Central Hall Westminster, central London’s largest purpose-built conferencing and events centre, has completed the £250k refurbishment and rebranding of its cafe, in partnership with its onsite caterers, Kudos.
Wesley’s Cafe, situated in the iconic venue’s under croft, has been given a fresh new look and rebranded to reflect the building’s 106-year heritage and identity, while providing a welcoming space for event professionals and members of the public alike to enjoy for anything from a coffee to breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea.
Work on the 300sqm site, which seats a maximum of 165, included complete restoration of the original parquet flooring, a new separate coffee bar away from the food offering, an extension of the main cafe servery to include a welcoming ambience and live cooking stations, an extended salad bar, new LED lighting and restoration of the glass conservatory area.
The seating in the cafe, which matches the brand colours, has been transformed to meet customers’ diverse needs from banquettes with power sockets for working over coffee, comfortable sofas for relaxation and larger tables for groups between 8 and 50, who can book ahead via the venue website’s online booking tool.
Other features of the refurbishment and rebranding include new uniforms for all catering staff, new appliances and digital menu and news screens.
To complement the new look cafe, which is open seven days a week, Kudos’ Head Chef Earl White has completely refreshed and updated the menus for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. A particular feature of the new menu is the live cooking station allowing more customer interaction and the opportunity to tailor dishes. The refreshed menu changes daily and includes meat, fish, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.
The newly refurbished site can be opened out and hired by event organisers in conjunction with the adjacent 200-capacity event space introduced four years ago as part of a £500k redevelopment. This creates an event space for dinners for up to 360 and receptions for 700 people or more.
The project has also led to the creation of a new staff role. Emir Gurler has joined the team as Cafe Supervisor to oversee the day-to-day running of the eatery.
Paul Southern, Managing Director of Central Hall Westminster, commented, “To say we are thrilled with our newly-refurbished cafe is an understatement, the space has been completely transformed into a modern and versatile facility suitable for both our many event professionals who visit the building, concert goers, members of the church, local business professionals and the general public.
'Not only is the new cafe a welcoming space serving great food, but it’s also ideal for business meetings due to its free wifi and multiple charging points.”