Independent paths

In the last of our current series on independent contract caterers, Jane Baker looks at two very different companies, Harrison Catering and Houston & Church.

John Houston's 50th birthday in 1997 was a turning point. After 13 years with Catering & Allied (now part of Elior) he decided it was time for a change. He went on holiday, did a spell of consultancy work and started Houston & Church with an initial personal investment of £10,000. The company now has 22 contracts and a turnover of £7m.

There is no Mr Church. Houston did not want to be seen as a one-man band and thought that the name Church sounded respectable. "I felt I had the expertise, the passion and the links with contract catering, so why not do it?" he says.

He won his first contract within days of starting up the company, achieving £1.5m turnover in the first year and doubling that every year since. Turnover by the end of 2001 is predicted to be about £10m, with clients including Royal & Sun Alliance, L'Oréal and media giant Pearson.

From the start Houston was aiming to create what he saw as a niche product: the café culture. "This was the emerging market. In traditional staff restaurants, customers come in at the same time, which makes it heavy on labour and low on profit margins. I saw cafés on the same site as staff restaurants taking equal sales.

"I thought that if we could get people to eat all day we could solve these problems and be there for when the customer wants to buy," says Houston.

The cafés are open from 7am and clients can pick up a sandwich, salad or hot meal out of peak time, reducing the pressure on the core lunchtime period.

There is no obvious Houston & Church branding in the cafés - Houston employs a full-time stylist to liaise with clients on decor, crockery and uniforms to create a unique image at each contract.

He also employs a marketing director who continually develops the product and takes a creative look at a service being used by the same people each day.

Even contracts with a full restaurant service have a touch of café culture. Main meals, such as chargrilled salmon with new potatoes and haricot beans, are displayed with trimmings on large white plates.

Houston is not hooked into the usual philosophy of having fresh food cooked on site. He believes that bought-in products leave staff available to be more retail-orientated. "Instead of charging out of a hot kitchen, they are fresh and alert and ready to serve," he says.

"We don't go in for massive brigades of chefs. We buy in as much as we need and have fun sourcing suppliers that can provide us with the very highest quality."

He adds: "You can buy fantastic quality products that you would think have been made in-house. Where appropriate we cook on-site, but in a third of our contracts there is no kitchen."

In these cases the food on offer includes a chilled entrée, salad platters, deli food and hot soups. "Whatever we produce, we never lose sight of good food and service," says Houston.

John Houston on the record

How important is service? Crucial. What clients are buying is interaction between the caterer and the customer. Having people smiling and happy makes it a good experience for the customer. This is why we recruit staff on the basis of personality rather than catering skills.

Are you truly independent? Yes. We recently formed a strategic alliance with the WSH Group, headed by Alastair Storey, who bought a small stake in the company and now handles all the administration, but I am in absolute control. Halliday Catering is another part of the group, but we operate in different markets and there is no competition.I wanted a relationship with longevity that would provide security for a long-term business.

Houston & Church

Brightwell Grange, Britwell Road, Burnham, Buckinghamshire SL1 8DF
Tel: 01628 669500
E-mail:john@houstonandchurch.co.uk
Founded: 1997 by John Houston
Initial investment: £10,000, self-funded
Turnover: £7m
Contracts: 22
Staff: 185

Geoffrey Harrison on the record

How do you feel about training?
It's important that we train people into the quintessential qualities of the company that separate it from others, otherwise training can become robotic. Peter and I meet all trainees and go into detail about the company to capture the essence of the organisation. What makes us tick is indefinable, but it is why people like doing business with us.

What is your view on fresh food? There is higher added value for customers when something is produced fresh on site as opposed to pretend chefs putting boxed meals through an oven.

This leads to higher sales, which has a direct benefit on money returned to schools. In some schools sales have risen by 20%, and by 30% in business and industry.

Harrison Catering

89 High Street, Thame, Oxfordshire OX9 3EH
Tel: 01844 216777
Founded: 1994 by Geoffrey Harrison
Initial funding: £230,000, supplied by Harrison and external shareholders
Contracts: 85
Turnover: £14m
Staff: 600

When he decided to start his own company in 1994 Geoffrey Harrison thought big and went for a loan of £230,000. His strategy worked, and the company now has 85 contracts and a turnover of £14m.

"All too often companies start by running out of someone's front room, but we decided we wanted all the administrative systems and IT support of a large company in place from the beginning," he says.

Harrison had spent 14 years with Sutcliffe and was managing director of its education arm, Fairfield, when Granada took over. He quickly realised that he did not share Granada's plans for the future.

"I had a clear idea of the shape of the company I wanted to build and, like all small companies, we were battling against the large players," says Harrison. "But where it majors on central control and branding, we sit down with the clients and match their needs based on fresh food, cooking and craft skills. These are central to our company's ethos."

He claims that the size of the company and its commitment to the craft of cooking give it a flexibility that avoids menu fatigue.

"Even McDonald's, which a few years ago was adamant that its offer was beef burgers only, now advertises other brands," says Harrison. "We went through the beef burger culture in schools, but we are gradually altering this. You don't change children by being prescriptive, but by offering appetising alternatives."

These include pasta dishes and a wide variety of pick-and-mix salads.

Within four months of starting the company, Harrison was operating in three schools. The business split is still weighted heavily towards that sector, with 70% at maintained schools, 15% at independents and 15% in business and industry. Clients include Honda's European headquarters in Slough, Berkshire, and the Royal Alexander & Albert school in Reigate, Surrey. This autumn he will be adding another 10 schools and two colleges to his list.

Such rapid growth has prompted Harrison to take on two directors - one to head up business and industry and the other to look after maintained schools.

"Although we are a family business we are taking decisions for the long-term success of the business, not short-term profit. This is why we'll never have an executive responsible for more than 12 contracts," says Harrison.

When he says family business, he means it. His brother, Peter Harrison, is the finance director and a major shareholder. Son, Gary, works on purchasing and development of craft skills, and his daughter, Claire Aylward, is manager of client services.

Harrison is not keen on the family business tag, however. "I don't want us to be seen as staid and old-fashioned. I want us to be seen as a company of our time, providing excellence at all levels. We're a meritocracy, and Gary and Claire have to hold down their jobs on merit."