Jerry Brand launches new contracting firm

Jerry Brand, former owner of contract catering firm Russell & Brand, is back in business with a new company called Host Contract Management.

Brand (right) sold his old firm to Marriott for £16m in 1996 and then launched an unsuccessful restaurant chain called Orange Balloon. Now he has decided to rejoin the contract catering market. His new company, which is based near Petersfield in Hampshire, is focusing on the independent education, business and industry and healthcare sectors.

He said he has no intention of selling this time. "I am intending to grow the business and float it - there's never been a small or mid-cap caterer on the stock market."

Already, Brand has won two contracts - the first at the Beacon School, a 320-pupil prep school in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, and the second at Sanctuary Care, a 60-bed private care home south of Oxford, which is opening in July. Together, the contracts have an annual turnover in the region of £350,000.