The teams handling facility design and construction, capital project planning, equipment procurement and strategic consulting will be compiled into the new division.
Centerplate has recently undertaken significant projects in the UK, including ACC Liverpool and the Echo Arena, Sunderland AFC’s Stadium of Light, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Sage Gateshead, The RAF Museum in Hendon and Twycross Zoo in the UK.
Chris Verros, president and CEO of Centerplate, said: “This is an exciting time for Centerplate, and for event hospitality, which is increasingly becoming a key component of the brand for a team or venue.
“We were the first in the industry to have an in-house design group, and this move is a natural next step in integrating the growing discipline and practice areas into our overall strategy to make hospitality design a central part of our core offerings and promise of making it better to be there at live gatherings.”
Eric Wooden will assume responsibility for the division in the newly-created position of senior vice president of Hospitality Solutions. Wooden has worked for Centerplate since 1989 and has over 25 years experience managing hospitality operations.
Centerplate’s UK-based director of projects, Steve Lelitka, and manager of projects, Gayle Ogilvie, will join the team directing the company’s new construction, renovation and service mobilisation projects in Europe.
The company has also recruited Dennis Martinez, former chief operating officer of RevEquip as the HSG’s facility design director. Martinez has worked in the foodservice design and consulting industry for 20 years.