James Runciman
Group Head of Operations
James Runciman started his 20-year-long career within F&B at a young age by bringing Asian cuisine into the Bristol (UK) culinary scene with his iconic and awarding winning Japanese Bar and Restaurant in 2001.
The restaurant won many awards before it upsold in 2006, including “Best New Restaurant Concept 2002” (Class Bar Magazine) and “Best Bristol Bar Concept 2003” (FLRV Magazine). James was personally awarded “Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2002” by Shell LiveWIRE, a UK-wide enterprise development program for established entrepreneurs.
He then moved to London to work with THE BREAKFAST GROUP an operator of some of London’s top award-winning bars & restaurants, before returning to Hong Kong where he worked in partnership with Thai Iron Chef Ian Kittichai to bring Issaya Siamese Club to Hong Kong. He went on to bring the famous Potato Head brand to a new venue in Sheung Wan.
More recently, James was part of HSBC as their F&B Account Director, restructuring their entire F&B at their iconic One Queens’ Road building – from Michelin star dining to staff catering, in a multi-operations project costing upwards of USD 30 million.
Currently, in his role as Group Head of Operations for Mirah Investment & Development F&B operations, James is implementing an aggressive corporate F&B strategy aiming toward major growth in the next 12 to 24 months.