Cardiff's sporting chance

As we take our seats in one of the Millennium Stadium's hospitality rooms, the sound of the Welsh national anthem sung by a male-voice choir wafts through the air. Our hosts, the stadium's general manager Paul Sargeant and catering manger Craig Walsh assure us - no kidding - that the music was timed to start just as we settled into our seats.

It's an example of the warm Welsh welcome and operational bravura that visitors have experienced since the stadium opened to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup. That event put Cardiff under the international media spotlight for five weeks, and rugby fans spent £40m in the city.

Since then, all kinds of events have taken place at the 74,600-capacity venue: fashion shows, the British speedway grand prix, opera, rock concerts, drive-in movies, and product launches. And because Wembley Stadium is out of action, the Millennium Stadium has played host to the FA Cup tournament since 2001. This Saturday (22 May) Cardiff hosts its fourth FA Cup Final.

Cardiff is becoming a destination in its own right, and the Millennium Stadium has been the biggest catalyst for this. Given the difficulties that the Olympic Games organisers have had in getting the Athens stadium ready, they may be wishing they were hosting this year's games in Wales instead of Greece.

The Millennium Stadium has two impressive features unique to the UK: a retractable roof to ensure perfect conditions whatever the weather, and a removable pitch.

So what is it like to run the catering at such a multipurpose venue? Sargeant stresses the importance of having a strong and communicative relationship with Letheby & Christopher, which has fed spectators, staff and corporate hospitality guests since the stadium opened. The Compass-owned firm has a 10-year concession-based contract, which turns over £3.5m a year.

"Just because we have a contract caterer, it doesn't mean they are treated like lepers," Sargeant says. "They have to be part of the overall management team. Walsh attends all the meetings and event pre-briefs."

Walsh continues: "We feel very much part of the team. We know exactly what's happening, what's required of us, what's required of the stadium and the obligations to any clients who are coming."

This weekend, those clients are 55,000 Manchester United supporters and 22,000 Millwall fans. Walsh will be supplying hotdogs and pies at £2.50 each from 41 retail units. He knows in advance that the Manchester United fans' number one choice of pie is steak and kidney, whereas Millwall fans prefer chicken and mushroom. The bars are equipped with multipour devices, which can serve 12 pints simultaneously in 20 seconds.

At the other end of the food offer, 3,500 corporate hospitality guests will enjoy a choice of five sit-down menus in executive boxes. A typical menu would include crab and prawn terrine, braised shank of Welsh lamb, and white chocolate and Baileys torte. Walsh uses Compass's central purchasing department, but also buys from Welsh suppliers of cheese, jams, chutneys and meat.

Sargeant, who previously worked at Wembley and has overseen 16 FA Cup Finals, isn't about to get overexcited about Saturday's game. "If you get caught up in the hype you don't do a good job," he says. "It's just treated as another event."

He's equally level-headed and bullish about Cardiff's prospects after the FA Cup returns to a newly reopened Wembley Stadium, which is most likely to be in 2006. The departure of the FA tournament will leave a gap in Cardiff's events programme but Sargeant is adamant it will be filled. "People are not aware of the events we lose because we can't stage them in April and May because of the FA games. We'll be able to host those events."

Sargeant has secured funding for the creation of a proper indoor arena - not just a stadium with a curtain - that will allow conferences and exhibitions to take place. Capacity for these is up to 37,000. "We're no longer waiting for people to bring their events to us. We're in the business of co-promotion or creating the business ourselves," he says.

Sargeant may be unconcerned about a tail-off in business, but a sell-out event such as the FA Cup Final generates £16m for local businesses. Restaurants, hotels and bars will be hit. That's why the Welsh Tourist Board wants to keep the momentum and is bidding to bring the UEFA Cup or the Champions League football finals to the Millennium Stadium.

Cardiff will still have a competitive advantage after Wembley reopens, according to Sargeant. "The Millennium Stadium is slap-bang in the middle of the city centre. It's a huge bonus to be able to walk out and straight into a nearby restaurant, pub or bar."

