Contract Catering

The Ark covenant

Bartlett Mitchell has started a three-year contract at the Ark Centre, a medical research and conference facility in Basingstoke, Hampshire. The centre, which has an 85-seat restaurant, can accommodate up to 500 delegates. The contract - Bartlett Mitchell's 23rd - is worth £330,000 in annual sales.

Legal Brief

Charlton House Catering Services has won a contract worth more than £1m in annual sales with law firm Lovells at the firm's new London offices. The three-year contract includes running the staff restaurant, deli bar, coffee bar, meeting and conference services, and the partners' dining room.

Platform issues

Select Service Partner (SSP), part of Compass Group, and Marks & Spencer have announced plans to expand the Simply Food stores. SSP already franchises three Simply Food stores at London railway stations and will now extend this to a further 40 railway stations. The first new stores to open will be at Euston, London, in November, and at Brighton, East Sussex, in January.

Growing recognition

Just Deli has made it into Europe's top 500 fastest-growing independent businesses. The Berkshire-based caterer has been ranked as Europe's 174th fastest-growing company in research conducted by entrepreneurial support company GrowthPlus Europe. Just Deli, which has 43 contracts in London and the Thames Valley, has forecast a turnover of £11.5m for the 12 months ending 31 May 2003.