A Wonderful Life Catering - Celebration Times

The Afternoon Tea Chronicles the definitive global guide to afternoon tea

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 09:09:00 +0000

The Afternoon Tea Chronicles: Greg Wixted Launches Culinary Masterpiece, Uniting Global Tradition with Purpose-Driven Innovation

Renowned food entrepreneur, pastry chef, and innovator Greg Wixted announces the launch of his highly anticipated new book, The Afternoon Tea Chronicles. Following his successful 2020 release, Britain Loves Baking, this new magnum opus redefines the 385-year-old tradition as a "global language of connection," moving far beyond the British ritual to explore tea houses from Mumbai to Tokyo.

Distilling over 30 years of culinary expertise, The Afternoon Tea Chronicles is an expansive, witty, and deeply personal exploration, serving as part history book, global travelogue, and masterclass in culinary innovation.A Definitive Guide Built on Classical Mastery and Narrative Theatre1

Wixted’s authority is founded on a remarkable career that tracks his journey from the gilded halls of the Waldorf Astoria’s Palm Court and the high-pressure kitchens of Marco Pierre White, to his work in narrative theatre with Disney Imagineering in Paris. This unique blend of classical technical precision and entrepreneurial grit makes The Afternoon Tea Chronicles the definitive guide for the modern era

The book itself is a treasure trove for home cooks and connoisseurs alike:

The Global Odyssey: A 15-stop world map of the best afternoon tea experiences, featuring locations like the Burj Al Arab and the Raffles Hotel.
The 250-Recipe Collection: Simplified, professional-grade recipes designed for the home cook—no pastry degree required.
Modern Etiquette: Wixted debunks the stuffy myths of the past, addressing everything from scone-splitting debates to the A-to-Z of service.

From Global Indulgence to Equitable Food Systems

The book and its narrative are intrinsically tied to Wixted’s mission to support the hospitality industry. He recounts his journey building a catering empire through periods of "global madness," proving the resilience of the tea tradition as "our most steadfast comfort"

Furthermore, Wixted is the founder of the UK's first purpose-driven hospitality and catering group. This endeavor uses 15% of its revenue, including proceeds from the book, to fight food poverty and rebuild a more equitable food system. In a direct effort to empower future leaders, Wixted gifts 75% of the businesses he creates to chefs from disadvantaged backgrounds, with the remaining 25% "locked for the community benefit"

“Afternoon tea is more than just a sandwich and a scone,” says Wixted. “It is a global ritual that has survived for nearly four centuries because it evolves. The heart of the experience remains the same: the theatre, the discipline, and the sheer joy of indulgence"

The Afternoon Tea Chronicles is not just a cookbook; it is an invitation to bring the world’s greatest traditions into your home while investing in the future of hospitality

Greg Wixted is a member of the guild of chefs, a mentor to young chefs, a visionary in immersive food experience design, and an innovative entrepreneur who has built a career on turning "foodie" concepts into "advertising gold". He is also a trained pilot and conservationist scuba instructor with specialties in Dolphin Husbandry and Shark Feeding, often using his diving travels as a way to seek out afternoon tea in the far corners of the world.

PRE ORDER FOR JUST £20

saving £35.99 we have 100 pre release promo copies, it will be signed by Greg and its the perfect read over one of our yummy aftern

A NEW WAVE OF CRIME BY BOLT DRIVERS, GETS DISMISSED IT AS A "POLITENESS" ISSUE.

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 22:00:00 +0000

London Cookery Author, Award Winning Purpose Driven Entrepreneur & Baker, Greg Wixted who founded the Tastes Good Does Good Group. and A wonderful life Catering A London based hospitality and food group, which donates 15% of revenue to fight food poverty was a victim of a new wave in crime and what he discovers was serious safety failure involving a Bolt PrivateHire driver in London.

On 12th December at 1 AM, Whilst to one of his baking team he had given a lift home, he stepped out of his Bolt ride and 2 mins later remembered he had forgotten a cake he left in the boot, he called the driver via the app. The driver refused to return a Bolt driver to return it unless he paid him a £100 cash stating, "How much is the cake worth to you? And the bride

Wixted Commented “I was forced to withdraw cash from an ATM at 1 AM under duress to get the cake back, it was for a wedding the next day. We stopped at the Shell station, opposite my flat and they have CCTV footage of me getting out of the car, leaving the shop, them coming back to the cash machine and the driver arriving back for the cash which I have the bank receipt proving the transaction”

“When I reported this criminal extortion to Bolt, they dismissed it as a "politeness" issue. Their official response (attached) stated: "You should be able to have been comfortable... a refund is not applicable." Nor were they going to look into it.

