Jerry Brand, managing director of Host
Host, the independent national contract catering group run by foodservice entrepreneur Jerry Brand, has been awarded three new catering contracts, two in education and a third in business & industry.
Host has expanded its portfolio of independent school contracts with the addition of Box Hill School in Dorking, Surrey, which has 450 pupils and staff. The £450,000 contract was won from Holroyd Howe.
A second schools win sees Host take on the catering at independent Redhouse School in Stockton-on-Tees, Teeside, which has 420 pupils. As a sports-orientated school, part of Host’s remit is to improve the quality of packed lunches offered to pupils playing away matches. The £180,000 contract was taken over from Compass.
Host has also been awarded the contract to feed 400 staff at the Coventry head offices of building supply company Jewson. The contract was won from Graysons Hospitality Associates and is worth £200,000.
“We are delighted to start 2010 by gaining these three contracts. This is the beginning of an exciting year of growth for Host. We have come through the worst of the recession, strengthening the business as a result and now it’s time to move forward and expand into new regions and new areas of business,” commented managing director Jerry Brand.
Host, established in 2004, is strongly focused on environmental sustainability and delivering a high quality of food and service with menus tailored to each site. The company operates an open system of accounting giving clients access to all food spend data and an innovative procurement and management system in its web-based Caternet club, which is integrated between the supplier, client and Host. The company currently operates 75 contracts.
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EDITOR’S NOTE
ABOUT HOST
Host is an independent, nationally based, environmentally friendly contract catering company, partly owned by the company management through an EMI share option scheme.
The company was founded in 2004 and is directed by award winning contractor and former restaurateur Jerry Brand.
Host has contracts in Scotland, Wales and mainland England including business & industry, directors and partners dining rooms, conference facilities, independent (prep, senior and 6th form) schools, Beacon state schools, further and higher education, and the healthcare industry in care homes, hospices and hospitals. The organisation now holds 75 contracts and employs over 550 staff.
In 1988 Jerry Brand established the successful contract catering company Russell & Brand (R&B) which in 1994/95 became the 2nd fastest-growing private company in the UK. In 1996 R&B was sold to US-based Marriott to spearhead its launch into the UK contract catering market.
Jerry Brand founded Host with the same business principles he used at R&B: to offer clients a fair deal by following a code of business ethics; to develop a good working relationship with both client and employee; and to allow staff and management sufficient empowerment to run their areas of responsibility as if they were running their own business.
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