The East Midlands-based Zoological Society, which has until now managed all of the catering services at Twycross Zoo in-house, has brought Lindley Heritage on board to help the charitable trust to develop and enhance its catering services for the 500,000 members of the public who visit the venue each year; build the conference and events business and establish a viable incremental revenue stream for the 90-acresite; and enable the management team to focus on its core business of running the zoo.
Turnover derived from catering and event management at Twycross Zoo is estimated to be in the region of £2 million per annum, totaling £11m during the term of the partnership. The arrangement offers the East Midland Zoological Society a guaranteed annual income from catering services, plus a share of the profits.
Lindley Heritage is a division created by The Lindley Group in 2011 to offer quality catering services for museums, historic houses, arts and leisure venues, and visitor attractions.
Lindley Heritage will take over the entire catering operation at Twycross Zoo from the beginning of August when a year of 50th celebrations begins.
Immediate plans are to introduce new menus and style of service at each of the cafés and restaurants located around the zoo, and create a new barbecue and outdoor seating area adjacent to the Dome Café for this summer season.
A key element of the partnership will see Lindley working with Twycross Zoo to increase awareness of the venue’s extensive facilities and promote their suitability for corporate and private functions from conferences to weddings.
Reducing and minimizing the ‘ecological footprint’ of Twycross Zoo also forms part of the remit and The Lindley Group’s Corporate & Social Responsibility Manager, Anna Standen, will be working in conjunction with the venue on a number of sustainability initiatives including the composting of waste, serving Rainforest Alliance certified products, and championing local suppliers.
Mary-Lorraine Hughes, Acting CEO, at Twycross Zoo, says: “After half a century of managing the catering in-house, we decided that it was time to look externally for some inspiration and expertise to help us to further develop our catering offering.
“Initially we approached The Lindley Group to assist us on a consultancy basis, but during our discussions it became clear that if we were to make the step-change needed to achieve our vision for enhancing our visitor catering and elevating the level of our conference and events bookings, that we needed the full-time support of a professional catering partner.”