News
Company Name: En Passent Business
Date: August 2008
Various people have debated whether there is a better approach to thetraditional contractor-client relationship. So what happens when thecaterer and the client commit to a closer relationship and work in theform of a joint venture? Click here to download the news article.
Company Name: Reading Evening Post
Date: August 2008
Steven Saunders and Sean Valentine of the Aspire Group, based in Eversley, are handling the catering for the British Grand Prix – an absolutely massive, and prestigious, feat. Click here to download the news article.
Client Company Name: Silverstone Circuit Limited
Location: Silverstone
Date: July 2008
Formula One: very fast food - Behind the scenes in the kitchens for the big race. Preparing a meal for the family can sometimes feel a bit daunting but imagine if you had to cook for 20,000 guests... This is the mammoth task that is facing the catering team at Silverstone at the British Grand Prix. Click here to download the news article.
Client Company Name: Aspire Hospitality Race for Life
Location: Silverstone
Date: June 2007
June 13th 2007 saw the female contingent of Team Aspire don their running shoes in a bid to raise funds for Cancer Research UK. The second year that the event has been held at the Silverstone Circuit, the charity run attracted over 5000 women to participate in the good cause. Fresh-faced and energised here, our team achieved a remarkable feat, raising £1200.00 for the charity.
Client Company Name: Aspire's Formula 1™ Success at Silverstone
Location: Silverstone
Date: July 2007
In a statement made today, pioneering fixed event hospitality and catering company, Aspire Hospitality, reported its service provision achievements for this year’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit. Catering for 205,000 people, Aspire escalated its core staff circuit team from 11 to over 3,000 employed over the three day period of Friday 6th to Sunday 8th July, serving over 10,000 covers in the corporate hospitality facilities and a further 10,000+ in the hospitality retail village, which offered a rich diversity of food offerings.
Aspire’s staff operated in 11 locations across the acreage of the Silverstone estate, from small coffee and bar outlets to full fine dining hospitality. In addition, the company was responsible for in excess of 170 mobile catering operations.
Richard Phillips, managing director for Silverstone, commented, "With record crowds over the Grand Prix weekend our new catering partners, Aspire and their sub-contractors, performed brilliantly with much praise from the public, corporate clients and the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC).
The move to predominantly organic food and higher levels of quality and service has definitely paid off. We now have a firm base to build on and we look forward to implementing the next phase of our catering strategy". Of the many highlights recorded by Aspire during the three day event, three in particular stand out, according to Sean Valentine, managing director for the company. “We undertook the BRDC ball, delivering to 415 guests a fabulous menu, the pinnacle of which was organic lamb. Our ambition as a caterer, was to serve all covers pink – no small task for those numbers – and I believe we achieved this.”
Two Silverstone ‘firsts’ cited by Aspire was the provision of three course a la carte dining for over 800 people in the BRDC marquee; and the creation of an organic mobile catering outlet in the BRDC farm area, operating as a theatre kitchen within the marquee, under the banner of ‘Steven Saunders’, creative director for Aspire and one of only 17 Fellow Master Chefs of Great Britain. Rachel Greenwood, events manager for Barker Brooks Media, who organised the BRDC ball, was emphatic, “The team should be very proud of Aspire, the service was good, the food not only looked great but tasted great (so I’m told!), and the wines went down a treat. From my experience in events, Aspire has been the best catering team I’ve worked with and I very much hope to do so again in the future.”
Client Company Name: Silverstone Circuit Limited
Location: Silverstone
Date: March 2007
In an unprecedented move, new hospitality and catering company, Aspire Hospitality and Silverstone Circuit Ltd, are issuing a statement today confirming a joint venture agreement. The contract awarded to Aspire is valued at £3.5m turnover per annum and focuses on the public catering, conference and banqueting and corporate hospitality for Silverstone’s event calendar, the pinnacle of which is the 2007 Formula 1™ British Grand Prix.
The catering and hospitality contract was previously with FTSE 100-listed foodservice group, Compass, and the move to appoint a recently founded company is a pioneering one. Richard Phillips, Managing Director for Silverstone Circuit Ltd, commented, “What Aspire has brought to the table is a revolutionary concept in the provision and management of hospitality services. Its innovative approach, in conjunction with the symbiotic relationship we have developed – a real partnership – are what attracted us to the Aspire solution.”
In addition to the Formula 1™ British Grand Prix, Aspire will be undertaking the hospitality requirements for Silverstone’s entire international and domestic diary of events, including World and British Super Bikes, Silverstone Classic and the FIA GT Championship; as well as the whole host of corporate entertainment and training opportunities, from driving experiences, track days and the Silverstone Motor Sport Academy, through to company conferences, exhibitions and product launches.
At the 800-acre world-famous site, Aspire will provide catering and hospitality services ranging from exclusive fine gourmet fayre within the restaurants, marquees and BRDC (British Racing Drivers’ Club) club through to internationally influenced high street quality food within ‘infotainment’ environments. Fine food menu development will be under the guidance of Aspire’s group executive development chef and fellow master chef of Great Britain, Steven Saunders. Other consortium members involved in the Silverstone provision include Tapenade, offering exclusive cuisine; and MSL, bringing over 25 years experience working in Formula 1 and motor racing hospitality.
Established in September 2006, Aspire Hospitality brings an industry first to the catering sector by offering its clients a unique business proposition centred on the provision of a consortium of owner-managed companies. Each consortium member specialises in their given field, working with the others to offer clients best-in-class services, creativity, innovation and flexibility – all of the benefits associated with smaller organisations – but within a structure that delivers big company resources without any of the traditional downsides.
Aspire Hospitality was founded by catering and hospitality entrepreneurs, Sean Valentine and John Duffield, both of whom have reputations for delivering the highest quality service and for their innovative business strategies. The company will specialise in hospitality solutions for venue catering in the leisure market.
Sean Valentine, Managing Director for Aspire, concluded, “We have developed a unique solution to facilitate venue hospitality and in Silverstone, we have found a client/partner who values and reflects our own policies for transparency and integrity as well as for innovation and creativity. We intend to deliver for Silverstone much more than hospitality; contributing to the development of its brand value to its true potential.
Located in near Towcester, Northamptonshire, Silverstone was the venue for the first ever Formula One World Championship Grand Prix in 1950 and has been the only circuit to stage the British Grand Prix since 1986. Silverstone Circuit remains one of the world’s most recognisable sporting venues.
Background Information
Established in September 2006 by catering and hospitality entrepreneurs, Sean Valentine and John Duffield, Aspire Hospitality provides clients in the fixed venue event market with a pioneering hospitality solution. Comprising a consortium of best-in-class, owner-managed companies selected as members because of their customer-driven culture, Aspire Hospitality delivers to its clients all the resources of large corporations but the outlook and service associated with smaller, privately owned businesses: all of the benefits, none of the constraints. Each consortium member is a specialist in their field and as part of ‘Team Aspire’; each is available all of time, whenever required, as an entire group of separately.
Within the Aspire Group are also Aspire Special Events and The New Mill riverside restaurant, Eversley. Developing menus and setting food standards across the group, is Steven Saunders, creative director, whose passion for organic, fresh, seasonal and locally-sourced produce is renowned.
For further information, please contact:
Cindy Duffield, PR & Marketing, on 07768 418487 or via email at cindy@duffields.org
Sean Valentine/John Duffield, Directors, via email at sean@aspiregroup.co.uk and john@aspiregroup.co.uk