A round-up of the latest news from the contract catering sector…
Alpha Airports secures £19.5m contract with American Airlines
Alpha Flight Services has secured a five-year contract with American Airlines that will turn over £19.5m a year. From February 2005 it will handle the airline’s catering at Heathrow Airport, where it operates 13 long-haul flights a day; at Gatwick Airport where it runs four flights a day; and at Glasgow Airport, where it operates a summer daily service.
Heathcotes wins Chester Racecourse contract from Letheby & Christopher …
Heathcotes Outside, the outside catering arm of restaurateur Paul Heathcote, has been awarded a five-year contract worth £4m in annual turnover to cater at Chester Racecourse from next January. The contract was won from Compass subsidiary Letheby & Christopher. Heathcote intends to bring in customers earlier on race days by offering pre-race entertainment, more seafood bars, and themed marquees that offer all-day brunch, French and British cuisine, and food matched to the event. He also wants to boost non-raceday business from corporate, charity, and wedding events and increase annual turnover from a current £500,000 to £1m or £2m.
… and tackles Orrell rugby union club
Heathcotes Outside has also signed a 10-year deal with an annual turnover of £350,000 to handle the catering for Orrell rugby union club near Wigan in Lancashire. The contract, which is currently run by an in-house team, starts in December.
Hopkinson takes on tractor account in Essex
Hopkinson Catering has beaten off competition from Eurest and Aramark to win a three-year contract to handle staff catering at tractor manufacturer CNH UK in Basildon, Essex. The contract, which is worth more than £900,000 in annual turnover, involves feeding 2,000 employees in the staff restaurant and catering for the on-site training centre. The Kenilworth-based caterer will also provide hospitality services and food and beverage vending across the 100-acre site.
Eurest renews contract with Lothian Buses
Eurest, the staff feeding arm of the Compass Group, has retained its contract with Lothian Buses to cater for almost 650 staff at three depots in Edinburgh. The contract, which runs for three-and-a-half years, is worth almost £643,000 in annual turnover. Eurest, which has held the contract for eight years, operates a full catering service for six days a week, along with a 24-hour snack and drinks vending service.
Just Deli makes the Europe 500 league for third year running
Reading-based corporate caterer Just Deli has been named as one of Europe’s 500 fastest-growing medium-sized firms for the third year running. The Europe 500 league is measured by job creation. Just Deli – which was snapped up this month by the OCS Group for a rumoured £7m – was established in 1996. Since then, it has grown into a company with 54 clients, mostly in the London and Thames Valley area, more than 300 employees and a forecast annual turnover approaching £11m.
Sodexho wins National Training Award
Sodexho has been awarded a National Training Award, a government-backed scheme that recognizes excellence in training and learning. The award was given for the introduction of the Sodexho Way training programme to the caterer’s business and industry division. In the past two years, more than 900 Sodexo business and industry managers have attended each of the six programmes designed to train staff in new systems and new ways of working.
by Angela Frewin
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