Minute on the clock: Tim Wray, CGC catering group

The managing director of CGC catering group has refocused its rebrand on curating new ideas from all parts of the business. Victoria Miller reports

 

Tell us about CGC’s rebrand

 

We have a broad spectrum of venues, from sporting venues to restaurants, exhibition centres and wedding venues, so it was a way of bringing these elements together.

 

Before the rebrand, CGC was Craven Gilpin Catering, but now we stand for Creative, Genuine and Curious. Creative because we want to inspire our team to be as creative as possible; genuine because our honesty, sincerity and longevity is our core strength, and our clients, who have been with us for so long, feel that through us; and curious because it leads to continual improvement. We recognise that a great idea can come from every part of our business, which is why we encourage trying out new ideas all the time.

 

Why did you feel a rebrand was necessary?

 

The rebranding was really because of the pandemic – it gave us time to take stock and think “OK, we can’t change the past, but we can change the future and this is what we are going to do.”

 

We involved our clients in the rebranding and asked them their thoughts. Their input helped us think about where we want to go in the future and to be ambitious. We’re going to grow but we’re going to do it in a controlled way, to make sure we can keep delivering what we do best.

 

CGC has partnered with York Racecourse for nearly 40 years – what are your plans and aspirations for the partnership for the next seven years?

 

Both teams are all about giving people a proper Yorkshire day out, which involves great food, great drink, great service and great value. Ensuring guests have the best experience is at the forefront of our minds in everything we do. It’s important that when we talk about divisions, ambitions and where we want to invest, that we ask what the next customer is looking for.

 

It’s important for us to make sure that, whether you are going into the family enclosure or you’re having high-end corporate hospitality, we offer new experiences. We also think about staff welfare, so we have a dedicated area for all people working on-site to go, to have a place to refresh and get ready to go again.

 

What are the challenges that come with feeding the annual 300,000 racegoers who come through York Racecourse’s gates?

 

It’s all in the planning. We have a phenomenal team across the business, but it’s about moving those people to the right places so that every offering is well-planned, thought out and delivered.

 

We have 30 kitchens on-site with 120 different culinary skills, ranging from kitchen porters to head chefs, and that number is matched with a similar level of management. Then, if we add staffing, it can be upwards of 1,000 on-site, so that’s the sort of logistical challenges we have. Everything is about the planning, to make sure we’re in a good place when those first guests walk through the racecourse’s gates.

 

How have racegoers’ food preferences changed since before the pandemic?

 

Street food as a theme has come through and that can be seen in the restaurants as well as in the public areas. The trend for this is British food but with an Asian feel. Greek is also popular, as is sushi and Thai.

 

CGC prides itself on its British identity – how do you showcase this through its food offering?

 

A lot of that is down to our suppliers – we’re only as good as the quality of the food that comes in. We spend a long time creating the menu, trying the food and sampling the dishes, and we then take this to our clients to ensure they are equally as impressed. It demonstrates that we are serving the best quality food we can at all times.

 

The quality of our meat, for example, such as the great sirloin beef we serve with Yorkshire puddings, is key for us. We work with Ged Bell in York, which supplies burgers, sausages and pork pies, we get our dairy products from Longley Farm, south of Huddersfield, and our ice-cream is from Yorvale, an independent ice-cream manufacturer in York.

 

CGC’s parent company SMG merged with ASM Global in 2019 – did that change CGC’s offering?

 

It gave us a huge support network in all aspects, from the boardroom down to the culinary leadership and HR. They’ve got the same values, so it’s all about people, developments and innovation.

 

What does the future hold for CGC Catering?

 

CGC is keen to grow, but in the right areas. In May we started to work with the Halls, a music venue in Wolverhampton, and our first contract catering event with them was on 26 May, with Blur playing to a sellout 3,500 crowd – that was a big one! And if live music and stadiums are an opportunity, I think we are well-positioned to go out and drive business.