Vacherin wins first London deal

Vacherin, the independent contract caterer set up by Mark Philpott and Clive Hetherington in late 2002, has been awarded its first contract at London-based creative consultancy Imagination.

The rolling contract, which had been held by Sodexho subsidiary Director's Table for 14 years, starts at the beginning of April and will turn over more than £500,000 a year.

The 60-seat restaurant changes its "mood" during the day to become a wine bar in the evening.

Besides providing breakfast, lunch and dinner for the 350 consultancy staff, the 12-strong Vacherin team will offer à la carte menus for private dining. They will also cater for functions in the Gallery, a venue within the architecturally acclaimed building that hosts launches and publicity events.

Imagination director Guy Stevenson said he had initially considered taking the catering back in-house because he wanted a more personal catering service, but had instead made a "brave" decision to be Vacherin's first client.

"It's a small operation, and there's that old-fashioned thing of doing business with people, not companies," said Stevenson. "I like dialogue, not e-mails."

He added that he also liked the company's fee-only approach.

Philpott, who used to be managing director at Director's Table, reckoned the fee-only structure would give the team more flexibility. "We will bring individual dynamism that big companies are not geared up to do," he said.