About Us

Our Story

Terry Greenhill & Ferdi Pacelli, founders of Prime Steak & Grill have been business partners and friends for over 25 years. Their very first venture was to bring freshly cooked Italian food to their stomping ground of the home counties. This concept, Zaza, has grown organically to eight successful restaurants with the commitment to a ‘cooked from scratch’ approach as strong today as when the doors opened to their first restaurant.

The philosophy of organic growth is at the heart of their partnership and after several visits “across the pond“ they realised there was an opportunity to use their newfound love for the classic New York Steakhouse to open the first Prime Steak and Grill in 2014.

The success of the business lies not only in their obvious commitment to quality but also hugely down to “being happy” – just one of the many reasons they remain such good friends after 25 years.

“If we focus on making sure the priority of the business is ensuring happiness, whether team member or guest – the rest is so much easier to deliver.”

With three successful Primes already in operation and more in the pipeline, these philosophies will continue to be at the heart of what we do.

Our Team

Tracey Matthews

Chief Operating Officer

Tracey joined Prime in 2018 after 18 years with Gaucho restaurants by firstly leading the people team as Human Resources Director. It was in this role that Tracey created the “first of its kind” training academy that demonstrated a world class commitment to the training and development of its teams. After eight years Tracey was promoted to Managing Director positioning Gaucho as an internationally respected Premium Steakhouse. After 30 years in the industry Tracey’s passion for people continues unabated and she is excited to be spear heading Prime’s development and future growth.

Jamie Robertson

Group Executive Chef

With an international career of over 20 years Jamie joined the team in 2020 after working closely alongside Genarro Contaldo creating menu dishes for Jamie Oliver’s International restaurants, as well as many years working for Gordon Ramsey as Group executive chef.

Jamie’s career includes time spent in Dubai, Hong Kong and London working as Chef Director for a top London Steakhouse. Jamie's passion is to work with exceptional quality produce to create memorable dishes that guests return for time and time again.

Lena Bond

Events Manager

With a career spanning more than 15 years in events with her most recent position held at The Centurion club in St Albans, Lena joined Prime to lead the events team in 2019.

Her passion is to create bespoke events for her clients from weddings and corporate functions through to milestone birthdays and engagements, Lena enjoys taking the time to personally meet her clients to ensure even the smallest of details receives the right attention.

Sami David

General Manager of Chandlers Cross

With over 18 years of restaurant and hotel experience both in the UK and Europe, Sami spent six years managing quality Italian restaurants before joining as Deputy Manager of Prime Chandlers Cross in 2019. His continued focus on ensuring our guests had an exceptional experience led to promotion to General Manager of Prime Chandlers Cross in 2020.

Matt Tolic

General Manager of Beaconsfield

With over 20 years experience in the hospitality sector, across casual and premium dining, Matt, our newest member of the management team, joined Prime as General manager of Beaconsfield in January 2023. He has a strong track record with being guest obsessed, detail orientated and has a strong ability to lead a dedicated and motivated team. He is extremely pleased to be joining us and is looking forward to welcoming you all in Beaconsfield.

Diana Sofron

General Manager of St Albans

With over 10 years of hospitality experience both in Europe and in the UK, Diana joined the Prime family in 2016 as a host. Diana’s natural flair for service saw her quickly join the management development programme. Her natural ability combined with fantastic leadership and her enthusiasm to learn new things saw her become a General Manager in 2019 in St Albans, and since then she’s been our red headed superstar!

Our Philosophy

Our Prime Philosophies begin with the commitment to offer the quality of a London restaurant, but without the train journey.

Our talented and enthusiastic chef brigade are given the freedom to use the highest quality produce to prepare a seasonally changing menu. Our menus are centred around offering ‘New York steak house flair with a British twist’. At the heart of the menu is highest quality ethically reared beef from the highlands of Scotland, grilled to perfection.

Our bartenders are actively involved in cocktail development to ensure we offer an exciting list offering not only the classics but outstanding specialities created by our talented teams. Our cocktail list sits alongside a passionately curated wine and spirits list that ensures every guest will find something to love.

Our hosts and managers are regularly encouraged to live by the mantra “As long as the request is legal, then the answer is yes, now what was the question?”. Our key staff training programme develops our managers to not simply be key holders, but to be invested creative restaurateurs. Our trusted managers are then given given the freedom to make their own decisions within their restaurant to guarantee
outstanding, warm and passionate service is delivered every time.

A strong philosophy of training, development reward and recognition means we offer not just employment to our teams, but a career with progression! This is always focused on being happy and feeling valued as we believe a happy team will ensure we always have happy guests!