Quay Arts in Newport has appointed two key new staff in recent few weeks, Robert Miles as the Artistic Director and Peter Corney as Head Chef, it has been announced.
Robert has extensive theatre and arts management experience, beginning his career as a professional actor aged twelve at Windsor Theatre Royal. He went on to appear in the West End in Oliver! at the Albery Theatre and in Tom Stoppard’s Night And Day at the Phoenix Theatre alongside John Thaw and Maggie Smith.
For the past seven years Robert has been Artistic Director at The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre in Somerset, receiving national recognition for reinvigorating the programme, significantly increasing earned income and Arts Council investment. However in 2011 Somerset County Council became the first local authority to cut its arts funding by 100% leading to the closure of The Brewhouse in February this year.
Meanwhile, Peter grew up in Ryde where he tried to learn cooking from his mum, who he says is “the worst cook of all time”. But this only spurred him on to cooking better food. He cooked Christmas dinner every year from the age of nine because he says, “I just didn’t trust that my mum could pull it off!’
After working for several years as the head of the kitchen at the Coast Café Bar in Newport he moved to The Hermitage Country, a five star restaurant in Whitwell, where he was drawn into the exciting approach to food and the challenge to use ingredients that you rarely see anywhere else.
After the season ended, he moved to The Coast Bar & Dining Room in Cowes where he became Head Chef. Being a self-proclaimed food, music and art lover, there really is nowhere else he could have ended up but at Quay Arts – It was only a matter of time!
Peter said:
“I love working for Quay Arts and feel I already have a great sense of belonging, having been welcomed with open arms as very much part of family. They’re all about great food, local produce and lovely atmosphere. All the staff seem to be just as excited as me with the quality of food that’s being produced in the kitchen. It’s my time to shine and I am really looking forward to the challenges ahead.”
