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Tom Kerridge steps in to ‘save’ organiser of Pub in the Park
By Emma Lake
The company behind Tom Ker- ridge’s Pub in the Park festivals has been bought in a pre-pack administration deal after the chef stepped in to “save” the popular events. Brand Events TM Ltd has been acquired by new entity Pub in the Park Festivals Ltd, which lists its directors as Kerridge, David Allan and Chris Hughes, the chief executive of Brand Events. Brand Events was created in
2017 as a joint venture between Brand Events Holdings Ltd and publisher Trinity Mirror (now Reach plc), to launch a family of consumer events and festival brands. An administrators’ report revealed that Pub in the Park was a major commercial suc- cess and grew to 10 events annually and with a turnover of £6.4m in 2022. Other events including the Hand Made Fair, Travelling Feast, Keswick Mountain Festival, and the
Administrators revealed Pub in the Park was a commercial success
Gourmet Picture Company, lost the business money. Under the prior agreement,
Kerridge was entitled to 20% of Pub in the Park’s annual profits and owned 20% of the intellec- tual property of the business. He and the other directors
of Pub in the Park Festivals Ltd have paid £175,000 for the busi-
ness and taken on a debt owed to Barclays, which documents state it will settle outside of the administration. Their purchase has seen 15 employees transfer to the new business. The deal, which completed in summer, also saw the directors invest £1m to maintain good- will with suppliers.
A spokesperson for Kerridge
told The Sunday Times: “Tom Kerridge worked with other investors and the administrator to save his popular festival busi- ness Pub in the Park. He acted in good faith for all involved.” The line up for next year’s Pub
in the Park festivals has already been revealed with the run reduced to four events in Marlow, Reigate, Chiswick and St Albans. A statement posted to the
Pub in the Park website read: “Next year we plan to replace our regional touring format with four newly designed, big- ger and better festivals in Mar- low, Chiswick, Reigate, and St Albans. Each event will have its own unique characteristics that we are really excited about.” It added: “We are sad not to be returning to towns where we’ve had so much fun in the past, but in the current climate our Pub in the Park smaller shows are unfortunately unviable.”
emma.lake@
thecaterer.com Compass Group profits boosted by ‘record year’ of wins
Contract caterer Compass Group has reported strong growth in all major Euro- pean markets, most notably in the UK. In its results for the year
ended 30 September 2023, the European arm of the business saw underlying operating profit grow by 31.5% to £392m. The region also delivered organic revenue growth of 21.6% due to new business acquisitions in sectors such as business and industry, educa- tion, and sports and leisure. Besides the UK, Germany
and Turkey were also men- tioned for having made a “sig- nificant contribution” to the region’s results. Globally, statutory profit
before tax grew to £1.75b from £1.47b, while revenue rose from £26.4b to £31.3b. Underlying operating profit saw a 30%
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boost, with figures soaring from £1.64b to £2.12b. Compass, which is the world’s
largest contract catering com- pany, said it would focus on “sig- nificant structural growth” in core markets over the next year. The group exited nine coun-
tries over the past year, five of which were in central and eastern Europe, which means the business now operates in roughly 35 countries. Compass also noted it had seen
the “sale of a business, site clo- sures and contract renegotiations and terminations in the UK”. The group said it will prioritise investment in the business to fund future growth opportunities. Compass predicted capital expenditure will be around 3.5% of underlying revenue in 2024, with net M&A spending likely to be higher than in 2023. Dominic Blakemore, group
chief executive, said: “2023 was a strong year for Compass. North America continued its long track record of excellent growth whilst Europe delivered a second year of net new growth in the 4-5% range. “During the year, we contin-
ued to successfully capitalise on the dynamic outsourcing trends, resulting in another record year of new business wins and con-
tinued strong client retention.” He added: “We are confident that the focus on our core mar- kets, the ongoing investment in our market-leading offer and our proven processes will sup- port high single-digit organic revenue growth in 2024.” Compass Group makes up roughly 15% of the global food- service market, which is believed to be worth $300b (£240b).
Compass Group’s European arm saw organic revenue growth of 21.6% 24 November 2023 | The Caterer | 7
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