Lindley scores £10.5m catering contract at Huddersfield Town stadium

Lindley Venue Catering has scored a £10.5m contract at the Galpharm Stadium, home to Huddersfield Town Football Club and Huddersfield Giants Rugby League Club.

The five-year appointment, which began last week, sees Lindley - a division of Lindley Group - manage all of the match-day and non-match-day catering services at the 24,000 capacity West Yorkshire stadium.

The caterer is also tasked with promoting and expanding the usage of the site, which was established in 1991 as a joint venture between the two sports clubs and Kirklees Metropolitan Council.

The lucrative contract win comes hot on the heels of a strategic restructure at Lindley Group earlier this year, which saw the merger of its stadia hospitality and public catering operations to form Lindley Venue Catering.

Adam Elliott, chief executive at Lindley Group, said: "Through our extensive concert experience and connections we will be in a position to work with the Galpharm as a top concert venue to ensure that it remains firmly on the map for headline acts.

"We'll be introducing a very proactive sales programme to maximise use of the venue for a variety of different events and occasions from tribute band gigs and business exhibitions to Christmas parties and weddings."

Gareth Davies, managing director of Kirklees Stadium Development, which manages Galpharm, said: "During the tender process, Lindley’s passionate focus on food and service and their attention to detail have been inspiring. 

"They already work with an array of major stadia and venues including Celtic, Manchester City, Tottenham, Warrington Wolves, Leicester Tigers and the Liverpool Echo Arena. I have no doubt that together we’ll fine tune separate football, rugby and non-matchday offerings that match the best of these”.

Each year the stadium hosts 23 and 13 league matches for the football club and rugby league club respectively, as well as a number of cup matches. On match-days, Lindley will cater for more than 800 covers, 42 corporate hospitality suites and 16 retails kiosks at the ground.

Outside the sporting calendar, the Galpharm stadium can accommodate up to 40,000 concert goers and past acts to have played at the venue include Elton John, REM, Bon Jovi and Girls Aloud.

Lindley Group makes move into new sector >>

Lindley wins £2m contract extension at Spurs football ground >>

Adam Elliott leaves Elior for Lindley CEO role >>

By Janie Stamford

E-mail your comments to Janie Stamford here.

If you have something to say on this story or anything else join the debate at Table Talk - Caterer's new networking forum. Go to www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk

Caterersearch.com jobs

Looking for a new job? Find your next job here with Caterersearch.com jobs