Falmer for a long walk to Alfriston to enjoy a Sussex pub lunch at The George or the Star in Alfriston. 

7. Where would you like to go and eat next? 

After meeting everyone at the workshop its an extensive list of possibilities with English’s, Moshimo, Nostos, , Arcobaleno, Casazul, Real Junk Food Project, Lost In The Lanes, Starfish and Coffee, Redroaster all featuring highly. When I next venture out into Hove its got to be Palmito. It was great to meet Diego and our debut workshop.

8. What plans do you have in the next 6 months?

Along with the day job as Director of Help to Grow Management, teaching and supporting our students the sustainable restaurant project will keep me busy. With our partners Restaurants Brighton we will be evaluating the tool kit, analysing the results of the checklist and preparing for our next Sustainability workshop planned for January.

I will also be looking to see if we can find some funding for PhD students to research this important and significant area.