Caterer Kudos has launched a brand new and exclusive food and retail concept at Harrogate International Centre (HIC) Yorkshire.
The Harrogate Market
The site wide retail concept is a brand new investment at the conference and exhibition centre that forms part of the existing Kudos contract with HIC Yorkshire. The Harrogate Market was successfully launched earlier this month at the 3-day Harrogate Bridal Show.
The Harrogate Market was designed in collaboration with the venue to offer a high street grab and go supermarket offer, operating at breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner for exhibition visitors, as well as mobile bars and buffet stations for conference delegates.
Showcasing ‘local hero’ suppliers and products
This venue specific retail concept effectively balances modern high street supermarket retailing with the look, feel and product range more associated with a local farmers market. The Kudos team showcases ‘local hero’ suppliers and high quality seasonal ingredients which give visitors to the venue a flexible, sustainable and nutritionally balanced choice of onsite catering. Over 50% of the 89 unique homemade products on offer are sourced from within 20 miles of HIC Yorkshire including smoked fish from Bleikers Smokehouse, finest Yorkshire tea from Taylors of Harrogate and Yorkshire parkin and other sweet treats from Lottie Shaw’s.
The brand new offer consists of 3 new fixed points in 3 unique parts of the 1 mile square site.
Coffee cart
In addition Kudos have also invested in a branded Piaggio Ape coffee cart and 1,000 covers of china, cutlery and stemware for events, as well as significant upgrades to the main onsite production kitchen.
Kudos has also invested in the dedicated onsite team in order to raise the bar for customer service at the venue. Kudos has partnered with WorldHost to give front-line team members invaluable customer service training and the skills and knowledge to deliver service excellence at HIC Yorkshire.
£10 million over next 5 years
Kudos’s new contractual term at HIC Yorkshire commenced in January 2014 and is expected to generate over £10m over the next 5 years. HIC Yorkshire is a regular host of the British Bridal Exhibition, The Golf Show, the Knitting & Stitching Show and the Harrogate Christmas & Gift Show as well as high profile events including the hosting of the first stage of the 2014 Tour De France cycle race.
Simon Kent, Director of HIC Yorkshire added “We wanted our new HIC retail brand to be high quality, sustainable and to showcase the fabulous local producers in the Harrogate area. The Harrogate Market brand has managed to encapsulate this vision and Kudos has delivered on their promise.”