Levy Restaurants wins £90m Somerset House contract extension

Levy Restaurants has extended its contract with Somerset House in a deal worth £90m.

The contract extension, which starts July 2015, will see the sport, leisure and hospitality sector of Compass Group continue its service provision at the London arts and culture venue for a further 15 years.

In addition to the ongoing service delivery, including those run in partnership with chef Tom Aikens (Tom's Kitchen, Tom's Kitchen Deli, Tom's Kitchen Terrace and Tom's Kitchen Events), the caterer will introduce a new café bar this autumn.

Pennethorne's Cafe Bar is named after 19th century English architect Sir James Pennethorne, who designed the Somerset House New Wing in which the new café bar will reside.

The 85-cover space will take inspiration from its namesake's travels across Europe during the Grand Tour and feature flavours from France, Italy and Spain served with "an English twist".

The focus of the Pennethorne menu will be the on-site bakery, which produces specialist breads and pastries throughout the day. Fresh coffees, craft beers and English and European wines will also feature alongside a selection of day dining small plates.

Jonathan Davidson, business director for leisure at Levy Restaurants UK, said: "We're passionate about delivering great experiences and have worked really hard to deliver an innovative service at Somerset House. I'm thrilled that we've been awarded a further 15 year contract. We can't wait to open Pennethorne's Cafe Bar; we're focusing on quality, simplicity and freshness with a nod to Sir James Pennethorne himself, it's going to be fantastic."

Mark Hislop, commercial director at Somerset House Trust, added: "Somerset House is an iconic cultural venue that is popular with visitors of all ages and is a truly unique London landmark receiving over 2.4 million visits per annum.

"We wanted to provide our visitors with a range of restaurant and cafes that meet the needs of all our visitors and reflect the ethos and atmosphere of Somerset House. Our partnership with Levy Restaurants UK is enabling us to deliver this vision; we look forward to continue to work with them and in creating the new Pennethorne's Cafe Bar which we're all really excited about."

Somerset House, a neo-classical building located between the Strand and the River Thames, is host to a number of open-air concerts and films, contemporary art and design exhibitions, family workshops and free guided tours, throughout the year.