The Institute of Directors (IoD) on Pall Mall, London, has terminated its contract with caterer Leith's. The prestigious contract, held by Leith's for more than 10 years, was due to run until the end of 2004, but the IoD's management has decided to take the service in-house from 1 November.
Chief operating officer Andrew Main Wilson explained that the IoD wanted to take control of all its operations. "We run our own business centre, training centre and front of house," he said. "The only thing we didn't run was our catering business."
The contract includes a restaurant, brasserie, wine bar and cellar and numerous function rooms, and is worth nearly £6m a year. It is reported that Leith's made an annual profit of £200,000.
Although it is understood that Leith's staff work 50-hour weeks, compared with the IoD staff's 35 hours, Main Wilson denied that the catering operation would cost the institute more once the catering was taken in-house. Forty full-time and 50 casual staff will transfer in November.
Ian Campbell, currently general manager of the business centre and front of house, will become director of hospitality services.
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 31 July - 6 August 2003