Wakehurst farms out catering to Graysons

Independent caterer Graysons has secured a £7.5m, five-year catering contract at Wakehurst botanic gardens in West Sussex.

The site is run by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the contract is set to commence on 4 January 2019. Graysons will manage and deliver day visitor catering at Wakehurst's Seed Café, Stables restaurant and Redwoods coffee shop, as well as provide a seasonal rotation of pop-ups.

Graysons will also facilitate private and corporate external events throughout the year in Wakehurst's Mansion and Millennium Seed Bank. The contract was previously held by CH&Co.

Planted, Chantelle Nicholson, has a chef-consultant partnership with the group.

Simona Oproiu, business development director at Graysons, said: “We are delighted to welcome Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden, to our portfolio. It is a remarkable location and we are greatly looking forward to bringing our flair for independent eateries to the fore, welcoming some fantastic local suppliers on the journey with us. We have exciting plans for enhancing the visitor experience with significant refurbishment planned for 2019, and we can’t wait to get started in the coming year.”

Tony Sweeney, director of Wakehurst, added: “We are very pleased indeed to have Graysons onboard at Wakehurst and think the company is a great fit for us. The plant-based menus concentrating on locally sourced, fresh ingredients should be well received by our visitors. Graysons emphasis on sustainability is also exactly right and dovetails nicely with Wakehurst’s key objectives.”

Graysons operates in the business and industry, conference venue and public catering sectors. Its clients include the Francis Crick Institute, the British Library, QVC, and it also recently scooped a contract with the National Archives in Kew.

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