#holroyd howe

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Holroyd Howe prepares for the new allergens legislation

  With just a few months to go before the new allergens legislation launches, Holroyd Howe - the UK’s only caterer to deliver fresh food services solely to the independent education sector - is calling upon schools to take notice and prepare for the biggest change to their catering in recent years.

  The new legislation requires all caterers to provide substantial information on 14 key allergens including gluten, milk, eggs and celery, and caterers can also no longer state that they do not know if an allergen is present or that all produce could contain a certain ingredient.

  Holroyd Howe’s call for greater industry awareness and preparation comes as many schools may not know the legislation is changing or fully understand the intricacies of the new rules. Many of these schools will need to make substantial changes to their operations and utilise new training practises in order to comply with the new legislation before it comes into force in December 2014.

  With so many premises to cater for, Holroyd Howe has been up skilling a taskforce of employees from across the country to become trained ‘Allergy Champions’,  who are now delivering training across the network of schools to ensure that all employees are equipped for the introduction of the new legislation. The leading independent school caterer has also increased focus on its categories for each intolerance level – ranging from mild intolerances to red allergies that can trigger an anaphylactic shock. For children suffering from  these red allergies, Holroyd Howe makes arrangements to meet with each parent to discuss their child’s needs, educate staff and reassure families.

  Ronan Harte, Managing Director of Holroyd Howe, said, “We have a lot of moral responsibility for the children we cater for. Unlike adults, they are not always aware of what they shouldn’t eat so as their foodservice providers, it’s our responsibility to ensure we know and understand every child’s needs so that the right provisions of care in place for them.

  “Whilst the wider catering industry is geared up for the changes, self-operated schools may not have the same understanding of the changes ahead and need to react now in order to avoid fines or prosecution.” 

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Another successful year for BaxterStorey and WSH with double digit growth

BaxterStorey reports 10% growth and 900 new jobs, including 40 graduate placements 13th year proves lucky for WSH with 15% growth and consolidated turnover of £530m confirmed.

  BaxterStorey – the UK’s leading provider of workplace hospitality services – has today posted a combined UK turnover of £320m, representing a year-on-year increase of more than 10%, with the creation of 900 new roles in the business. 

  Now in its tenth year, BaxterStorey has seen its turnover in England & Wales increase by £21.6m, from £281.9m in 2012 to £303.5m today.  BaxterStorey Scotland grew by a further 19% to £15.8m. This business success was underpinned by 44 new client wins, including such prestigious names as Reed Smith, Shell UK, Verizon and BAE Systems.

  Alastair Storey, Chairman at BaxterStorey and Chief Executive at WSH, said: “We invest heavily in training and supporting our people who are key to developing long lasting customer relationships. We aim to provide our clients with great tasting, fresh, seasonal and locally sourced food through innovative menus that keep pace with the high street and respond quickly to changes in food and drink trends.  This is because we understand thatevery day our customers have choices. Only byproviding food cooked and presented creatively, on-site, by well trained staff, will we tempt our customers to eat with us time and again.”

  BaxterStorey’s success is reflected in 15% year-on-year turnover growth for parent company WSH, which has experienced a double-digit increase for an impressive 13th year running and now has a consolidated turnover of £530m. 

  Despite last year’s challenging trading conditions, WSH continues to outperform the marketplace. Its combined businesses – BaxterStorey, Caterlink, Holroyd Howe, benugo and Portico – last year supported the UK economy with the creation of over 1,800 jobs, taking the total number of employees to more than 14,400 across the UK and Europe. 

  Education catering specialists, Caterlink and Holroyd Howe, enjoyed tremendous growth of 20% and 27% respectively, taking Caterlink’s turnover from £52.9m to £63.5m and Holroyd Howe’s from £30.4m to £38.7m.  Meanwhile, retail and public venue operator benugo increased its turnover by 24% from £56.5m to £70m.  This ongoing success comes on the back of a number of new contract wins and renewals. These include new contracts with the Isle of Wight College, Godalming College and a number of primary, special and secondary schools on the Isle of Anglesey/Ynys Mon for Caterlink;  Holy Cross Prep School in Kingston, The Duke of York’s Military School in Dover and Manchester’s Lady Barn House School for Holroyd Howe; Regents Park, Welcome Collection and House of St Barnabas for benugo; and The Riverly Club in Oxfordshire, Swiss Re at 30 St Mary the Axe in London and The Apartments at 47 North Row, Park House Mayfair for Portico.