“A global brand like Bolt thinks this kind of behaviour is acceptable and its ok for their drivers to hold customers to ransom and extort money from them, do they get a cut given they are desperate for cash. Bolt is not profitable. In their 2024 annual report, despite making nearly €2 billion in revenue, they posted a net loss of over €102 million and are facing a remedy hearing in 2026 to determine compensation amounts, with estimates around £200m for drivers who won a legal battle against the company in 2024 all this and with law suits pending their $450million raise on ice, so maybe this is a new way for them to raise money by robbing their passengers.

Any company losing €100m+ a year is desperate to cut costs. This explains why they might use cheap, automated "bots" like 'Mary' to handle safety complaints instead of paying for a human safety team. They are prioritising cost-cutting over passenger protection and safety.

Private Hire isn't the Safe Haven We Thought: Crime on in London is out of control, by taking a Bolt, we tried to avoid that risk, 71% of people feel unsafe in taxis/rideshares, indicating a general concern The Scale of the Problem: There are on average 175 sexual offences recorded every year involving BOLT and other private hire drivers in London. Extortion and theft is adding to a growing list of "dishonest and predatory" behaviours None that TFL is struggling to police. TfL provided data in December 2024 stating that a total of 986 private hire driver licences had been revoked in the preceding 18 months.

This highlights a critical failure in Bolt's safety protocols—they are prioritising revenue over investigating criminal behaviour by their drivers No one is safe,

Perhaps that explains why, when I reported this crime, they refused to investigate.

They dismissed this extortion as a "politeness issue."
They refused a refund.
They ignored a GDPR data preservation request for the police

Wixted’s final piece of advice is ‘Don’t take BOLT, if you do you do hit the record button on your phone and if this registration KD17UEB pop up on your phone cancel at once or you could end up paying a kings ransom should you leave something behind.

our group is nominated for 2025 start up award

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 07:14:00 +0000

London based start-up TASTES GOOD DOES GOOD has been named a finalist ahead of the London final of the UK StartUp Awards.

The UK StartUp Awards was launched to recognise the booming start-up scene across the UK which has accelerated over the last few years with 846,000 new businesses founded in the UK in 2024.

Over 750 businesses have been shortlisted for this year’s UK StartUp Awards and the contribution of these firms - all of which were started in the last three years - is significant, having created over 4,600 new jobs since they were established and generating annual sales of £200 million.

Tastes Good Does Good is the nations first purpose driven hospitality and evnts group founded by Greg Wixted in 2023]. The business has been nominated for the Hospitalty Events and Caterer StartUp of the Year Award in London founder Greg Wixtrd, said: “ its an honour to be nominated for the second year in a row and its testament to the hard work and dedication from a small team of people who have all made an unwavering commitment to making a difference and who are all helping to create a world where no on goes without food And I would like to thank the StartUp Awards team for recognising work we do with our charity partners and in the communities we serve.

Supported nationally by Airwallex, Join Talent & V Rum, the programme will celebrate the achievements of the amazing individuals who have turned an idea into an opportunity and taken the risk to launch a new product or service.

The cohort of finalists will be considered for the regional prizes by a panel of seasoned judges with experience founding or supporting entrepreneurial ventures. The winners from each region will then be invited to the first UK final taking place at Ideas Fest, the Glastonbury for Business festival in Hertfordshire on 12th September 2025.

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, the creator of the UK StartUp Awards, said:

“New businesses are the driving force behind any thriving economy, generating employment, pioneering innovation, and contributing to prosperity across the UK. This year's finalists embody the very best of entrepreneurial spirit - spotting opportunities and, through dedication, skill, and resilience, turning them into thriving ventures that are making a tangible difference in their industries. More importantly, all the winners will go on to represent their region at the 2025 UK National StartUp Awards final later this year”.

The UK StartUp Awards was created in collaboration with the team behind the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, one of the most successful awards programmes in the UK. The UK StartUp Awards are running for the fourth year after launching in 2022.

