500 Million pounds for catering deal.

Compass wins £500m racecourse catering deal


ONE of the UK’s biggest-ever catering contracts, worth an estimated £500 million over ten years, has been awarded by Jockey Club Racecourses to the UK & Ireland division of international operator Compass, which will take over all 14 venues in the group from July 1.



The deal, which was settled in a straight tender battle between longstanding racecourse operators Compass and Sodexo, will be overseen by Jockey Club Catering, a new entity formed by of racing’s one-time governing and regulatory body, which is to be chaired by Aintree racecourse chairman Lord Daresbury.



He said: “Catering plays a central part in all the activities – raceday and non-raceday – that take place at our racecourses, and I look forward to overseeing improvements in standards of service and quality, together with ensuring ongoing innovation in the product, so as to constantlyupgrade our competitive position.”



Daresbury added: “Our objective is to create Jockey Club Catering as the quality flagship against which all outdoor events and sports catering are measured.”


Compass, whose outside events managing director Bob Reeves has been a familiar figure on British racecourses since he worked for Sodexo subsidiary Ring & Brymer, before being poached by his present employer’s off-shoot Letheby & Christopher, already caters at JCR tracks Aintree, Cheltenham, Newmarket and Warwick.



In some cases, such as Epsom, Compass will take over from Sodexo at the remaining ten JCR courses.



It is understood that financial arrangements have been made with Sodexo to enable a smooth handover by July 1.



Jockey Club finance and commercial director Andrew Gould, who led the negotiations for JCR, said there were many benefits to the partnership beyond commercial incentives to work for improved results.



He said: “The deal will enable us to invest in upgrading catering facilities across the group, including a greater focus on public catering as well as hospitality areas, so that, for instance, Carlisle will be just as important as Cheltenham.



“There will be much greater operational and financial efficiencies, and working with a dedicated catering team will be to the advantage of our courses and our customers.”



Jockey Club chief executive Simon Bazalgette explained that a commitment to work with regional suppliers, supporting local produce and continuing to serve dishes unique to individual courses, had been built into the deal.

When i saw teh heading i though perhaps the Vaal catering tender had been awarded. Very disappointed.

Have to my stale peanuts with next week. AGAIN.

Romeo may just get a coke Zero instead of a Coke Lite one day.