Our Team

Joanne Williams

Brought up in Yorkshire, Joanne moved to Central Scotland in 2001. In 2005 Joanne went to Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh to study Nutrition. After graduating she spent a number of years working as a Nutritionist before moving on to work for a local small artisan food producer as a project assistant. After a move to Shetland in 2017 she carried on working with food producers in Shetland and sharing their love for the local food movement.

Mary Andreas

Mary worked within the Downstream Oil Industry in London for 25 years in various accounting roles before returning to her native Shetland in 2006.

A mother of two children, two step children and two grand children (with another on the way), she has run her 4* Bed and Breakfast in Bigton whilst working from home as an Operations Manager for a Lancashire based company providing Merchant Services to Petrol Stations across the UK. She has also been Chair of the Bigton Hall Committee since 2008

Marian Armitage

Marian Armitage is a native Shetlander who was educated at the Anderson High School then trained as a teacher of Domestic Science in Edinburgh in the early 70s. She taught Food and Nutrition in state secondary schools initially in Norwich then in Inner London, for almost 35 years.

In 2014 she wrote Shetland Food and Cooking published by The Shetland Times. Her book won the top prize in the Food Promotion category at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards held in Yantai, China in 2016.

In the following year, Marian became Chair of Shetland Food and Drink - the organisation she set up with Jill Franklin. Initial funding from Shetland LEADER, Shetland Islands Council and Highland and Islands Enterprise facilitated the launch of Shetland Food and Drink and Taste of Shetland in November 2017

Bo Simmons

Bo Simmons has been involved with the food industry since her arrival in Shetland in 1987.

A passionate advocate of high quality, sustainable food, she is the former owner of both Burrastow House and Olive Tree Cafe. A former teacher, she is also a writer and author, assistant at Scoop, wife and mother of two, presently employed by Shetland Arts at Bonhoga Gallery.

Chris Percival

Chris first visited Shetland almost two decades ago, before moving here with his family in 2011. For the past five years Chris has worked at Sullom Voe terminal with EnQuest as a Completions and Commissioning Engineer. Chris is a passionate foodie and was crowned winner of the first Taste of Shetland Cooking Challenge in 2016. He is excited by Shetland's amazing produce and looks forward to seeing the local food and drink sector develop into more than the sum of its parts.

Celia Smith

Celia’s love of hospitality started when she was still at school and got a part-time waitressing job at Kveldsro House Hotel in Lerwick. After university, she completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Catering and Accommodation Management and then spent the next 10 years working her way down from Aviemore to the New Forest before settling in Yorkshire for a few years.

She returned to Shetland in 1994 and after a 20year teaching career, latterly as Senior Lecturer for Hospitality and Business at Shetland UHI, she set up her own hospitality training company, ‘Blyde Welcome’. Celia is keen to work with young people to promote the professionalism and career progression that is available in the local food and drink sector. She also wants to encourage and support consistent customer experiences for everyone.