Meet Ashlyns Catering
We believe that school meals need to be cooked on site at using good quality fresh ingredients
We work in complete partnership with the school and with the ethos that together with can make a real impact and a considerable difference in the whole school meal experience.
We strive to maintain throughout an adherence to the moral and ethical principles on which Ashlyns is founded, and our team of professional staff, in touch with educational issues facing schools today, work to forge effective relationships with school staff to attain our mutual goals.
Our Story
Ashlyns, named after one of our three farms, began life in 1999. As part of the bigger farming operation we grew organic vegetables for local customers as well as the supermarkets but it soon became clear that our future would be both varied and colourful.
In 2003 Gary Stokes, Ashlyns Projects Director, asked the question "where are our next customers and what are they eating now?"
This question led to the start of "Feeding Our Future", a project that was set up to help improve school meals. This idea came about before Jamie Oliver’s campaign to do likewise and in many ways the ethos behind both initiatives is very similar.
The passion within our project is driven by a desire to have school meals cooked in all schools using fresh local ingredients, prepared by a confident well motivated catering team and enjoyed by children from all walks of life who will gain an understanding of where their food has come from and how it was produced
The Reality
This sounds easy enough on paper but in reality, there are many hurdles to overcome. Increasingly tight budgets, the economy, local sourcing, an understanding of school catering, adequate training and food awareness are just a few of the reasons why we now offer a broad range of services to meet our customers needs.
We have our own butchers, pack house, delivery vans and dedicated experienced team to offer support from in-house catering through to managing your service for you in the form of our "Catering Partnerships".
We work with schools in innovative ways to ensure that children are not only fed well but are food wise too
Our Team
Project Director
Gary Stokes
Gary's background is in farming. His desire to provide local food for local people has been the driver behind the various Ashlyns' initiatives.
Gary manages the overall business and occasionally finds time to help on the farm
Operations Manager (Essex)
Teresa Danskin
Teresa joined us in 2016 as a Catering Manager at one of our schools.
When her current position became available it was a very easy decision to promote her because of her skills, knowledge and dedication to the Ashlyns ethos
Operations Manager (Essex)
Dawn Bennellick
Dawn joined the team in 2016.
She has worked her way up through the ranks and has now been promoted to help Teresa support our Essex schools
Operations Manager (London)
Craig Shilling
Craig joined Ashlyns in July 2024 supporting Operations and has been directly managing the London Portfolio since January 2025.
Craig comes with a multi-skilled background: a solid foundation as a Chef and Catering Manager, having also worked in areas of administration, sales and management brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the senior leadership team
Finance
Ali Stokes
Ali is Gary's wife (and some say boss!)
She manages all aspects of finance and is also the brains (so she says) behind a lot of the business development ideas
Gary's PA
Nicola Pantlin
Nicola joined Ashlyns in September 2025 and is Personal Assistant to Gary.
She's not only PA to Gary (no easy task!) but also assists the Ops Managers in the administration of the day to day running of the kitchens
Orders and Admin
Debbie McKay
Debbie joined Ashlyns in 2006 although she has worked with Gary on other projects and is the longest serving employee.
Debbie manages all of the order processing and liaises with our customers on a daily basis.
HR Manager
Jen Heymer
Jen joined us in 2021.
Jen is our guru for all employee matters but is also an integral part of the bigger business due to her Project Management Skills and passion and belief in what we do
Accounts and Admin
Sue Wilson
Sue joined Ashlyns in 2006.
Sue assists Ali with all accounting matters as well supporting Debbie when things get manic.
Our Butchers
Gary, Keith & James
Our butchers have years of experience between them and start very early in the morning to prepare your meat order using fresh local produce of the finest quality
Our Drivers & Packers
Andy, Colin, Russell & Andy
Andy selects and pack your fresh produce to best way.
Colin, Russell and other Andy are our delivery drivers who battle through storm, tempest and traffic to get your produce to you
We couldn't do it without you!
The Bigger Team
We are surrounded by so many like minded people that help support Ashlyns throughout our many different projects.
The Ashlyns Team is diverse and ranging in skills bases but most importantly the ethos is the same