ULTIMO GROUP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Agent from the Australian Federal Police
- Corporate Accounts
After retiring as a federal agent from the Australian Federal Police, Clark joined Ultimo in 2000 as a Director and has embraced the career change - his experience in all aspects of the catering industry, particularly for corporate accounts and functions is invaluable. He has successfully coordinated countless events for corporate and private functions including many VIP events for some of Perth's most prominent business leaders.
Clark's passion for the hospitality industry is fed by guiding staff to achieve outstanding results for clients and themselves. He is proud of his role in building Ultimo as a business and believes in retaining clients by building relationships with a continued high level of service and efficiency. Clark has an established reputation as a reliable, honest and diligent operator in all things catering.
Clark's personal life is busy enough with his children's sport, coaching, surfing, football, boating and family holidays with his wife and three children.
Cosima joined our team as a Catering Administrator in Nov 2022, assisting our sales team to process orders and ensure our deliverable catering service runs smoothly. An incredibly organised and passionate person, Coco is an asset to Team Ultimo.
Dawn has been an integral part of the Ultimo finance team since 2019. She started her career with KPMG in Tauranga NZ, and turned her interest in accounting into her vocation.
A proud kiwi, Dawn brings a laid-back but professional attitude to the role. She enjoys that the hospitality industry attracts people with personality that have a real passion for what they do - particularly at Ultimo. These passionate people create a fantastic work environment that is a real joy for Dawn, in turn enhancing her own job satisfaction.
Dawn is a devoted wife, mum and granny - as well as a keen All Blacks fan. Passionate foodie and traveller - she loves motorsport and the Monaco Grand Prix is on her bucket list.
Originally from New Zealand, Emma moved to Perth upon completing her tertiary studies in Communications. Emma joined Ultimo in 2013 after travelling extensively and working remotely for her own branding and marketing venture. Since joining Ultimo, she has been integral in our rebranding, repositioning and growth in the market - building the Ultimo brand to its esteemed position today. She delivers brand management, strategic marketing and business development, as well as hands on digital design skills to the business.
Emma has always felt a pull towards the hospitality industry - specialising in applying her professional skills in this space. This ensures she is well placed to create event concepts and develop and launch new products / services in the market with proven success. Her ability to wear many hats in business, along with her industry knowledge and passion, are responsible for her promotion to various positions across branding, marketing, events & sales within Ultimo. She responds proactively to industry trends and creates engaging content and marketing campaigns, as well as driving our strategic development in her current Marketing & Business Development role.
Emma loves the overlapping opportunities that branding, marketing, food and events create for connection. Sharing a meal is universal across cultures and she believes good branding and good food should both make you feel something. A busy new mum to her son Winston - she enjoys dining out, hosting parties and cooking for her husband and friends - when she gets a chance.
Joining Ultimo in 2022 as our Catering Coordinator, Izaak looks after our valuable deliverable catering clients and contracts. An exciting addition to our team, he has extensive hospitality experience. Starting in the industry as a bartender in 2014 and quickly gaining roles in all aspects of hospitality, working in bars, restaurants, kitchens, nightclubs and festivals. This hands-on holistic expertise ensures Izaak is well placed to respond to the dynamic needs of our clients.
He has additional experience in wedding and event planning and can apply his cumulative knowledge of the industry to any type of catering or function requirements. Izaak loves the rush of hospitality and curating memorable experiences for each and every customer.
A local, Izaak grew up moving around the Perth area and exploring the WA coast. A frequent traveller, he has enjoyed exploring parts of Europe, Asia and North America. The highlight being a road trip from California to Florida. Proudly part of the LGBTQIA community, Izaak is also a foreign film and cinema fan and a foodie - always trying new restaurants and bars.
Job Titles:
- in 2016 As Our Events and Sales Manager
Jessica joined Ultimo in 2016 as our Events and Sales Manager, and after a hiatus to raise her 2 young children she has re-joined the team as our Weddings Assistant. With over 20 years' experience in the hospitality and catering industry, spanning weddings, events, venue management and sales - she's an absolute asset to the Ultimo team. Jessica's hardworking, hand-ons approach ensured she has accumulated knowledge and experience that few in the industry can match.
Josh joined Ultimo in 2019 as a waiter, and quickly worked his way up to being a supervisor at our weddings and corporate events. Finding his niche in the catering and events sector, Josh left his role as the manager of a local café in 2022 to commence in his role as a supervisor at Ultimo. In 2023, we were delighted when Josh took the role of Function Coordinator, looking after a diverse portfolio of both corporate and private clients.
