Following a hugely successful season both on and off-the pitch Watford FC and Lindley Venue Catering – the specialist sports stadia catering division of the Lindley Group – have forged a new £18 million deal extending the caterer’s original five-year contract at Vicarage Road to a new 10-year partnership agreement which will see Lindley providing catering, hospitality, sales, marketing and event management services through to 2023-24.
At the heart of the long-term commitment is the development of the south west corner facilities at the stadium. The £1 million development, will see the creation and completion of two flexible hospitality areas in the south west corner of Vicarage Road by the middle of next season, and this will kick-start Watford FC’s long-term plans to undertake a complete refurbishment of the whole stadium which currently has a match day capacity of 17,500.
Lindley will be responsible for overseeing the design and installation of new kitchens and two floors of new hospitality facilities. The top floor, which will provide great pitch-side viewing, will feature a casual, informal dining area equipped with LCD screens giving it the ambience of a premium sports bar. A match-day hospitality ‘bar & grill’ menu will offer a selection of quality hand-held food such as gourmet burgers and sharing platters.
The area has also been designed with the dual objective of attracting revenue from non-match day private hire business as well as enhancing the hospitality facilities for match-goers. Lindley will be proactively marketing the suite as ideal for parties, anniversaries and discos, and it also has plans to create an entry point Christmas Party carvery/disco/cash bar offering.
A flexible, open plan hospitality suite will be established on the first floor. Lindley is ringing the changes by moving away from the traditional match day three/four-course hospitality fine-dining experience offered by most stadia, and will be introducing a high-quality authentic Italian restaurant concept.
The hospitality suite has been designed so that on non-match days it can be converted into an exhibition or conference space, or, alternatively, it can provide a 150 cover dining area for formal banquets, weddings and balls. It will also host club award nights and, to maximise usage of the suite, Lindley plans to develop a programme of events such as sportsman dinners and offer premium, all-inclusive Christmas packages.
Financial support of Lindley’s new American owners – Centerplate
Jonathan Davies, the Lindley Group’s sales & marketing director, adds: “When Lindley Venue Catering was appointed by Watford FC, it was evident that the new owners and management were on a very determined mission to turnaround the fortunes of the club and return the team to the premiership.
“Watford FC had made clear that its ambition is to completely refurbish the stadium and whilst Vicarage Road has some very good public concourse facilities, including a large public bar and modern kiosks, we felt that the hospitality areas needed to be developed if they are to realise their full potential and match the standard offered at other premiership and championship grounds.
“We could see a number of opportunities for the club to create a unique offering and with the financial backing and support of our new American owners – Centerplate – we were prepared to invest in the infrastructure of the stadium as part of a long-term partnership. We also strongly believe the type of mid-market casual dining experience we are proposing for the top floor of the new hospitality facilities will be the future of sports hospitality – a view which has been reinforced by seeing the results of similar concepts developed by Centerplate in other stadia around the globe, most notably the US and Canada.”