16 December 2008

Restaurant Associates (RA), the executive dining sector of Compass Group UK & Ireland, has retained its contract with the UK’s largest charity the Wellcome Trust for a further three years. The deal, worth £4.2 million in total turnover, will enable RA to further deliver its promise of energising the business with great food and service, and capitalise on its strong client relationships across the industry.

RA will be developing their already successful employee, café and restaurant concepts by focusing on areas such as lifestyle initiatives and marketing, provenance menus, retail-led offers and an interactive Chef’s Table. Hospitality is also a very prominent aspect of Wellcome Collection, the Wellcome Trust’s gallery and museum, which sits in the adjacent building and includes the Wellcome Collection Conference Centre.

Sue Thompson, Business Director for RA Hospitality, said: "We are delighted to have successfully retained the Wellcome Trust’s business - it is testament to the great work that our on-site team has done in cementing a great partnership with our clients in recent years. The Trust is a great example of how RA works closely with clients to ensure that we achieve joint objectives and we are looking forward to developing this relationship further over the next three years."

Steve Mason, Meeting Services Manager and senior client for the Wellcome Trust added: "Following a competitive tender process we are delighted to have appointed Restaurant Associates for a further three years. RA have demonstrated that they can bring the economies of scale of the Compass Group but deliver a product very much tailored to the individual requirements of the Trust in their pursuit of excellence, I am enthusiastic for our future successes with RA as our services partners."

Rachel Cordier, Wellcome Collection Conference Centre Manager added: "We are delighted to have renewed the contract with Restaurant Associates, as we were impressed with their professionalism despite stiff competition from other catering companies. Our clients have been continually complimentary with the high quality of food and drink offered over the past year and we look forward to building on this with the RA team here in the future."

Wellcome Collection was recently awarded the Silver prize for Visitor Attraction of the Year by Visit London. Its current major temporary exhibition ‘War and Medicine’ runs until 15 February 2009.

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Notes to editors

Media contact:

Mike Findlay
Wellcome Collection Media Officer
T 020 7611 8612
E m.findlay@wellcome.ac.uk

Restaurant Associates, part of Compass Group UK & Ireland, offers the highest quality of catering and support services to all its clients. Premium services include fine dining, conferencing and meeting room service, functions and events and front of house operations.

Compass Group PLC is the world's leading foodservice company providing food, vending and related services to clients and customers in the workplace, at schools and colleges, hospitals, at leisure and in defence, offshore and remote locations.

For more information about Restaurant Associates, please contact:

Sangeeta Suthar
Communications Manager, Compass Group UK & Ireland
T 01895 554364
E sangeeta.suthar@compass-group.co.uk

The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending over £600 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.

Free to all, Wellcome Collection explores the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. The building comprises three galleries, a public events space, the Wellcome Library, a café, a bookshop, conference facilities and a members' club.