Levy UK + Ireland, the sports and hospitality division of Compass Group UK and Ireland, has agreed a five-year contract extension until 2030 with AEG-owned The O2 Arena.
The venue is set to be the first arena for Levy UK+I to achieve net zero on food and beverage by 2025. This supports Levy UK+I’s main target of achieving net zero in the UK by 2027.
Levy UK+I recently supported the venue at the Billie Eilish Overheated event; the first climate-focused cross-campus takeover of The O2, which saw the arena go 100% vegan for the six Billie Eilish shows.
Levy UK+I also created menus for The BRIT Awards which centred around local and seasonal plant-forward offerings and introduced carbon labelling for concession food.
About the partnership
The partnership delivers plant-forward options across more than 50% of the menus and uses a POS data system that identifies consumer trends in relation to on-site stock levels. Levy UK+I said it will work in partnership with venues to use 100% seasonal sourcing for all menus by end of 2022 and will roll out carbon labelling on every food menu. It also aims to have operational food waste under 1% by the end of 2024.
Jon Davies, managing director, Levy UK + Ireland, said: “As part of our Levy Cares initiative, we remain committed to reducing waste produced within our venues while continuing to provide a wide range of food and drink experiences for guests.”
Adam Pearson, commercial director, The O2, said, “Food and drink have a vital role to play in the pursuit of The O2’s net zero ambitions and wider sustainability aims – so we are delighted to be working with Levy UK+I on what is a challenging but necessary target of net zero for F&B by 2025. We’ve seen from the recent Billie Eilish shows and Overheated events at The O2 that all of our key stakeholders are as passionate as we are about this and so we’re truly excited to see what can be achieved as we continue to raise the bar.”