Hospitality operators in the Welsh capital have other reasons to be optimistic. Future developments are likely to ensure that visitors keep coming. On 26 November the Wales Millennium Centre, an arts and theatre complex and home of the Welsh National Opera company, will open in Cardiff Bay. It will house several bars and restaurants.

The city council has been given the green light for a £500m redevelopment of the city centre to increase shopping facilities and create open-air piazzas. And in 2010 the Celtic Manor Resort plays host to the Ryder Cup golf tournament, expected to attract American and Japanese visitors.

Roger Pride, director of marketing at the Welsh Tourist Board, speaks in grandiose terms of the opportunities the Ryder Cup presents. He describes it as a chance to regenerate a nation. "Our aspiration is to use it to get Wales on the map in terms of business, golf and Welsh golf players," he declares.

Cardiff's current challenge is to become an international destination. Last year, the number of UK visitors to the Welsh capital rose by 14%, whereas overseas visitors were up just 1%. Thanks to airline BMI Baby, Cardiff airport already has direct flights to cities such as Paris, Prague, Amsterdam and Spanish resorts, though not further afield.

"We're working very hard with the airport authorities to develop direct flights to the USA via New York and to an Asian hub via Dubai," Pride says.

Airlines make decisions based on population figures and Bristol airport has a larger catchment area. But Pride says that, in its favour, Cardiff airport has a longer runway and a better transport infrastructure.

Catering at the Millenium Stadium

• Letheby & Christopher is halfway through a 10-year concession-based contract, with annual sales of £3.5m.
• The six-tier stadium has 124 corporate hospitality boxes and eight banqueting suites, catering for between 40 and 300 people.
• Fork and finger buffets range from £12.75 to £19.95 per person. Sit-down menus range from £17.50 to £24.95.
• There are 41 retail outlets, selling pies and hotdogs, that can be adapted and rebranded for specific events. There are two pizza units, which are under review. For concerts, mobile food and drink units hired from Express Cafés are positioned on the pitch.
• A 15,000sq ft main kitchen serves four satellite and six banqueting kitchens.

Catering at the FA Cup Final

• Letheby & Christopher employs 900 staff, including 50 chefs, for the final.
• Branding is strictly limited to Carlsberg and Pepsi.
• Expected food consumption: 5,000 pies, 16,000 hotdogs, 6,000 Cornish pasties, 3,500 portions of smoked salmon, 3,500 portions of chicken and 3,500 pavlovas.
• Expected drinks consumption: 14,000 pints of beer or lager, 1,000 bottles of Champagne, 2,000 bottles of wine, 21,000 teas, coffees and soft drinks.

Hotels: the future

Thinking of opening a hotel? Well, you could do a lot worse than Cardiff. The Welsh capital was the top-performing UK city in Deloitte's HotelBenchmark European hotels revenue per available room (revpar) survey for both 2001 and 2002, growing by 15% and 11% respectively against a background of decline. The good news is that there are still gaps in the Cardiff market, with no boutique hotels, only one AA five-star hotel and design hotels limited to the budget chic of the Big Sleep.

Marvin Rust, managing partner hotels and resorts at Deloitte, says events such as the FA Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium have been a big factor in the robust demand during the economic downturn, guaranteeing more than 70,000 visitors on match days, providing great PR, and ensuring that the city's roomstock sells out well in advance at top rates. One slight caveat, Rust says, is that the average room rate is a shade below £60 in the first quarter of 2004, compared with £75 in Birmingham.

Other notable developments in recent years include Cardiff Gate Business Park and a number of mixed-use redevelopments in the city centre. Notably, the Cardiff Hilton, Holland House, and the Big Sleep are all housed in former office blocks. But the flagship developments in the Cardiff Bay area have achieved mixed results.

Mark Walker, chairman of the local hoteliers' association and general manager of the Hilton Cardiff, sees the bay as an opportunity missed. "I think we'll regret not having more blue-chip companies down there," he says.