Josh prides himself on his attention to detail and service; both on the floor and behind a desk. He always ensures client needs are met and delivered to the highest standard. He's the last one out of a room before guests arrive, ensuring that the table setting is millimetre perfect.
He has always had a keen interest in food and hospitality, helping his Mum in the kitchen from the age of four and entertaining guests at home. Josh has developed an impressive knowledge food and wine, and its role within the industry.
In addition to work, Josh is currently studying Cross Cultural Communications and Business at university. He loves nothing more than experimenting with new food and flavours in his spare time and going to the best restaurants and bars around the country.
Job Titles:
- IT Project & Operations Manager
Originally from Colombia, Luis has been with Ultimo since 2018, but it feels like he's been a part of the team forever. The absolute epitome of team work, he is the go-to guy for anything the team might need. With a professional background as a Telecommunications Engineer, Luis worked for more than 3 years in the Colombian Telco industry, leading projects and implementing solutions for suppliers. Before deciding to travel the world and falling in love with Perth.
Luis is an extremely proactive professional, who will always dedicate himself whole heartily to the operations of Ultimo. He plays an integral and diverse role in the business, looking after everything from business development IT projects and operations. He is the first point of call for troubleshooting any challenges. Luis communicates across all departments to ensure the smooth and seamless execution of IT projects and operations.
In his spare time Luis tries to explore some more of WA with his partner Gina. He's keenly interested in politics and enjoys riding horses.
Max joined the Ultimo team in 2015. Qualified and experienced in Hong Kong, Max went on to work in 5 star Luxury Hotels in Australia and Michelin Star restaurants around the world, including the highest hotel in the world, The Ritz Carlton HK.
Always aware of the latest trends of the culinary world, Max likes to combine cuisine styles with different methods when designing a menu. He researches the latest cooking techniques and applies them in larger scale to catering. Get Max started talking about food and you'll see his passion. He just LOVES cooking. He seeks to use the best local products and is a firm advocator for supporting local suppliers and buying as geographically close as possible to ensure maximum freshness.
Max is an excellent communicator and an extremely organised team leader who thrives under pressure. He endeavours to create a professional and dynamic kitchen environment that encourages camaraderie amongst colleagues and delivers a high standard of food quality and presentation at every Ultimo engagement. An adept and calm leader, he oversees our commercial kitchen, and all of our countless functions and events, without ever throwing his tongs.
When he's not wearing his chef hat, Max enjoys family time with his wife and 3 young children, and making time for windsurfing, 4WDing and camping when possible.
Joining Ultimo in 2017, Nakeeran is part of Ultimo's senior chef team. Originally from South India, he possesses a professional history working for renowned restaurants internationally, as well as his previous role as Sous Chef at Akis Woolloomollo, a one hat Sydney restaurant, Nakeeran is a skilled and experienced presence in the kitchen. Bringing strong technical knowledge and impeccable presentation to every function he is involved in. He lives by the philosophy of ‘if you can't do it well, don't do it at all'.
Nakeeran is an award winning chef, participating 2 years in a row in the Emirates Salon Culinary Competition in Dubai. Competing against 280 chefs, to win Bronze and Merit medals in the five course gourmet dinner category. He was also part of a team to achieve the TIME OUT award for ‘Best Bubbalicious Brunch' at the Westin Hotel in Dubai.
His motivation to push himself comes from genuinely loving being a chef. He appreciates the opportunity to work with fresh quality ingredients every day, the adrenaline of a slick and busy service, and hearing guests tell him what they loved about the food. He believes cooking and serving food is about making people happy (both the guests and his colleagues). For Nakeeran, it's all about nurturing people and showing them why an ingredient is so special. In his own words, "There is no job like it. Food is an amazing thing, and we see it and eat it wherever we go".
Nakeeran is a keen cricket fan and dedicated family man. He enjoys spending his free time with his wife, and 2 young boys.
Peter is a founding director of Ultimo from when the company commenced in West Perth in 1997, and oversees our major events & accounts. Peter's logistical event management experience is second to none in the industry and he has been integral in growing Ultimo's trusted reputation in this space. Known in the industry for making things happen and never daunted by a challenge, Peter listens to our clients' needs and finds a solution, where other businesses might say it was too difficult.
Joining our senior chef team in early 2021, Raja is a dedicated and knowledgeable professional chef with over 17 years of experience in food preparation and kitchen leadership.
His professional background includes senior chef roles in highly recognised establishments such as Aloft Perth, Westin Perth, Royal International Convention Centre Brisbane and Borneo Convention Centre Malaysia. He has worked for many 6 star and 5 star international brand hotels such as Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, Hilton, Raffles, Mandarin, Le Royal Meridien.
