Coventry Building Society Arena reaps benefit of moving catering operation in-house

Moving the catering operation at the giant Coventry Building Society Arena in-house has led to big improvements, according to the conference, exhibition and entertainment venue.

Staff retention has been strong and 303 new casual workers have been attracted to its database to support the event schedule - equivalent to a 32% increase in staffing.

READ MORE: Frasers Group buys Coventry Arena for a reported £17m

The centre now also works with more local suppliers, including Sparkenhoe Cheese Company, Owen Taylors Butchers and Direct Seafood.

"We had a great relationship with our former catering and hospitality partner, but with the venue moving into a new era, it was the ideal opportunity to take the brave step and bring our catering in-house," explained Mark O’Shea, the catering and experience director at the arena.

"Over the last six months, we have worked to ensure we have the expertise across the team to deliver an improvement in quality for visitors to the venue, which is our primary goal."

He added that visitors could expect to see more improvements in coming months.

"The in-house catering team brings benefits to event organisers as the operation is entirely within the venue and means we are able to act quickly, deliver on shorter lead bookings and tailor our delivery to the needs of an event," he said.

The venue has also partnered with Notpla, Vegware and Event Cup Solutions on new packaging solutions and aims to work with new suppliers such as Fairfields Farm Crisps due to the latter's sustainability credentials.

It has also secured a major deal with Budweiser Brewing Group and invested in new systems for staffing and procurement.

One of the city's best known figures Joe Elliott MBE, who attended three events at the venue last month, added: "While the result on the pitch for Coventry City wasn’t what we wanted, the hospitality food aspect of the evening was superb.

"This followed on from the Diamond Club and Coventry and Warwickshire Children's Charity ball where the food again was of excellent quality and taste.

"It is amazing how the team delivery such consistency in large numbers, and I would like to praise the chefs and teams that produced this quality of service," he said.

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