Alexander quits council contract after six months

Alexander Catering, part of the Amberley Catering Group, has pulled out of its contract at Croydon council's Clocktower Café and Braithwaite Hall after just six months, with losses of £39,000.

Martin Cummings, owner of Amberley Castle in West Sussex and head of the group, blamed the breakdown on the council's failure to market the coffee shop and banqueting hall as specified in the contract.

"The Clocktower Café has a low throughput so the profitability of the contract relies on the banqueting hall," he explained.

Mr Cummings claimed the council did no pro-active marketing and yet would not allow Alexander to take matters under its control. "It would not give us access to its mailing lists so we could do mailshots - we couldn't even put up a poster in the café advertising Braithwaite Hall," he added.

The 70-seat café is now being run by Croydon's Fairfield Halls until a new tendering process takes place.

Both parties claim to have learnt from the experience. Council leader Mary Walker said: "Competitive tendering does not always secure an acceptable balance between cost and quality. We will want to look carefully at the lessons to be learned."

Mr Cummings said he would not take on a greenfield site again, particularly one where the council did not have the political will to make commercial contracting work. "Without a record of trading the risk is too great for a small company like ours," he said.

• Sutcliffe Catering has opened a restaurant and coffee bar at BP Exploration's new offices in Uxbridge, Middlesex, serving more than 400 staff. Catering & Allied held the contract at the organisation's previous offices.