Lindley Venue Catering "Scores a Six" with GCCC
7 January 2013
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club (GCCC) has awarded Lindley Venue Catering - the specialist sports stadia catering division of The Lindley Group - a six-year catering and events management contract as the Club embarks on an extensive development programme at the County Ground, Nevil Road, Bristol.
The appointment follows approval of GCCC’s planning application to expand and enhance the facilities at the County Ground with the aim of establishing it as a leading centre for sport, including one-day international matches. As well as installing a state-of-the art media centre, the development will also incorporate a purpose-built conference centre aimed at benefiting the local community and businesses, and a key part of Lindley Venue Catering’s remit is to provide a comprehensive sales and marketing programme to maximise usage of the new centre.
In 2012, Lindley Venue Catering was awarded a single-season contract and responsibility for managing all of the match-day and non match-day catering and events at the County Ground pending the outcome of the club’s planning application. Lindley – which also manages the catering at Bristol City FC’s Ashton Gate Stadium and whose sister operation, Lindley Heritage was recently appointed to develop the catering and events business at The Theatre Royal in Bath - was subsequently invited to tender for the longer-term six-year contract worth an estimated £6.8 million.
Work began on the Pavilion – the first phase of the development which aims to increase the match-day capacity of the ground to 17,500 – in October 2012, and is expected to be completed by the end of July 2013, with the new facilities being fully operational ahead of the 2014 season in readiness for one of the prestigious England v India 2014 fixtures. The County Ground is also scheduled to host an England v Sri Lanka one-day international match in 2016.
Tom Richardson, Gloucestershire County Cricket Club’s Chief Executive, said: “Teaming up with Lindley Venue Catering over the 2012 season provided us with a great opportunity to gain an insight into the way they work and to benefit from their knowledge and experience as we seek to expand our catering and hospitality services.
“We’ve been delighted with the enhancements they have made to our match day catering, we have been impressed by their professionalism and sales and marketing expertise, and although they faced some tough competition in tendering for the contract, they demonstrated that they have the skill set which will maximise the potential of the new facilities, in particular outstanding new conferencing facilities, as well as providing cricket fans with a fantastic match day experience.”
Adam Elliott, the Lindley Group´s Chief Executive Officer, added: “Gloucestershire County Cricket Club has been very clear in its ambition both to attract more supporters to the ground for one-day international and domestic cricket matches, and to make the County Ground, Bristol a central hub for the local community and businesses.
“The new development opens up a whole range of opportunities to make much greater use of the new facilities and we are delighted to have been selected as the club’s catering and events partner from the inception of the new plans.”
- ENDS –