Walker says that both the city and the stadium will need to diversify in order to sustain growth and help local operators maintain midweek rates, especially when Wembley Stadium comes back on track. The hoteliers' association is working with organisations such as Cardiff Initiative to attract more corporate and international travellers and improve retail opportunities through developments such as the St David's 2 centre, which is due to open in 2008. A key aim is to get Cardiff into the top six UK cities for shopping.

"What Cardiff really needs is an international conference centre," says Walker. "It's absolute nonsense that a capital city with all this exposure doesn't have one. We need more corporate business."

To some extent the local operators have had it easy in recent years thanks to what Rust calls the "benign" supply of hotel rooms, but the market is set to become increasingly competitive, with a steady rise in hotel stock.

Walker is afraid of what will happen if the city fails to reinvent itself. He points to 1999, when there was a hotels boom surrounding the Rugby World Cup and then a flattening in demand and oversupply of beds in 2000. But Deloitte's Rust still expects Cardiff to show positive revpar growth in the short to medium term.

Cardiff hotels

The Big Sleep hotel

The 81-bedroom Big Sleep, which opened in 1999 in a former office block used by the gas board, markets itself as a "design budget" establishment and the building's former use guarantees high ceilings and lots of natural light.

Midweek room rates run from £58, with prices down to £55 on a Friday and Saturday night and £45 on a Sunday. A penthouse and executive suite are available from £99. Last year the hotel achieved 80-84% occupancy.

"There's nothing else like it in Cardiff," says general manager David Spoor, who describes the look as "fur, Formica and fleece". "We were the first designer hotel for budget travellers. Our product is different. We don't fit into any particular segment."

Spoor says that football is a huge advertisement for Cardiff, and the hotel fills up whenever a sporting event takes place. "We haven't had any serious issues with the fans," he says. "The ones who have made the effort to travel tend to be the ones who are in it for the sport. "[Millwall fans'] reputation goes before them, but I think a lot of it is media hype, to be honest."

Although the hotel has no restaurant it does breakfasts and it has a bar. "I expect it will be a late one!" laughs Spoor.

Holland House

The 165-bedroom Holland House hotel on Newport Road is the latest hotel to open in the city, following a £21m redevelopment of a former office block. This year it will be hosting a gala dinner for Manchester United football club on the Saturday night.

The hotel, a joint venture between UK hotel group Macdonald Hotels and Cardiff-based property development firm Rightacres, has a spa area and the largest hotel conference facilities in the city, with rates from £145 for bed and breakfast. General manager Ian Edwards says the hotel is aiming for occupancy rates of about 70% in its first year.

"The big events at the stadium, like the FA Cup Final, help Cardiff as a whole," he says. "People are more aware of where we are now and how close we are to London. It's great for the hotel. We'll do a special lunch before the game - something traditional - with a post-match curry. We're expecting to be extremely busy. It will be a testing time as the hotel will have been open for only six weeks."

The Ibis Cardiff City Centre

The 102-bedroom Ibis Cardiff City Centre was built four years ago, and was followed shortly after by another Ibis at Cardiff Gate Business Park. Rooms start from £46.95, with an extra £5 for a second person supplement and an extra £4.25 for buffet breakfast. Last year, the occupancy rate at the hotel was about 85%.

"I think Cardiff is moving a lot at the moment," says Christophe Gabe, the hotel's general manager. "You have a good mix of business and leisure. There are lots of sporting events because of the situation with Wembley. There is a dynamic in Cardiff. They want things to move."

During events such as the FA Cup Final, the hotel adds £10 a night to each room, but paying that supplement doesn't allow guests the right to be rowdy. "We have a security man during these events," Gabe says. "If the guests don't behave, we send them off."

Thistle Cardiff

Drew Brown, manager of the Thistle Cardiff on Park Place, slap-bang in the city centre, says the 136-bedroom hotel achieves occupancy rates in the "low 70s".

This year the Thistle has a secret weapon in the shape of operations manager Julia Cook, former operations manager at the Millennium Stadium and with experience of catering for past FA Cup events.

Brown explains that, during these events, the hotel can charge double the normal room rate and the food and beverage revenue is double, if not triple, the usual. "We can sell at £150 or £160 or more. You can certainly charge very high rates," he says.

