Foodservice Cateys 2023: Front of House Team of the Year – Eurest at Silverstone

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Receiving just 24 hours' notice that a global tennis star and a former Formula One driver will arrive at your venue expecting red- carpet treatment would panic even the best front of house teams.

But for Eurest at Silverstone's Porsche Experience Centre, led by 27-year-old general manager Lucy Leeding, the front of house team took this in their stride and delivered an exceptional day for British tennis star Emma Raducanu and Australian driver Mark Webber.

Leeding and her team's work led to Andrew Finn, account director at Compass Group UK & Ireland, Eurest's parent company, to comment: "The last-minute visit certainly presented some challenges, but Lucy thrives on challenges and successfully managed the occasion."

With 16 front of house staff members, four chefs and one kitchen porter, Eurest provides thousands of cooked breakfasts, tasting plates, three-course lunches, afternoon teas, and dinners every year. Alongside team away days and small celebrations, the team manages large-scale events at motor racing circuit Silverstone in Towcester, Northamptonshire, where Eurest caters for up to 500 VIP guests.

While high-profile events such as Formula 1 are covered by the media, many other events are less in the public eye, but equally important, such as the launch of Porsche 911 GT3 RS in autumn last year. For this event, over 10 days, Eurest's team catered for 200 guests every day, starting early by running breakfasts, then moving onto lunches and afternoon teasand finishing late with dinner service. Dishes included hot smoked trout, polenta-crusted cod loin and chocolate marquise.

Gill Kerr, manager of the Porsche Experience Centre, said the team "stepped up to the plate to deliver to the usual high standard". Outside of the team's core work, several people are members of Compass Group UK & Ireland's Women in Food initiative, which aims to tackle the shortage of female chefs by encouraging women into the industry and supporting the development of those already in the industry.

As well as promoting diversity in the workplace, the team is also committed to advancing environmentally friendly practices. All team members are trained on the Compass environmental toolkit, which includes guidance on switching from animal-based to plant-based proteins, batch cooking to reduce energy consumption and helping to reduce plate waste. In line with this, staff keep tabs on daily customer numbers, communicating these to the kitchen so chefs don't produce too much food.

Eurest does this all in the absence of a dedicated event manager at the centre. With its commitment to maintaining high standards throughout the customer journey, the judges were impressed with a team who "effortlessly pulls off event after event with the highest standard of food and amazing feedback".

What the judges said

"Lucy and her team clearly care about both their client, the customer and each other, plus supporting a number of charitable initiatives. Clearly there's a strong bond within this team which plays out by the level and consistency of service. A well-deserved win in a tough category." Jo Harley

The shortlist

Eurest at Silverstone

Rapport at Storey

Signature Dining at the Royal Star & Garter

Past winners

This award was split into two categories in 2016 to reflect the advance of private and public sites

Private sites

2022 Green & Fortune

2021 Portico at Deutsche Bank

2019 Rapport Guest Services at Broadgate

2018 Rapport Guest Services at Omnicom

2017 Gather & Gather at Vodafone

2016 BaxterStorey at Burges Salmon

Public sites

2018 Searcys at the Gherkin

2017 Restaurant Associates at Roux at Parliament Square

2016 Levy Restaurants at Leicester City FC

Combined sites

2015 BaxterStorey at Clyde & Co

2014 Rapport at Tower 42

2013 Rapport at KPM