Charlton House gains £11m worth of business

The new deals include Portsmouth Historic Dockyard; the Palace of Holyroodhouse House in Edinburgh; the privately owned property group, Grosvenor; the international law firm Barlow, Lyde & Gilbert LLP; Ladbrokes and the Haymarket Media Group. And contract retentions include the company's deal with Her Majesty's Treasury, which has recently been renewed for a further five years, and a £4.4m retention of Regent's College in London. Charlton House has also renewed its contract with the international law firm, SJ Berwin, and has extended its existing contract with BMW to include two additional sites, taking their portfolio of BMW sites to six. Commenting on the company's success to date, Tim Jones, co-founder and chairman, said: "Our philosophy is that these are different, not difficult times. Despite the downturn, there are many quality players like us who are quietly getting on with business as usual. "Our solid core of business & industry contracts is continuing to thrive. Sales throughout our staff restaurants are strong, and we put that down to the fact that people are becoming more aware and more appreciative of the quality and value for money of meals at work. The demand for our hospitality services also remains high as clients recognise the many advantages of entertaining in-house. "However, there is no room for complacency. Who knows what the future will bring? But what we do know is that it's important to stick to our core values. What is becoming ever more apparent and important is that companies are going back to basics. Honesty, loyalty and value for money are key elements. The old adage that 'people buy people' has never been more apt, and that is where I think we excel. We see our people as our greatest asset." Charlton House's audited year-end figures (31/03/2009) show that the company's turnover was up on last year at £81.3 million (£74.1m last year). Jones also confirmed that the company's five-year plan for 2010 has already been surpassed.