Researching the latest high street approach

I really feel sorry for those poor people in the finance department at Granada. They must be so confused.

Not only have they had to manage just a few acquisitions recently, but to top it all they have got subsidiary companies swapping contracts with each other. For example, Sutcliffe recently beat ACMS to a contract held by ACMS.

It's all well and good wanting to make the point that these newly acquired companies will remain independent, but isn't it now going a bit too far? And where do the poor clients stand? Confused is probably the answer.

Charlton House Catering is currently bidding for a contract alongside Northdowns and Fairfield, both subsidiaries of Granada.

Hotelympia '96 was good this year - wasn't it? I'm asking the question because by the time I had stopped bumping into old colleagues, friends and associates, the exhibition lights were being switched off and the results of the British Hospitality Association's survey on contract catering were about to be revealed.

what's new?

It is a shame that the Fast Food Fair has bitten the dust. With no fair this year, I suppose I must resort to circling the reader enquiry card in the back of my issue of Caterer.

So what is new in that big, wide world? At Charlton House Catering, we say to clients that we want to bring the commercial, high street approach to their restaurant.

In order to keep this promise, Alison Robinson (commercial director) and I recently revisited the streets of the capital.

What surprised us most was that the menu offer and products available in City sandwich bars seems to have stagnated over the past 12-18 months.

Opening night

The shining chrome, polished glass and slick service that hit the streets a few years ago are now looking a little tired and unpolished. The only noticeable change in the places we visited was the increase in prices. Is this a sign that the recession is finally over?

Next Friday sees a landmark in Charlton House Catering's social diary - a murder-mystery evening for our clients.

Professional actors will be performing throughout the evening at a dinner based on a Victorian murder scene. It is to be called Oh, Sir Jasper. The menu is set, the plot is developing and the chorus lines could be a nightmare.

Somehow, I have a feeling that the laughs could be at my expense as the audience is encouraged to heckle.