A round-up of the latest news from the contract catering sector…
Sodexho extends contract at Birmingham children’s hospital
Sodexho has won a two-year extension to its contract with Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Trust in the West Midlands. Sodexho has provided catering at the hospital for the past five years. The contract has an annual turnover of about £1.3m.
Holroyd picks up perfect cure
Buckinghamshire-based Holroyd Howe has been awarded the contract to run a new staff café at the offices and laboratories of biotechnology company Cambridge Antibody Technology. Five catering staff will serve 280 potential customers a day. The contract will turn over about £150,000 a year.
Leeming Pilkington gets into the swing
London-based Leeming Pilkington has started a five-year contract at the Metro Golf Centre in London. The contract is expected to turn over more than £500,000 a year. As part of the deal, the caterer will finance refurbishment, build a conservatory bar and lounge area, and double the restaurant’s capacity to 80 seats. Leeming Pilkington will employ nine staff at the centre, including two chefs.
Sodexho sponsors kids' project
Sodexho has provided sponsorship for the Academy of Food & Wine Service to set up a new programme to encourage young people into the restaurant and food industry. The free course at Thames Valley University in Ealing, west London, which starts on 22 February and will run each Saturday morning for seven weeks, hopes to give 14- to 16-year-olds a basic understanding of the sector.
Endsleigh team wins Charlton House praise
The staff restaurant at Endsleigh Insurance Services in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, has won Charlton House's in-house Unit of the Year prize. The contract at the insurance company, which serves over 400 employees daily, won the award after it scored the highest marks in Charlton House’s quality and standards audit and was given high mystery shopper ratings.
A movable feast
Three chefs from banqueting company Circadia, part of Compass Group, beat three other catering teams to win the Food on the Move competition at Hospitality Week in Birmingham last month. Bernhard Engelhardt, Martin Sauer and Michael Duckett had to create a three-course meal for a first-class air traveller from a basket of mystery ingredients in just 45 minutes.
by Samantha McClary