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Queen Mary’s School welcomes new Holroyd Howe Chef Manager

The pupils of Queen Mary’s School in Thirsk have been getting hands on with food after welcoming a new Chef Manager to the team, courtesy of Holroyd Howe - the UK’s only caterer to deliver fresh food services solely to the independent education sector.

Francois Strydom, who previously worked at a Jamie Oliver restaurant, has been busy educating the children about healthy eating and food provenance.

  Francois is responsible for serving hot and cold nutritious and seasonal meals to nearly 300 pupils including 100 boarders. In addition to managing a team of seven, Francois is responsible for organising and overseeing food workshops with pupils, enhancing the food offering, mentoring his team and running hospitality services at the independent girls’ school.

  Commenting on his appointment, Francois said: “My vision for Queen Mary’s is all about keeping the food healthy and the children interested. I have a great passion for teaching young chefs the art of cooking and the importance of food provenance. My father is my biggest inspiration as he is the one that taught me how to cook, butcher and prepare produce and I want to pass this on. This is why I have been working with the children to get them interacting with food, so they have been helping me out in the kitchen by making things like courgette brownies.”

  Ronan Harte, Managing Director of Holroyd Howe, added: “At Holroyd Howe we specialise in serving food that is fresh and seasonal and appealing to children. With Francois’ background he is perfect for the role and his passion and enthusiasm will not only enhance the food offering at the school but will help to demonstrate the importance of food and the role of nutrition to the pupils.”

  Francois brings with him 16 years of catering experience from across the world. Born and raised in South Africa, Francois moved to England in 2006 to further his career as a chef. He joins Holroyd Howe from Jamie’s Italian in York where he worked as a Head Chef and has previously held positions at The White Horse in Newbury and Holroyd Howe’s sister company BaxterStorey in Reading.

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Cashing-in with cookies to raise £40K for Action Against Hunger

  Chefs at BaxterStorey and Holroyd Howe, the UK’s leading corporate and independent education restaurateurs, will be elbow-deep in cookie-dough this winter when they prepare to bake 54,000 cookies in aid of Action Against Hunger. 

  In a bid to raise some £40,000 to fight child hunger, BaxterStorey and Holroyd Howe will be selling specially prepared oat and raisin cookies at their restaurants, delis and café bars across the country.  Grocery and Fresh Food supplier Brakes is also supporting the cause by providing all the cookie ingredients free of charge meaning every single penny of the treat’s 75p retail price will go to Action Against Hunger

  BaxterStorey will get the tills ringing on 16 October 2013 to coincide with World Food Day, while pupils attending Holroyd Howe catered schools will be able to enjoy their cookies on 20 November, Universal Children’s Day.

  Alastair Storey, Chairman and CEO of WSH, the holding company for BaxterStorey and Holroyd Howe, said: “This is a charity that is very close to our hearts and I’m delighted that BaxterStorey and Holroyd Howe have the chance to play such an important role in helping to end child hunger. 

  “As a group of companies which is passionate about food and spends every day preparing and serving high quality, fresh and nutritious meals to children and workers across Britain, we were really keen to help Action Against Hunger in the fight against child malnutrition.”

  Jean-Michel Grand, Executive Director, Action Against Hunger, said: “We are delighted that BaxterStorey and Holroyd Howe will be celebrating World Food Day and supporting Action Against Hunger with their cookie sales. The vital funds raised will help our lifesaving work around the world and will help provide communities with access to food and clean water for the future.

  We wish everyone taking part the very best of luck with their efforts and we are extremely grateful for their fantastic support. Together, we know that one day we can end child hunger and initiatives like this can only succeed in getting us one step closer.” 

  The cookie sale is BaxterStorey and Holroyd Howe’s first fundraising initiative for Action Against Hunger and marks the start of an official partnership between the humanitarian organisation and the WSH Foundation – a registered charity which supports charitable causes on behalf of WSH, BaxterStorey, Holroyd Howe, Caterlink, Portico and Benugo.

  Action Against Hunger is committed to ending child hunger.Recognised as a leader in the fight against malnutrition, Action Against Hunger saves the lives of malnourished children while providing communities with access to safe water and sustainable solutions to hunger.