Lindley Heritage, the division created by The Lindley Group in 2011 to offer bespoke catering for museums, historic houses, arts and leisure venues, and visitor attractions, has been appointed by Twycross Zoo as its catering partner. The deal will span the next five and a half years until 2018.
The East-Midlands Zoological Society, which has until now managed all of the catering services at Twycross Zoo in-house, says it brought Lindley Heritage on board to help develop and enhance its catering services for the 500,000 members of the public who visit the venue each year, build the conference and events business and establish a viable incremental revenue for the 90-acre site.
Turnover derived from catering and event management at Twycross Zoo is estimated to be in the region of £2m per annum, totalling £11m during the term of the partnership.
Lindley Heritage took over the entire catering operation at Twycross Zoo in August. Immediate plans are to introduce new menus and style of service at each of the cafes and restaurants located around the zoo, and create a new barbecue and outdoor seating area adjacent to the Dome Café for the summer season.
A key element of the partnership will see Lindley Heritage working closely with the team at Twycross Zoo to increase awareness of the venue’s facilities and promote their suitability for corporate and private functions. Reducing and minimising the ’ecological footprint’ of Twycross Zoo also forms part of the remit.
“After half a century of managing the catering in-house, we decided that it was time to look externally for some inspiration and expertise to help us further develop our catering offer,” says Acting CEO at Twycross Zoo, Mary-Lorraine Hughes. “Initially we approached The Lindley Group to assist us on a consultancy basis, but during our discussions it became clear that if we were to make the change needed to achieve our vision for enhancing our visitor catering and elevating the level of our conference and events bookings, that we needed the full time support of a professional catering partner.”
Jonathan Davies, Sales and Marketing Director of The Lindley Group, adds: “Twycross Zoo is one of the major visitor attractions in the East Midlands and its extensive and flexible conference and banqueting facilities combined with its central geographic location and good transport links make it an ideal choice for event organisers looking for a setting for a business or private function.”
Lindley Heritage also manages catering contracts at The Hepworth Wakefield, the Theatre Royal Bath and Malvern Theatres.
A unique catering event occurred at Twycross Zoo yesterday (1 August) when eight Chimpanzees had to be enticed back into their normal living areas with ice cream and fizzy drinks after they escaped into a secure service area within their enclosure.
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