They will be rebranded as RA Venues and Rapport, which will ‘reflect the values, consumer demographics and food and service standards that are shared by these companies, as well as their commitment to recruiting, retaining and developing the very best talent in the industry.’
Alice Woodwark, who has been appointed managing director of the group, said: “Joining together these three impressive businesses within one Group brings great benefits to our customers and guests as well as to our clients. Restaurant Associates and Rapport clients will gain access to a prestigious range of venues within which to host external events, as well as access to the strong catering and events capabilities of the RA Venues team. Equally, RA Venues clients will benefit from insights and opportunities from Restaurant Associates and Rapport’s leading position in the corporate market.
“As the workplace food landscape becomes ever more consumer-focused, Restaurant Associates will also gain from RA Venues’ retailing expertise in over 50 public-facing cafes and restaurants. Similarly, the recognised leadership that Rapport holds in the field of guest services – as a multi-award-winning business that has been recognised as one of the Top 30 Best Places to Work in Hospitality for the last five years – brings further depth to the great service culture at both Restaurant Associates and RA Venues.”
The group will incorporate a number of fine dining and public restaurants including Roux at Parliament Square, City Social in partnership with Jason Atherton and Bryn Williams at Somerset House.
It also said that moving Levy Leisure into the RA Group and rebranding it as RA Venues has the additional advantage of aligning the Compass Group brands in the UK and America. In the USA, visitor attractions including The Met Museum in New York and The Guggenheim are served by Restaurant Associates and doing this will ‘strengthen the bonds’ between Compass Group’s sites on both sides of the Atlantic.