Compass in £48m deal with Rose Bowl cricket ground

Compass Group has announced a new joint venture with Hampshire cricket ground the Rose Bowl, worth up to £48m.

The 12-year deal, for which the two organisations will trade together as Rose Bowl Experience, replaces a £50m client/supplier contract signed in 2009 resulting in a greater emphasis on partnership and is no longer profit share.

It will see Compass provide all retail and hospitality food service for the Rose Bowl's substantial match day and conference and banqueting business, which currently attracts up to 250,000 visitors a year.

Compass's Keith Prowse business, which provides hospitality to rugby's Twickenham Stadium, the Kia Oval, Lord's and The Championships, Wimbledon, will also be responsible for the selling of match-day corporate hospitality as well as selling and marketing the conference and banqueting facilities.

Keith Prowse will work with the Rose Bowl's Culinary World Cup medal-winning chef Allan Townsend to create a fine-dining experience using seasonal produce.

The joint venture forms part of the £48m redevelopment of the Rose Bowl, which aims to enhance the cricketing, spectator and media facilities, as well as provide the club with state of the art banqueting, conference and event facilities.

Rod Bransgrove, chairman and chief executive at the Rose Bowl, said that Compass had consistently provided an excellent level of service for more than a year.

Neil Maclaurin, Compass sales director - sport, leisure and hospitality - added: "We are delighted to enter into partnership with Rose Bowl at this very exciting period in its development, given that the venue will host the first Test Match on the South coast between England and Sri Lanka in June of this year.

"Having worked with the club on its food service delivery for the last 18 months, we are excited to be adding further services of match-day corporate hospitality and meetings and events under our new commercial arrangement."

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By Janie Stamford

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