Prue Leith

Prudence Margaret "Prue" Leith, CBE (born 18 February 1940) has been a restaurateur, caterer, television presenter/broadcaster, journalist, cookery writer and novelist. She was born in South Africa, with her working life spent mostly in London.

Early life

Her father Sam worked for African Explosives, a subsidiary of ICI that produced dynamite for use in mines and became a director. From the age of five until she was 17 she attended St Mary's School, Waverley; an English independent private boarding school for girls in Johannesburg run by Anglican nuns.

Career

In 1960, Leith started a business supplying high quality business lunches, which grew to become Leith's Good Food, the party and event caterer. In 1969, she opened Leith's, her famous Michelin starred restaurant. In 1975 she founded Leiths School of Food and Wine which trains professional chefs and amateur cooks. The group reached a turnover of £15m in 1993, when she sold all but the restaurant which she sold in 1995. In 1995 she helped found the Prue Leith College, (now renamed Prue Leith Chef's Academy) in South Africa.