Green & Fortune has been awarded the contract as exclusive operator of all hospitality and retail catering services at Central Hall Westminster, central London’s largest conference venue, with its Great Hall accommodating over 2,000 guests.
The agreement commences on 1 March 2020 and includes catering for all corporate events in the venue’s 25 spaces, its concert programme and the 150-seat cafe within the building as well as a street cafe opposite Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.
This will be the third venue within the Green & Fortune portfolio, alongside Kings Place and Sea Containers. This new partnership embodies its expertise in providing a mix of both retail and events catering within large London venues.
It also continues the frm's strategy of delivering measured growth and value, as well as only working with organisations that have scale and development opportunities. The addition of Central Hall Westminster fits within this strategy perfectly.
Green & Fortune’s Chief Executive, John Nugent commented, “We have been measured and selective both with our growth plans and our working partners since our launch in 2008.
'Alongside Central Hall Westminster we have ambitious plans to develop the product and the business over the coming years, whilst still retaining the solid ethos of both organisations. The venue’s focus on sustainability mirrors our own and we will be working to further enhance this between the teams.
“The Green & Fortune team are looking forward to innovating the food offer and enhancing service styles at this world renowned venue. I am delighted this is our third London venue and we will all put as much energy into this as we have, over recent years, at both Kings Place and Sea Containers.”
Emma Williams, Chief Operating Officer at Green & Fortune, added, “We’re delighted to have been selected as the catering partner of Central Hall Westminster. Throughout the entire process we have felt a great synergy with them, particularly the people, which is something that is really important for us, given how key relationships are to successful partnerships.
“It’s also a fantastic opportunity to work with a new catering team, including existing staff and new positions, to re-energise them and bring a fresh dynamic to the whole offer. There’s a genuine sense of excitement throughout at Green & Fortune to embrace a new team and contract into the fold.”
The announcement of a third site builds further on another successful period for Green & Fortune. Revenues to March 2020 are expected to exceed £13m. It was also recognised for the first time in the AlixPartners/EP Food Service Growth Report, 2019.
This year also saw the group winning Boutique Caterer of the Year at the Foodservice Catey Awards and Chef Director, Jason Wild being named Chef of the Year. It was also recognised as Best Catering Team at the London Catering Awards.
Paul Southern, Managing Director of Central Hall Westminster, commented, “As a not-for-profit organisation which exists to maintain our historic building and support many charitable causes, it was important that we found a catering company which fits in with our values.
'Sustainability is also at the heart of everything we do and as winners of the Green Tourism Gold Award for two years running, we needed to ensure our catering partner could help us build further on our green reputation.
'We are delighted to begin working with a company which shares our values and uses suppliers or services dedicated to reduce the impact on the environment as this will be key in the next five years.”
Central Hall Westminster (CHW) is central London’s largest purpose-built conference and events centre, combining historical elegance with cutting-edge technical capabilities. The unique Edwardian landmark building situated adjacent to Westminster Abbey is the home of a culturally diverse Methodist Church and has engaged high profile conferences, special events and local business meetings since 1912.
Central Hall Westminster is a not for profit company that exists to enhance its architecturally significant building and to provide money for charitable works all over the world.
