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Post by hhsussex on Feb 28, 2017 12:04:04 GMT
As reported in this thread unofficialsussexccc.freeforums.net/post/23650 Sussex are apparently to outsource their catering at Hove to a company called Centerplate whose clients include Kent CCC, among others. Can any of the Kent followers here give us an indea of what to expect in terms of cost and quality? |
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Bazpan
2nd XI player
Posts: 191 
County club member: Kent
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Post by Bazpan on Mar 1, 2017 19:51:06 GMT
The current catering contract at Kent was initially with a firm called Lindley Venue Catering who were subsequently absorbed by Centerplate (formerly Volume Services America Inc), though the catering operation was fundamentally unchanged. When the deal was originally struck, a Lindley representative promised a commitment to "delivering a platinum standard of public and hospitality catering on match days". Possibly I wouldn't recognise a platinum standard of catering if it was taking place in my own home, but I'm fairly sure we don't have one at St Lawrence Ground. And I think I'll leave it at that.
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Post by flashblade on Apr 4, 2017 14:38:13 GMT
Does anyone know how the new catering arrangements will affect us hungry punters? Will the pavilion menu be any different?
Just as important, how will the club fill the void left by the closure of Cafe Pasticci (?sp)? Will a new outlet fill the gap? Where will non-members get fed?
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offa59
2nd XI player
Posts: 8
County club member: Kent
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Post by offa59 on Apr 4, 2017 18:40:08 GMT
Centreplate walked out on Gillingham last season and Paul Sally
Is now taking legal action. He says the costs are huge, he
Should know all about legal fees,he's been in enough court battles.
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A.S.
2nd XI player
Posts: 60
County club member: Kent
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Post by A.S. on Nov 25, 2017 17:44:32 GMT
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Bazpan
2nd XI player
Posts: 191
County club member: Kent
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Post by Bazpan on Nov 26, 2017 19:24:49 GMT
They sound awful! " wholly unprofessional ... should be ashamed ... indulged in bullying, blackmail ... ". Those were the judge's words. " That is what it looked like", agreed the Chief Operating Officer of Centerplate UK, guilelessly (and seemingly shamelessly). There's possibly some good news for Sussex and Kent fans in that Centerplate have just been acquired by French catering and prison-management behemoth Sodexo (the 'ex' in their acronymic trading name is short for 'exploitation' in their original, longer name, but I think it must be not such a pejorative term in French). As for the matchday experiences we can expect under the new catering regime, it probably depends on which Sodexo turns up. Hopefully it'll be the one that is " looking forward to working together with Centerplate to bring exceptional Quality of Life experiences to tens of thousands of fans and spectators around the world.” For their part, Centerplate feel that "With Sodexo, we share the same vision to deliver a unique and memorable service for our clients and guests through our tailored food and beverage programmes, unique hospitality design ... ", etc., etc. " Centerplate’s clients will benefit from Sodexo’s global capabilities, solution innovations, other on-site services and geographic reach". And if those solution innovations should happen to include ideas such as 'selling nice snacks at fair prices', and 'honouring contracts', then so much the better. Or will we get the Sodexo with form for passing off horse meat as beef, and whose catering at military bases was alleged to be of such poor quality that the matter reached parliament, and - just by the by - who were criticised by the Chief Inspector of Prisons for keeping an inmate of a Surrey prison in a " squalid" cell for five years, during which time she was subjected to " cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment" resembling " torture"? Of course, things will have to go badly wrong for a day at the cricket to give us a chance to sample Sodexo's custodial methods. It'll just be interesting to see which direction the catering at Hove and Canterbury goes in next season and beyond, since I think most of us would agree that the current catering could be improved upon. |
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Bazpan
2nd XI player
Posts: 191
County club member: Kent
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Post by Bazpan on Nov 26, 2017 23:13:08 GMT
Actually this won't be Kent's first brush with Sodexo, who, I'm slowly realising, are one of those shadowy but omnipresent 'service providers' like Serco (whose logo I keep seeing in contexts I had no idea they operated within).
As everyone knows, the Tunbridge Wells festival match between Kent and Sussex nearly didn't happen this year, as negligent groundstaff employed by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council had failed to prepare the pitch properly (including leaving the square uncovered and thereby allowing it to become flooded prior to the festival). It was only through the efforts of Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club members that the ground was made fit for play. As a consequence, there is doubt over whether the festival will be able to continue in the future (I guess we'll find out this week, unless that fixture is listed as TBC).
