Kudos scores £6m John Smith's Stadium catering deal

Kudos, Crown Partnerships' events and venue catering arm, has converted a £6m deal to provide event and retail catering at the John Smith's Stadium for newly promoted Premier League team Huddersfield Town F.C. and the Huddersfield Giants rugby league team.

 

The three-year contract will see Kudos provide all catering services for both match days and non-match days, as well as catering for retail premises such as the HD1 Café.

 

Kudos will also deliver catering for all conferences and events held at the 24,500-seater stadium and surrounding stadium-run facilities.

 

It takes over from Sodexo, which signed an eight-year deal at the stadium in 2014. Both client and caterer are thought to have mutually agreed to end that contract before it reached its conclusion.

 

Kudos clinched the deal with Kirklees Stadium Development Ltd (KSDL) with details of its ethos of celebrating local producers and seasonal menus, alongside showing how it could meet the growing demands of increasing the stadium's non-match day business.

 

The catering company has already teamed up with local supplier Jones Pies, a family-run baker which produces pies in its Yorkshire-based bakery using an array of locally sourced ingredients and products, such as flour from Yorkshire's Bradshaws of Driffield and packaging, seasoning and chorizo from Bradford. Together, they have created a selection of special match-day pies including beef and potato, steak and ale, chicken curry which has been made from Huddersfield chickens alongside an experimental ‘Huddersfield lamb hotpot' and a vegetarian offering of cheese, potato and onion pasty.

 

Gareth Davies, managing director of the John Smith's Stadium said: "Flexibility and a willingness to move away from standard practices within the stadium catering sector was key to us working with Kudos on our future plans. Kudos are a Michelin-starred business with an attention to detail and a great work ethic which fits exactly with our philosophy at the stadium."

 

"Kudos are committed to minimising their environmental impact, and are proud supporters of using local and British produce to provide a sustainable catering service, which was something that also appealed to the stadium partners."

 

Jon Pryce, senior partner of Kudos added: "We're thrilled to have been selected by KSDL. Being an independent British retail and hospitality provider allows us to build a personal and tailored experience that suits the demands of the two successful sports clubs at the stadium.

 

"The stadium is on the verge of significant expansion including the construction of a new hotel to compliment the growth of the existing facilities which will certainly add value to the non-match day offering, allowing the stadium to be classed as the leading conference and events destination in West Yorkshire."

 

Crown Partnership, founded by Russell Morgan, is shareholder in Daniel Clifford's two-Michelin-starred Midsummer House restaurant in Cambridge.

 

Pictured: Karl Wilkinson, head of safety and compliance, Crown Partnership; Charles Beer, senior partner, Crown Partnership; Alan Wadsworth, factory manager, Jones Pies; Tony Risso-Gill, managing director of Jones Pies

 

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