News round-up

Hazzard bows out
Peter Hazzard, Sodexho's executive director of food services, has taken early retirement. The company will continue to use Hazzard's services on a consultancy basis in the areas of craft development and innovation. Hazzard worked for Sodexho for "30 highly challenging and thoroughly enjoyable years". He added that during that time he had seen the industry recognised for its talent. "Hopefully I have helped develop some of that talent," he said.

Aramark's university appointment
Aramark has been appointed caterer for the Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen. Under the three-year contract, which will turn over £1m a year, Aramark will provide refectory, coffee shop, hospitality and vending services across all five RGU sites. A group manager, five managers and 70 staff will cater for the 12,500 students and university staff.

Family caf‚ for West London
Holland Park Cafe, managed by Compass division Restaurant Associates, has opened in Holland Park, west London. The caf‚'s menu was designed for families and includes soups, jacket potatoes, fish and chips and pasta. General manager Tracey Condon said: "We want to create a comfortable and welcoming environment with affordable food for all." The caf‚ (below) is located near to Holland House in the park and will be open from 10am until half an hour before the park closes.

Sodexho launches Enterprise
Students and Sodexho staff at Brockworth Enterprise School in Gloucester catered for 100 local businesspeople at the opening of the school's new Enterprise Centre. The £90,000 facility includes conferencing suites and IT equipment and will provide Sodexho with further scope for event catering. It was designed to encourage interaction between students and local businesses. Ten students prepared a range of dishes - including Thai fish cakes, fruit kebabs and scones with strawberries and cream - to celebrate the centre's launch.

BDS deal with Eatdot
School meals firm Birmingham Direct Services has teamed up with Eatdot, the provider of catering concepts, to pilot a new catering service in the city's special needs schools. The pilot will start this month at eight schools. Ed Bevan, Eatdot's commercial director, said: "We want to ensure that the students get closer to experiencing what it is like to eat out. So the whole meals provision has a high-street retail look and feel." Eatdot, part of the Servicespan group, has until now focused on providing support to schools that manage their catering in-house.