This year’s regional UK StartUp Awards finalists can be found online at https://startupawards.uk/

ENDS

EDITOR NOTES

New company data compiled from - https://www.informdirect.co.uk/company-formations 2022/

StartUp Awards

The UK StartUp Awards is a collaboration between the founders of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards; an established programme nationally receiving thousands applications annually.

The UK StartUp Awards will recognise the achievements of those amazing individuals who have had a great idea, spotted the opportunity and taken the risks to launch a new product or service.

After extending across the whole of the United Kingdom last year, the UK StartUp Awards will now host awards across each of the 10 UK regions, before hosting the winners of each region at a national final later in the

The Top Celebration of Life Experiences in 2024

Sun, 16 Feb 2025 01:49:00 +0000

We are very proud to have made it onto Celestis’s 10 ten of the best Celebration of Life experiences of 2025. Check it out below

Celestis has trawled the net over the past year to bring you the top 10 of the most outrageous, expensive, and famous celebrations of life experiences that have been created to say goodbye to a loved one:

Space Burial: Companies like Elysium Space offer the opportunity to have a loved one's ashes launched into space. This can range from a simple memorial flight to a journey to the moon or even deep space.
Undersea Memorial Reef: Eternal Reefs creates artificial reef structures incorporating cremated remains, providing a permanent and environmentally friendly memorial.
Hot Air Balloon Send-off: Scattering ashes from a hot air balloon at sunrise or sunset offers a dramatic and memorable farewell.
Celebrity Tribute Concert: For music lovers, a private concert featuring favorite artists can be a fitting tribute.
Balloon release : A wonderful Life Catering in the UK is the only company that plans and organises balloon releases offering a spectacular and unique tribute to your loved ones.
Memorial Scuba Dive: For those who loved the ocean, a scuba dive to place a memorial plaque on a coral reef can be a meaningful tribute.
Remembrance Cinema : The UKs first purpose driven celebration of life event planners, A Wonderful Life has created a remembrance cinema were guests can watch a film created by their digital team, complete with pop corn, gin bar and a remembrance book
Art Commission: Commissioning a portrait, sculpture, or other work of art in memory of a loved one can provide a beautiful and lasting tribute.
Memorial Bench or Tree Planting: Placing a memorial bench in a favorite park or planting a tree in their honor can provide a peaceful and lasting memorial.
Time Capsule: Creating a time capsule filled with letters, photos, and other mementos to be opened in the future can be a unique way to share memories with future generations.

It's amazing to be on this list and they are just a few examples of the many ways to create a memorable and personalised celebration of life event. We offer 6 experiences that we have developed over the past year. The most important thing is to honour the wishes of the deceased and create an experience that is meaningful for those left behind, if you would like to discuss your ideas or help you create a truly memorable experience drop us a line hello@awonderfullife.com

A wonderful Life Catering is part of the TASTES GOOD DOES GOOD GROUP and is the nations first purpose driven food and hospitality business to 15% of revenue to help create a world where no one goes without food. With 7.3 million people living in food poverty, we have an unwavering commitment to use our business as model to inspire others and the food industry to take action. While many entrepreneurs focus solely on profit, they have built a truly sustainable business model that nourishes both people and the planet.

Planning a Funeral Reception, Wake or Celebration of Life event

Sun, 16 Feb 2025 00:13:00 +0000

Serving Refreshments at a Funeral Reception or Wake

Whilst it is not always necessary to offer refreshments at a funeral – the reason mourners are there is to pay their respects to a much-loved relative, friend or colleague – people may have travelled some distance, so it is nice to offer something before they leave.

Also, sharing food is an integral part of many societies, and the customs and rituals within them. At a funeral gathering, it can provide an opportunity for people to come together, talk, share memories and thoughts, and support each other in their loss.

How Many People Will be Attending the Funeral Reception?

First, think about the number of people attending. This may help you to decide what will be possible within the budget you have.

Where is the Funeral Reception Being Held?

Where the gathering is held may inform the type of refreshments you offer. If it is in a local pub or hotel, they will be able to provide food and drink. If it is at home or in a village hall you may want to get some help from family and friends, or find a local caterer or delivery service.

Depending on the number of people attending the funeral and post-funeral gathering, where they are being held and what food and drinks you are serving, you may need to borrow or hire tables and chairs, tablecloths, glasses, cups and saucers, plates and cutlery. A Wonderful Life Catering offer all its clients the loan of everything need they only pay a washing and transport charge saving them up to £500 in hire charges.

