Compass and Kerb partnership to bring street food concepts to stadiums and venues

Compass Group UK & Ireland is teaming up with street food operator Kerb to bring its traders to stadiums and venues nationwide from 2021.

The move will see Kerb work with Levy UK, the sports, leisure, and hospitality arm of Compass, to offer "new menu and food experiences" when events spaces reopen next year.

Kerb was founded in 2012 and operates six street food markets across London with more than 70 traders, while Compass provides catering and support services to over 6,000 locations in the UK and Ireland.

The partnership means fledgling food traders on Kerb's inKerbator mentoring programme will have the opportunity to work with other Compass catering businesses, including Chartwells and RA Group.

Kerb chief executive Simon Mitchell said both companies could "learn a lot from each other" and had the "common goal" of wanting to expand into new areas.

Robin Mills, managing director at Compass, said: "While the coronavirus pandemic has paused sporting events and restricted activity at leisure venues, it has given us the time to work with clients to innovate in anticipation of stadiums and venues fully reopening.

"In Kerb we have found a company which matches our ambition and that we can grow together with."

The deal comes after Compass bought tech start-up Feedr in March in a bid to accelerate its digital transformation. The app delivers personalised meals and nutrition information to offers workers and will allow Compass' corporate clients to order and pre-pay for food at its on-site restaurants.

Pictured (from left): Simon Mitchell, chief executive of Kerb; Jon Davies, managing director of Levy UK; Petra Barran, founder of Kerb