Kent Cricket joins forces with Lindley to Expand Catering Operations

Lindley Stadium Caterer wins new contract with Kent CricketKent Cricket has selected Lindley Venue Catering, the specialist sports stadia catering division of The Lindley Group, as its partner to develop match day catering, and conference, banqueting, and events business at the club’s sports facilities in Kent.

The five year contract with Kent Cricket comes within weeks of Lindley being signed up by Gloucestershire CCC, and Essex CCC extending its existing contract with Lindley for the 2012 season.

Lindley Venue Catering has been recruited for its expertise in growing revenue and business from non-match day events at professional sports venues. As well as being brought on board to manage and develop all of the match day catering at Kent Cricket’s main St Lawrence ground in Canterbury, the company will also operate matches at the club’s County Ground in Beckenham and The Nevill Ground at Tunbridge Wells.

Lindley Venue Catering will be employing a dedicated sales coordinator who will be based at the St Lawrence Ground, and is also investing £40,000 to develop on-site food retail offer and extend the catering facilities in the Club Members’ area.  The caterer is also planning to introduce bespoke catering to match the different requirements of visitors attending County and CB40 matches, and FPt20games.

The Lindley Venue Catering team will take control of catering and events for Kent Cricket working in partnership with the Club’s in-house catering and events management team, which until now has been solely responsible for managing  the match day and non- match day hospitality services.

Jamie Clifford, Kent Cricket CEO, says:  “We have ambitious plans to increase the use of the Club’s facilities in general, and St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury, in particular, where we have recently undertaken an extensive refurbishment programme which has included the creation of state-of-the art conference and banqueting suites.

“Our in-house catering and events team has done a fantastic job in establishing a great reputation for the quality of the Club’s catering and hospitality, and it’s because of their success that we have reached the stage where we now need to increase the resource to manage the incremental business which they are generating.

“We looked at the options of either expanding our in-house team or looking externally for the right partner to join forces with us on our venture to grow our business.  Having met with Lindley Venue Catering we opted for the latter as they meet all the Club’s requirements, and they have the capability and skill-set which will enable us to fast-track the next phase of our business expansion plans.

“With their extensive experience in sports stadia catering they have some great ideas for enhancing match day catering  for both public and corporate hospitality entertaining, and the icing on the cake is their proven  expertise in developing non-match day business at other sports venues.

“Just as importantly, we share a common business culture. The level of investment Lindley is making in the club’s facilities and marketing support demonstrates their commitment to the Club, and, from a commercial perspective, the annual minimum level of income they have guaranteed from catering will give a substantial boost to the Club’s revenue”

Adam Elliott, CEO of The Lindley Group, says:  “Kent Cricket has made great strides forward in putting the St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury, on the conference, banqueting and events map.  The ground is one of the premier county grounds in the country and it occupies a fabulous setting in the heart of Canterbury. These inherent natural assets have been enhanced by an excellently executed refurbishment and the development of a new website to promote the new facilities, so the Club has already laid a strong foundation for us to build on.

“Having worked with other sporting venues on optimizing their websites, we have achieved increases of up to 20% in conference and banqueting sales, so we know the results which we can achieve.  We also aim to maximise revenue from match day catering by fine tuning the food offering for different types of event.

“County games spanning four days clearly have a longer dwell time, attract an older audience and require a different catering approach to one day twenty20 games which bring in a younger demographic. So, for example, we will be installing our Frank’s Original New York Streetdogs® branded retail offer at the ground to cater for this younger audience during one day matches.”

Elliott concludes:  “The Club and Lindley are jointly committed to achieving the common goals of delivering a platinum standard of public and hospitality catering on match days, and making the St Lawrence ground a prime destination for conference and event organizers and private functions.  It is the partnership approach and the drive and enthusiasm shared by both parties which has given us the confidence to commit to guarantee Kent Cricket a substantial minimum income from our management of the catering and events business.”

News

news archive…

Colchester United Football Club:


Weston Homes Community Stadium provides a limited number of Community Events and activities on an at-cost basis to not-for-profit groups in the Colchester community. These events number a minimum of 24 in a calendar year. Room hire is provided free of charge and Lindley provide all catering at cost price.

In addition to Community Events Lindley provide a reduced priced event for local pensioners at Christmas time attracting 250-300 local elderly people for a get together for a celebratory Christmas lunch.

Bristol City Football Club (BCFC):


Lindley is working in partnership with Bristol City Community Trust at BCFC on their Healthy Schools Project. This project involves teaching school children about healthy lifestyles; the importance of linking food and being active through sports. Lindley has developed a cook book for kids that focus on healthy, affordable recipes that taste great. Lindley will demonstrate recipes to the school children when they visit the stadium and they can take away the cook books to continue the cooking experience at home with their families. This type of initiative brings to life what the children have been learning in their healthy eating sessions and will hopefully give them a taste for freshly prepared and healthy food.

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club (GCCC):


During summer 2012 Lindley hosted a cook and eat session with young cricketers where the Head Chef bought 6 ingredients and showed different ways with pasta, noodles and rice and spoke about food hygiene. This was met with great enthusiasm and will be continued into next year.