But with more hotels coming online and football events such as the FA Cup due to revert to Wembley, "there's a real risk that prices will drop and there'll be a lot of competition on rates," he adds.

The Hilton Cardiff

The Hilton Cardiff, which is operated under management contract, is another hotel in a converted office block and has an airy atrium with a glass roof and lozenge-shaped glass lifts on one side. The hotel, which is classified as five-star by the Welsh Tourist Board, opened in 1999, around the same time as the city's AA five-star hotel, the St David's Hotel and Spa on Cardiff Bay.

Manchester United stayed at the hotel last year. And in the past, all the Six Nations rugby teams, bar Wales, have stayed there - although general manager Mark Walker seems more interested in the weekend when he had Kylie Minogue and Catherine Zeta-Jones under his roof at the same time.

The hotel has achieved occupancy rates of just over 80% for the past two years, but three years ago it was in the mid-60s, Walker says.

The Vale Hotel, Golf and Spa Resort

No mention of the FA Cup Final would be complete without a mention of the Vale Hotel, Golf and Spa Resort, which always hosts one of the teams and has developed a reputation as the lucky place to stay. This year the hotel is playing host to Manchester United for the three nights before the final.

"The FA Cup is huge business for the whole of South Wales, and the hotel just couldn't buy this kind of publicity," says general manager Simon Read.

The 143-bedroom hotel, set in more than 600 acres of countryside on the outskirts of Cardiff, opened four years ago and over the past year, monthly occupancy figures have averaged in the upper 70s.

The hotel is investing £1.5m, turning its 3,000sq m indoor training arena - used by the Welsh international rugby and football teams - into a dual-purpose facility that can be converted overnight into a conference centre seating 1,500.

Cardiff Marriott

Derek Harvey, general manager at the city's 182-bedroom Cardiff Marriott hotel, which recently played host to Millwall when they played Cardiff City, says it achieved an occupancy rate of 76.2% last year.

The hotel is close to the stadium and the Central train station in the Mill Lane "caf‚ quarter". On the day of the final, Harvey says, the police will try to keep one lot of fans in the Mill Lane area and the other at the top end of town near the Hilton.

"The FA Cup Final is always seen as a family event. There's a great atmosphere in the city and it's a good day out," Harvey says. "Sporting events have really helped put Cardiff on the map. They provide great revenues for hotels and help to promote the city for the rest of the year."

St David's Hotel & Spa

The bay area has changed a lot since the St David's hotel opened in 1999. Back then, the bay was still tidal, which meant that views often gave way to glimpses of mud flats.

This year the hotel is playing host to Millwall. "It'll be great," says general manager Jason Harding. "We're looking forward to catering for them. It'll be another superb weekend for both ourselves and Cardiff."

While Harding describes Cardiff's recent growth as brilliant, he says it could be quicker, and it took a long time for things to happen.

"Right now we need to step back and review," he says. "Another [AA] five-star hotel would be good for Cardiff - you can't be an international city with just one. And the stadium needs someone with the courage to push it to capacity."

Another problem is the lack of international visitors. While the hotel achieved occupancy rates for the year to May of close to 70%, Harding says about 95% of the guests were from the UK market.

New openings:

Macdonald Hotels opened Holland House in April.

Park Plaza is to open its sixth hotel, the 131-bedroom Park Plaza Cardiff, in 2005. The hotel, part of the £15m Greyfriars development on Greyfriars Road, will also feature 36 penthouse-style apartments on the top three floors.

Canadian company Future Inns is to open its first UK property, a three-star, 200-bedroom new-build hotel in the bay area in late 2004.

An operator is being sought for another budget hotel, which is planned for the airport.

Boutique hotel operators, including Alias and Malmaison, have the city firmly in their sights.

Restaurants and bars

The Welsh capital is not yet a destination for fine dining but progress has been made in recent years, with Italian restaurant Da Venditto and the French and Welsh cuisine of Le Gallois achieving recognition in the AA Restaurant Guide.

Cardiff's booming economy is attracting strong investment from mid-market restaurant and bar operators keen to tap into the young, affluent population.