Many of you will know more than I do about exactly how the 2017 fixture was saved. The eye-catching bit for me is the identity of the council's grounds maintenance contractors. This article in the Times of Tunbridge Wells contains extensive quotes by the Tunbridge Wells Cricket Club chairman, Mark Williams.
www.timesoftunbridgewells.co.uk/cricket-festivals-future-hangs-in-balance-as-kent-complain-about-tunbridge-wells-ground/
Referring to the council's groundsman, Williams said "It was clear to me that he was not experienced and indeed has never worked on a cricket ground ... The lack of supervision of Sodexo has been appalling. We complained to the council but they did not react positively. So we started work on the outfield ourselves and informed Kent we had concerns".
"Jamie [Clifford - Kent CCC Chief Executive] contacted the council for an urgent meeting at the ground on Friday. We agreed with all that he said, including the inadequate staff and the fact that Sodexo had employed someone incapable of preparing a first-class pitch ... Jamie Clifford made it absolutely clear that the match would have been moved if it had not been for the good weather and the enthusiasm of our club to have the game take place".
"Jamie and Kent's head groundsman were appalled at the incompetence and lack of professionalism of a Sodexo employee when they visited the ground".
"The council must take proactive action to relieve Sodexo of their responsibilities at the Nevill. Jamie Clifford wants positive assurances from the council about what action will be taken".
+++++
Personally I would find it difficult to keep a straight face while instructing the owners of a cricket ground to dismiss their grounds maintenance contractor when I'm employing the very same company as the catering contractor at the cricket ground that I'm in charge of. Unless everyone's being supernaturally grown-up about all this, it must be a bit awkward?
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Post by coverpoint on Nov 27, 2017 7:28:05 GMT
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Post by hhsussex on Nov 27, 2017 8:07:44 GMT
Excellent reporting first from A.S and then from bazpan on the complexities of dealing with "outsourced service providers". An extremely colourful judgement from Mr Justice Cocklecarrot who clearly belongs to a rich tradition of voluble judges. And the element of globalisation that is introduced by the murky doings of Sodexo is a perfect metaphor for the compromised world we inhabit.
When I used to do a supposedly grown-up job there was a lot of talk about "concentrating on the core business" by hiving off all the ancillary operations, like cleaning, maintenance, even sometimes communicating with customers, to organisations of the Serco/Sodexo/G4S kind. It all looks good on the balance sheet, and works efficiently in that there is always a nice little reporting function somewhere that shows lots of green and amber traffic lights in the performance criteria. Its a bit of a worry when you dig down and find that customer satisfaction is dropping, and worse still when it starts to affect sales. Of course they don't often take contracts where their performance os critical to actually selling anything, but in the world of cricket where it is very hard to attract new customers to watch the entertainment on offer the ancillaries have a much greater effect on whether people will come and watch, especially when in the case of Tunbridge Wells the "ancillary" function is the means of production!
Most cricket-watchers will endure a bit of lacklustre service in bars and snack outlets, moan about the catering and munch on their own sandwiches. But when those caterers also have the responsibility for providing a major revenue stream through the sale of hospitality, not just for cricket matches but for the year-round business and social functions that use the building assets of the club then they really must be closely scrutinised. It isn't enough just to have a hands-off operation, the club needs to manage that contract at all times and that becomes a burden on a club with a limited number of paid administrators. Presumably the oversight of the Centerplate (as was) contract is the function of Ian Waring as Operations Manager, and it must occupy a huge amount of his time. At what stage does it become simpler to once again employ in-house facilities where standard line-management is a better control than expensive, protractive and potentially litigious contract management?
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Post by coverpoint on Nov 27, 2017 8:47:44 GMT
It depends on the size of the organisation and the number of days on which it has matches. For example in house caterers would not be an option for an independent racecourse such as Plumpton because it only races 16 days a year. However, Brighton (22 days), Fontwell (24 days) and Lingfield (83 days) which are all run by Arena Racing Company have an in house catering facility because most of the staff can work at the three different sites and by and large the racedays don't clash. In house catering is cheaper but it relies on there being enough match days. Certainly our incumbent caterers are a lot better than our previous caterers.
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Post by gmdf on Dec 1, 2017 15:08:14 GMT
As hinted above, the Kent vs Warwickshire game, 20-23 June 2018, is listed as 'TBC' due to concerns over the TW game in 2017.
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