What Type of Food and Drink to Serve at a Funeral Reception or Wake?

The food and drink that you offer at a funeral reception or wake is a matter of personal choice. It may be that the person who has died made arrangements or made their wishes known, either in writing or during conversations with those closest to them.

There are no rules. It is always lovely to choose something that reminds you of them. It may be that the person had a favourite type of food or drink – a passion for bangers and mash, cakes and pastries, or they were a committed vegan. They may have loved beer or Champagne, or afternoon tea.

The main thing is not to let this be an added pressure or worry, at a time when you are grieving and may already feel overwhelmed with the many other things you have to organise.

If you can, find others who can help with this task

Enlist the Help of Family and Friends

Family and friends are often only too pleased to help with the catering. This can take the pressure off you and also help to keep costs down. It may be that each person brings a plate of food for a buffet, or a friend is great at baking or making sandwiches and would love to be in charge of that. Don’t be afraid to ask and to allocate tasks.

Ordering In

There are hundreds of delivery services and companies from which you can order everything from sandwiches, fish and Chips, three course meals to canapes. This saves a great deal of time, stress and energy and there is something for most budgets.

Appointing a Caterer

It may be that planning and making food on top of everything else is too much to cope with, particularly if you are a large number of mourners. Choosing a venue that can provide food is an option, or you could appoint a caterer or an event planner to assist you. We have a dedicated team on hand to plan every last detail giving you back precious time to spend with your loved ones. We work seamlessly with your funeral directors to ensure your celebration of life event is truly memorable.

The first purpose driven caterers to solely focus on wakes, funerals and celebration of life events launches

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 09:00:00 +0000

A Wonderful Life Catering was an 18-month journey as part of Cakery Wonderland, they built a reputation for their amazing food, thoughtful and compassionate service and providing real value to all their customers and developed experiences that would set them apart, so I was only right we let them fly and chart there on path, no they are no longer general caterers they can focus all their efforts on those looking to honour and celebrate the live of a loved one, They are the 1^st and only purpose driven catering company who are specialist’s funeral & wake caterers and celebrations of life event planners. Our purpose is to help create a world where no one goes without food, by giving 15% of the revenue we generate to help end food poverty.

Founded by the team behind Wonderland Events, after helping over 250 families honour and celebrate the lives of their loved ones. We created A Wonderful Life Catering so the team can focus on helping our clients through this very difficult time. And we are here to help make the entire process simple and easy, so we can give you back precious time to spend with your family, while we take care of the rest.

Today we are a group of food businesses that have identified sectors within the catering and hospitality sector that are underserved and in need of new standards and innovation alongside this we use growing consumer trends to create personalised and unique food experiences that help create truly memorable events. We are the nation’s only purpose-driven food and hospitality business to give 15% of its revenue to help create a world where no one goes hungry and we are the first to incubate, launch, grow and then gift its operations to those who want to run their own business or want to give back to society. They can apply to take and existing business or we apply for a grant of up to 20K and we provide kitchen space, know-how, mentorship and training so they are armed with the skills to grow the business, so they will always be able to put bread on the table of their family and the tables of families of those our purpose supports.

Cakery Wonderland is the home of our afternoon tea delivery service and events, creators of immersive and traditional afternoon teas, pop experiences and inspiring dessert experiences for consumers, corporates, and the trade.

Wonderland Events – provides @home dining to private and corporate customers, wonderful weddings and our own 20 branded street food and live food experiences and pop-ups

A Wonderful Life Catering is the only dedicated wakes, funeral caterer and celebration of life event planner offer unique services that help celebrate the life of a loved one,

Cotton Candyland was created for our employees after they tried to hire 4 candy floss machines for an event and couldn’t find any, so they came to us with a scalable business idea and 6 weeks later 20 had arrived to create the only on-demand candy floss and party treats store online where our candy angels will be at your door within 90mins making candylicious floss for all or unpacking your favourite party sweet treats

Britain Loves Baking was our innovative response to COVID-19 and within 24 months had captured 14% of the home baking market with its bake what you want when you want home baking kits. 4 years on its now becoming an educational programme provider to deliver its mission of arming the nation's kids with skills to bake for free.

to find our more visit www.tastesgooddoesgood,com