Catering Contract Hard To Swallow

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 11:42

Dee4Life were very disappointed to learn that Dundee FC has renewed the stadium catering franchise with Lindley Catering Holdings Ltd. for another 5 years, without giving others including local firms the chance to bid.
 
"Many fans have been fiercely critical of Lindley’s poor quality & service and exhorbitant pricing for some time, so it's a decision we find hard to swallow," said Dee4Life Chairman Scott Glenday. "Unusually, the club has valued pounds above people in signing this deal, with a guaranteed fixed fee for the next five years. Sadly, as long as fans are prepared to pay these prices, Lindley’s will refuse to make any changes.”

Scott and fans’ rep George Knight have raised the issue with the club’s General Manager, Jim Thomson, who has provided us with a detailed reply explaining the club’s reasoning, which you can read below.

Lindley is one of the biggest operators in this sector with over 60 football clubs on the books in England, Scotland and Wales. They also operate in other sports such as rugby union, cricket and rugby league. They also cater for major one off events and concerts so have considerable expertise and reputation within the industry.

In Scotland they are contracted by Celtic, Hibs, Dundee United, St Johnstone, Inverness and Motherwell. The remaining SPL Clubs who are not with Lindley are contracted with the other main players in this market, Sodehxo and Azzure.
 
The Commercials are clearly stipulated in the contract document and the financial proposal gives information on turnover and spend at DFC over the last 4 years. Spend per head at Dens is showing a clear upward trend over the period of the contract and turnover is markedly improved from year 1 to year 4.
 
The financial benefits to DFC are clear. In addition we get a major "name" in this market handling the logistical operation of providing match day catering. They deal with everything. Staff training, recruitment, retention, HR issues, Health and Safety in staff terms and food hygiene. All maintenance and overhead costs associated with the contract are met by Lindley.
 
Looking at it in SPL terms I would example a match against Hamilton compared to a match against Dundee United. A 5,000 crowd compared to a !0,000 crowd. An in house operation would struggle to provide a professional service to both given that the level of staff required for both matches is wildy different. Lindley has the facility and resources to call in Staff and Managers from other sites to meet the additional demands placed upon them. An In House operation would struggle to find the necessary trained staff to cope. The recent Rangers game here in October serves to illustrate this point.

On a similar basis, I had to contract in additional security staff to deal with this match. Given the new legislative requirements for match day stewards that I have highlighted before to you, I am actively looking at contracting out this part of the business also. This is definitely the trend in many industries now as companies struggle to meet their legal obligations and conduct their core business effectively. In my view it makes sense to engage professionals in these areas to ensure proper governance, a good level of service and a good financial return at the same time.
 
The pricing issue is always the one that supporters raise when voicing their disapproval of Lindley. I would point out that they have to meet all the overheads associated with running a catering operation but only have very limited opportunities to operate and make a profit. Basically, once a fortnight. I would compare pricing with other service sector operations such as cinemas, concert venues etc and you will see that the prices for similar products are similar if not less at Dens.
 
As a footnote, I would add that I have had the usual visits from Environmental Health Officers and Trading Standards over the last few years and I have had little or no issues to deal with. Similarly, I have had very few written complaints or telephone complaints over the years from people who use the service. Any complaint re service quality or standards passed on to Lindley is dealt with courteously and professionally and almost always to the satisfaction of the customer.
 
Given more time I could go on at greater length. Assuming that we reach our goal of SPL football next season, our supporters will be visiting grounds with similar price structures and possibly this will become less of an issue. At the moment we are visiting grounds with small in house operations with lower pricing which quite frankly would not stand up to scrutiny if their operations were seriously examined. The consequences are major if mistakes are made when dealing with public catering. That responsibility lies with Lindley.
 
Regards
 
Jim Thomson
General Manager, Dundee FC