Catering & Hospitality Solutions

For many years I have provided solutions to the Hospitality Sector. Typically, these solutions have been to secondary operators, i.e. those organisations where hospitality is not their primary business. However, I have also provided specific advice to a number of international caterers.

The sectors I have worked for split typically split into three distinct groups as follows:

Transport Providers	Major Event Venues	Public Sector
Train Operators	Museum & Art Galleries	Universities
Motorway Service Area Operators	Theatres	Hospitals
Airport Operators	Conference Centres	Prisons
Ferry Companies	Zoos	Local Authorities

The type of services I offer are also varied with a few examples set out below:

Catering Strategy

There are a number of ways in which I can help with your catering strategy as follows:

Assistance with your new strategy development
Market entry strategy
Reviewing your existing strategy
Translating your strategy into a tangible action plan

I have found that clients may not always be able to express exactly their desires, objectives or requirements. By working with you, I can help to draw out exactly what you want and turn this into a workable plan that will help make real improvements to your business.

Operational Reviews:

A number of clients have said that I have helped their business by being an interpreter - I speak "catering". This means understanding how the business should be operating, standards that should be achieved, cost or revenue targets and how the product is delivered.

Often, administrators in a business may have catering as one of their responsibilities but may lack the time, resources and experience to get the maximum benefit from their catering.

I can help the business to review the operation of their catering and to translate that performance into language, charts, tables and graphs that are easy to understand yet convey the complexity intrinsic in the business.

I have carried out operational reviews for a number of organisations who were:

changing their contract caterer
considering bringing their catering service in-house
planning a significant capital investment in catering
responding to negative feedback from their customers
seeking to generate more revenue
proposing to acquire a catering business

Competitive Tendering:

Some clients see competitive tendering as a commodity product - lots of consultants offer it and one consultant does much the same as the others. My approach adds real value to the process ensuring that:

Client’s requirements are fully reflected in the tender process
Quality and customer service standards are enhanced
Cost/profit targets reflect the client’s objectives
The specification is not inappropriately complex or strict
Sophisticated evaluation accurately identifies the best tender
Financial and operational risks are fully considered

I have carried out competitive tendering for dozens of clients. These have ranged from small business and industry customers with a simple vended service through to some of the largest catering operations in the UK serving millions of customers per annum.