The British Street Food Awards have begun a new working relationship with Land Securities, the largest commercial property company in the UK. This comes off the back of Richard Johnson, the founder of the British Street Food Awards and the author of Street Food Revolution, declaring that his aim was to develop street food in Britain on private land rather than public.
'There are just too many Dickensian by-laws out there' says Johnson 'And too many councillors that are prepared to act like Scrooge when it comes to doling out street trading permits. They will catch up with what's going on in the private sector, eventually, but it may take a while.'
Marks & Spencer are working with the winner of the 2011 Awards, and will be announcing their plans for future collaborations with the winner in the next two months. In January, Johnson was the keynote speaker at the launch of Northern StrEats, a street food collective designed to spread the word up North. 'For a long time, it was a niggle that street food up North lagged behind what was on offer down South' says Johnson. 'The whole idea of a British street food 'revolution' sounded a bit hollow if it stopped at Watford, but gradually that's changing. It was a real pleasure to be there at the beginning of Northern StrEats, there were people with some big ideas, including styles of food and methods of delivery, that I hadn't even heard of before. The 2012 Awards will look very different because of the arrival of Northern StrEats. And hurrah for that'.
Johnson and the BSFA will be bringing some of the stars of Northern StrEats to HIFF, a film and food festival in Oxfordshire in April. But he will also bring them to the first concrete collaboration with Land Securities, in Bristol 18-20 May.
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