One such company is the Restaurant Group, which, after experiencing strong trading at its Frankie & Benny's restaurant in a northern suburb of Cardiff, has been bold enough to launch its first restaurant in the city centre, under the company's Chiquitos label. The Mexican-American family restaurant will be located in the Brewery Quarter, the redeveloped site of the former SA Brains brewery, and will feature a new "female-friendly" look with softer colours and quality timber, as well as a revitalised menu with a broader offering, including an increased range of wine.

Opening this August, the restaurant will have a large terrace area to make the most of the summer sun. "We've found that the local economy is under-serviced by our type of restaurant," says Kevin Bacon, managing director of the Restaurant Group's leisure division. "Cardiff's line-up is ideal. Rent and set-up costs are average and with the stadium attracting thousands throughout the year, a large cinema nearby, and plenty of hotels, it's an exciting location for us."

The company sees so much promise in Cardiff that it has a second Frankie & Benny's earmarked for opening in the near future, and is seeking a suitable site. "We've not seen any real downsides to Cardiff yet," Bacon says.

Cardiff will be familiar to many only as a haven for binge-drinking loudmouths and alcohol-addled youths, as portrayed on a recent BBC2 documentary. But city officials deny this is a problem. Nick Williams of marketing body the Cardiff Initiative says that Cardiff has been singled out unfairly: "If you look at other cities you see no more or no less of it anywhere else. Documentaries do tend to condense a long period into one hour so they can make it look worse than it is."

Bars that distance themselves from the discounting common to the high street are now arriving in the city. Nightclub and bar operator Urbium has just secured a lease for a new 20,000sq ft Tiger Tiger on Greyfriars Road, which will have enough capacity to entertain 1,800 people at a time.

The company pulled out of Birmingham's Broad Street last year because the surrounding area had become too downmarket, according to managing director Robert Cohen. Tiger Tiger struggled to compete with large pub chains offering discounted drinks. But Cohen sees Cardiff as a better proposition. "We're excited about opening in Cardiff and believe we'll do well," he says. "Our brand has broad appeal. It's not elitist. Because of Tiger Tiger's scale, we can offer people all types of experiences, from an intimate drink or dining in the restaurant, to a lunch out with work colleagues or a fun late night with friends, all with an element of quality."

The site is due to open in early 2005 and will be the company's ninth Tiger Tiger and its first in Wales.

Another new arrival is the Greene King Pub Company. Its new brand, Copa, focuses on 13 speciality Continental beers sold only by the half in dedicated glasses. The company chose to open its second Copa in the Welsh capital in February. The first was in Oxford and three more are earmarked for the UK during 2004.

To date, the company says, turnover at the Cardiff Copa, located in Wharton Street, just off a main shopping venue, St Mary's Steet, has exceeded expectations. Copa offers a "superior" wine list and light menu themed around high-quality cheeses and European meats, with an emphasis on platters to share and tapas.

"Cardiff has become such a vibrant city centre over the past four years. There are the right people and the right numbers, and although there is huge competition, there isn't anything quite like Copa," says Adam Collett, marketing director for Greene King. "We expect our unusual drinks offer to attract a fair slice of the market."

Collett adds that it's heartening to know Cardiff's pubs have a good relationship with the local police and work in partnership, rather than adopting an adversarial stance towards each other, as can happen in other parts of the UK.

The Brewery Quarter is a further example of a more Continental and relaxing alternative to the loud, packed pubs and bars in the St Mary's Street area. The Quarter not only houses the new Chiquitos, but also a Hard Rock Caf‚, a Crockertons delicatessen and a La Tasca that hosts salsa nights.

As for the future, Tony Nicholas, managing partner of property company Knight Frank, believes Cardiff will follow the lead of Manchester and Glasgow, with a growing number of high-end offerings serving an increasingly sophisticated local population. "The mid-level is now well served," he says. "The area I see for potential growth is with the high-quality restaurants and bars, along the lines of Chez Gérard or Carluccio's. The future economy of Cardiff will definitely have a strong entrepreneurial attitude and flair about it."