Eventist Group buys London Food by Dish to create £25m company
Eventist Group has acquired its smaller rival Food by Dish for an undisclosed sum.
The deal sees Eventist Group grow to 60 full-time employees with a combined turnover of £25m and widen its reach within the event sector.
Food by Dish, founded by Nick James 15 years ago and based in Greenwich, south east London, is listed at more than 25 of the capital's visitor attraction and heritage venues. James will continue to front the business.
Eventist Group has a number of brands including Best Parties Ever, Tapenade (offering upscale private and corporate entertaining), Tobacco Dock Food (a joint partnership with Tobacco Dock in London, providing in-house catering), Arribar! (offering high-energy bars and beverage delivery to events), and iELive (production behind conferences, meetings and live shows).
Nick James, CEO of Food by Dish, said: "I've known Tim [Stevens, managing director of Eventist Group] and his team for some time and have great admiration for how he's shaped his businesses in key markets. This is a very exciting chapter for Food by Dish and we can't wait to integrate and make the most of Eventist Group's innovation as well as its buying power, sales & marketing and back of house infrastructure."
Stevens added: "Bringing Nick and the Food by Dish team on board creates a new division, affording us a strong foothold in the London market and helping in our ongoing expansion strategy. We love what Nick and Food by Dish has achieved, and want to continue to help him develop more contracts, more creativity and business. 2017 is already shaping up to be a bumper year for us but this partnership marks a new landmark for Eventist Group."
Eventist Group generated sales of £15m in the year to 31 March 2016, making a pre-tax profit of £1.1m. Turnover this year is expected to rise to around £20m, while Food by Dish's annual turnover is around £5m.
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