Celebrating women at Eco

It’s International Women’s Day - hooray! - an annually marked day that celebrates the incredible achievements of women all around the world.

And much like the rest of the world, the Eco team consists of many wonderful women that deserve to be celebrated on this special occasion.

Much of what makes Eco the brilliant success it is is the women behind it all. Today, we want to show our appreciation to them for everything they do.

The women behind Eco

Managing Director, Charmaine

Charmaine has been the managing director at Eco Restaurants & Leisure Group since 2003, and has been building the business from the ground up ever since.

Much of the operations going on behind the scenes at Eco are down to Charmaine and her incredible dedication to the company. We’d be very lost without her!

Outside of Eco, Charmaine is a true inspiration to us all. Whether she’s climbing mountains in the Himalayas for charity or running ultramarathons across the Incan trails of Ecuador, Charmaine is the perfect example of why we should be celebrating International Women’s Day.

Team at Eco Clapham

Eco Clapham is run by our fantastic manager Valeria who makes us proud every day with all her great skills, hard work and super smooth customer service. She’s also a real champion and helped us triumph through lockdown even in the worst of times.

Alongside Valeria is Head Waitress Laura who goes above and beyond for Eco’s loyal customers and is truly a shining star.

Emanuela is another one of our waitresses and bar aficionado who joined us more recently. Always willing to help anyone at the drop of a hat, Emanuela is a positive force within the team and is sure to melt your heart.

Pictured: Clapham Manager Valeria AKA Madam Butterfly!

Team at Eco Kingston

Our fabulous Kingston manager Lorena worked at Eco Clapham for a number of years, and just last Autumn, she decided to take the jump with us over to Kingston. Fearless and dedicated, Lorena is the perfect example of a leader, especially through challenging times like lockdown. We are so glad to have taken with us to Kingston such an integral part of Eco.

In Kingston, we also have our waitress Jessica, a wonderful spirit in the team. Jessica is also the wife of our brilliant head chef Marcello.

Pictured: Kingston Manager Lorena

Eco Head Office

We’re proud to have a predominantly female team in Eco’s head office.

Jannett is a real part of the family and longest running member of our team, who joined us right at the beginning of Sami and Laura’s journey when they took over Pizzeria Franco back in 1989. She is extremely dedicated to Eco, a super power and also a fully trained midwife! She has been nurturing not just Eco but also a whole portfolio of restaurants and property for the Eco empire; hence, we wouldn’t want anyone else to run our HO.

Pictured (left to right): Charmaine, Jannett’s husband George and Jannett

Head of accounts is Rachel, an extremely loyal member of the Eco family and the source of many laughs. Like Charmaine, Rachel is also passionate about supporting charitable causes, and is a complete ‘outdoors power chick’, having climbed Annapurna in Nepal.

In the office we also have Margarita, who operates our weekend accounts and helps to support Jannett’s role. Margarita is our ‘yes’ woman, or in other words, she’s always willing to take on any challenge and make it look easy as pie. An all-round positive force, she also joined Charmaine on her ultramarathon in Ecuador.

Laura Wasif

Of course, we can’t talk about the brilliant women behind Eco without mentioning Sami’s extraordinary wife Laura, who side by side with Sami started the whole adventure from Pizzeria Franco and the development of Eco in the late 80s and 90s.

Laura helped to build the very foundations of Eco, making it the success it is today. While in recent years she’s stepped back from her role, Laura is still passionate about the brand and provides the utmost support to Sami, Charmaine and the rest of the women on the Eco team.

Pictured: Laura Wasif and Charmaine Wasif

Give back to the women you love at Eco

Want to show your appreciation for a special woman in your life? Come to Eco and we’ll make sure she goes home feeling like a queen.