Raja has experience working with guest celebrity chefs, Michelin star chefs, and catering for international politicians including George W. Bush, Obama, Putin, Royalties like HRH Princess Anne and VIP's like Sir Richard Branson, Celine Dion, Elton John, and Hollywood actor turned politician Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Singaporean/Malaysian with a Tamil background, Raja loves South East Asian influenced cooking & was classically trained in French cuisine. He is very passionate about serving only the best quality food to guests. Compliments from guests are what fuel his motivation to continually develop his skills and keep innovating.
A Perth local, Savannah joined our event team from Three Pound Group, with over 9 years in the hospitality industry. Always feeling a pull towards this career path and possessing a strong drive to succeed, she has consistently grown with her roles - starting as a casual waitress, then evolving to a duty manager and for the past 3 years planning and coordinating large events at The Camfield.
Ready for a new challenge, Savannah is excited for the opportunities working with Ultimo will bring. Including working with people who share similar passion for the industry, travelling for work, getting to eat and drink as part of her role, and taking ownership over some larger accounts and events. She loves watching the all the planning come together and seeing guests enjoying the experience. A creative individual, Savannah injects a fresh approach to our events and functions.
The third oldest of 7 siblings, family is important part of her personal life. She has a niece and nephew that she adores and a large extended family. Savannah enjoys keeping fit and active, and likes weightlifting, walks outdoors, and meditating. She loves to read, take roads trips and go on adventures with friends.
Tiana joined the Ultimo crew in late 2020. She has worked in the hospitality industry for majority of her working life, previously employed at the Novotel Vines Resort in Swan Valley and also spent time in Melbourne as a job advisor / hire agent. Working with Ultimo coordinating functions and driving our deliverable catering service, Tiana is organised, efficient and ensures everything she involved with is executed with incredible attention to detail.
Her love for the industry stems from working so closely with people from all walks of life - being able to provide a service that brings people together.
Originally from New Zealand, Tiana has a large family and lives with her partner and their young son Lyric. Tiana also owns and operates her own cake baking business, and happily keeps the Ultimo team plied with cupcake samples. She loves all things music and food (especially desserts and sweets) and enjoys travelling to new places, when covid allows.
Vanessa's attention to fostering client's wants and needs has proven successful with customer relationships. Her key priority being that the customer always comes back to Ultimo. Vanessa's evaluation of what is needed to make an event a true success, is what ensures our clients expectations are always exceeded whether it be for a small private functions or grand scale events. With her passion for food and presentation, she strives for the best guest experience and creates the right atmosphere and style of menu for the occasion. Her proficiency with coordinating an event from start to finish is due to her full understanding of food, beverage and managing staff.
Her beliefs in diversity and equal opportunity tie in with Ultimo's philosophies, and is one of the many reasons she loves her role and working in the hospitality industry.
Because of Vanessa's passion for food, she loves cooking, particularly experimenting on her family and friends for big dinner parties. With the perfect wine to compliment the food, of course. Family is a key part of her life, and she takes immense pride in her garden. She will get out there any spare moment she has.
Job Titles:
- Functions & Weddings Manager
After a varied professional background in hospitality and events, Zoe decided to pursue her love of weddings and hospitality and joined Ultimo in 2022 as our Weddings Manager.
Over the course of obtaining her Bachelor's Degree in Event Management and Sports Science, Zoe discovered her crazy love for events. Whilst studying she worked for Lamont's Bishop House, looking after their wedding clients and this ignited her passion for all things weddings. She moved on to London and held multiple events roles for some of London's coolest events and venues. Returning to Perth throughout Covid, Zoe took a role with Profresh Flowers, where she quickly became showroom manager and gained solid management experience within a busy environment. While still involved in weddings by way of florals during her time with Profresh, Zoe ultimately still felt a pull towards the wedding hospitality industry.
Zoe's favourite thing about working within the events and hospitality industry is the joy and satisfaction she feels when she sees the end results come to life. Working hard (and sometimes crazy hours) behind the scenes to create something people can come and enjoy is the most rewarding thing to her. She enjoys the opportunity to build relationships with clients and thrives on getting to know each of them personally in order to understand their individual style and needs, and provide a better service.
Zoe also has a deep appreciation for food, which she gained form her Italian grandparents. Her weekends usually consist of catching up with friends and trialling new restaurants and bars. She is currently (very slowly) learning to surf and loves being by the ocean whenever possible. She enjoys trying new activities and getting out in the sunshine - when she's not at home being bossed around by her dog Bella. A very grumpy, 13 year old Maltese Poodle who rules the house.