Compass buys business from ex-employees

Compass Group has bought the business and industry caterer Everson Hewett as the sector undergoes further consolidation.

Everson Hewett is the second independent caterer to be purchased this year. Two weeks ago Aramark agreed terms with Midlands-based Catering Alliance in a deal estimated to be worth £20m.

Compass has acquired the shares of Everson Hewett, 60% of which were held by founding directors Stuart Everson and Jon Hewett. The fee was undisclosed, but one industry source estimated it to be £2m-£3m.

"We agreed the acquisition last week on the condition that we continue to operate as an independent company," Hewett said. "In return, we get the immense financial security of being part of Compass."

Both parties stressed that the deal was not a merger. Everson Hewett would continue to operate from the same east London offices with the same management team. Hewett said employees would benefit from increased training and IT resources.

"Because we're remaining an independent company we can retain and develop the ethos and culture of Everson Hewett, and that's actively encouraged by Compass. We're deemed as a bespoke company that fits in nicely next to Baxter & Platts," he said.

Both Everson and Hewett will report to the company's new chairman, Noel Mahony, who is also the managing director of Baxter & Platts, a Compass subsidiary that itself was acquired in 1997.

Everson and Hewett are both former employees of Compass, or Sutcliffe Catering, as it was formerly known. In 1995 they left to start up their own business that now has 328 full-time staff and annual sales of £12m.

It operates 45 contracts in London and the South-east, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, LogicaCMG, Austin Reed and the National Gallery.

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper, 12 - 18 February 2004