Compass buys German caterer

Compass Group has bought a 75% stake in German caterer HSG Hochst Gastronomie. It has agreed to buy the remaining 25% of shares within three years. This will give Eurest, Compass's business and industry catering wing, sole responsibility for catering at the Hochst industrial park, Frankfurt, which has over 40 companies on site. The organisation caters for more than 20,000 staff and serves in excess of 1.1 million meals a year. The industrial park was previously a large research, production and administration centre for Hochst, the chemicals and pharmaceuticals company, but opened its gates to external companies in 1997. Also in Germany, Compass has won a 10-year contract to cater for football club VFB Stuttgart. It will turn over DM80m (£27m) over the life of the contract. Compass chief executive Mike Bailey said: "The German foodservice market is unusual in that many major industrial companies continue to operate on a self-catering basis, often via wholly-owned foodservice subsidiaries. "HSG Hochst represents an excellent strategic move for Eurest and will be an important reference contract to show the cost savings, variety of food offers and quality of food to be gained by outsourcing to the group."