Warrington Wolves:


Lindley is involved in HM Prison Thorn Cross young offenders work experience scheme. This is where young offenders get let out on day release to complete some work experience to increase confidence, skills and help with future job prospects. Lindley has had people working in kitchens, front of house and The Warrington Wolves Club are also involved.

In October, Lindley became a Business Patron of Warrington Wolves Community Foundation. Recently established to engage local businesses with a passion for making a difference in the Warrington Community, The Warrington Wolves Charitable Foundation aims to help young people of Warrington reach and fulfil their potential through a wide variety of initiatives. As part of Lindley’s contribution to the Foundation we will cover the room hire costs and provide first class catering for all of the Patron Club’s events held at the Stadium throughout the year, including an annual celebration held to recognise Patrons’ support and provide an opportunity for young people to showcase their talents.

Leicester Tigers:


The Droglites Bar that Lindley runs in the Stadium uses four trained volunteer staff each game. The equivalent cost of the wages gets donated to two of the Clubs chosen charities.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club:


Lindley is investing in a project with Tottenham Hotspur Foundation that will teach children in local schools how to make raised vegetable beds and grow seasonal produce. The schools will also receive healthy lifestyle classes and coaching sessions from the Foundation. The school children will visit our kitchens in the stadium and be shown how to prepare great healthy, seasonal meals from their produce. The end of term will finish with a farmers style market with the schools shoeing off their produce and our chefs getting involved in some theatre cooking. Teaching children about fresh produce; what it is, where it comes from, how to grow and cook it are all valuable lessons that will help improve their welfare long term and of course we will have some fun on the way!

The John Smith Stadium:


Lindley is working together with Kirklees College on a local education and training programme. The provides students in Kirklees College’s Catering, Travel and Tourism departments with an opportunity to gain hands-on experience working as part of the Lindley Catering team in match-day, conference, banqueting and event hospitality environments at Stadium. The scheme envisages both work experience placements and paid temporary employment. Selected students are offered personal development training programmes leading to potential offers of full-time permanent employment with Lindley. Kirklees College provide Lindley employees working at the Stadium the opportunity to study for formal qualifications and also develop apprenticeship schemes.

In early November Lindley held an event in conjunction with Huddersfield Police and Kirklees neighbourhood council. The general manager Anthony Hegney conducted a full stadium tour for Kirklees council residents based on talking about employment in the catering industry and the benefits of healthy eating. Martin the head chef did a short cookery demo in the kitchen he made a very basic pea & mint soup to show people how simple and cost effective it was to feed a family on a budget and they all got the opportunity to watch and taste at the end. The event was really well received and the Police have asked Lindley to host another one in April 2013.

Sheffield Wednesday Community Centre:


As sole caterers at the community centre to be built in 2013, Lindley will be using this as a showcase of our CSR initiatives. Lindley will integrate with the other partners at the community centre, such as the GP surgery and sports coaches to provide community workshops like teaching families how to cook affordable and healthy meals. Links between the Centre, Club and Lindley will be supported through the use of charity kiosks.

Bath Racecourse:


Lindley work with the local Bath University to employ staff for the catering operations at the racecourse. Lindley has developed an excellent relationship with the career advisor and throughout the last 3 years over 60 students has worked for Lindley at Bath Racecourse. This creates a sustainable workforce where students come back year after year and supports the local economy.

Notts County Football Club:


Lindley and Notts County Football Club are proud to say that they are sponsoring the RSPCA with a summer ball hosted at Meadow Lane. The Ball's fundraising will go towards animals at RSPCA Nottingham and the Notts Branch.

Sheffield Young Carers:


Lindley have worked alongside Sheffield Young Carers, a registered charity that supports young carers between the ages of 8 and 21, who provide a substantial amount of unpaid care to someone at home with a physical illness and disabilities. By supplying branded aprons for a Young Carers Eat & Greet Event, Lindley aims to help provide young carers with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn valuable cooking skills.

Being Respectful:


By:

- Being polite and courteous
- Treating others how you would like to be treated
- Being respectful
- Listening, not hearing
- Asking, not telling
- Giving people the time to think

Being Unique:


By:

- Delivering a polished performance
- Being an ambassador for Lindley
- Having pride in what you do
- Doing things differently
- Offering suggestions
- Being an individual

Being Authentic:


By:

- Being yourself
- Being open and honest
- Being fair
- Being genuine
- Acting with integrity
- Sharing and celebrating success

The Hallmark of People Excellence:


Is how we express the values that are important to the Lindley Group, it is a guide for how we should conduct ourselves at work and distinguishes our people from the Crowd.

The Lindley Group believes that our people are precious. You are the most valued part of our business and you will help ‘Challenge the staus quo of hospitality and retail concession catering at your venue’ through the Hallmark of People Excellence.

Putting Your Customers First:


By:

- Enjoying Work
- Giving a warm and friendly welcome
- Being proud of the service you deliver
- Understanding your customers’ needs
- Going the extra mile to help
- Providing a fantastic customer experience each and every time.

Being Creative:


By:

- Encouraging new ideas
- Being passionate
- Showing flair
- Embracing change
- Being motivated and motivating others
- Welcoming feedbacks

Being Valuable:


By:

- Taking ownership
- Finding solutions
- Treating every pound as your own
- Developing yourself and others
- Exceeding your goals
- Striving to be better than our competitors