Interviews

Tell me about the structure of your business. Jon Pryce: Take the story back a bit to when we were Crown Venue Catering (CVC), and we were traditional conference caterers. We had some contract business with fixed terms and that was the difference from the investment and commercial side of catering: risk and reward. Conferences are still an important part of the business, but we’re much more retail-led these days. Business centres want retail outlets as the minimum. How have you changed your business model as result?

Tell me about your background? I grew up in a village in Suffolk wanting to be a chartered surveyor like my father. My love of food was instilled into me from an early age – my family were often entertaining and my mum loved to cook.

After two years of planning and restoring, The Attendant opened its doors on February 18th and according to founder Pete Tomlinson, the response has been incredible. But when acquiring it Tomlinson, along with business partner Ben Russell, knew they had their hands full with the project.

Tell me about your background I began my professional life with McDonald’s Restaurants as an hourly employee and turned that into a 25-year career. I worked in diverse areas of the business including operations, human resources and labour relations, training and development, site development in the United States, Western Europe, and Latin America.  

Bluewater houses three distinct food areas. The Plaza, which was part of a £60 million development plan just over a year a go, offers ‘casual dining’, The Village represents Bluewater’s fine dining area and The Wintergarden offers food on the go.

Greggs is very forward thinking and continues to grow. Do you also remember your roots? Included in our 1,641 shops is the original one that goes back to 1951. Some doors down from the original site is our new concept shop, branded Greggs the Bakery, where there is a symbolic bike on a wall as a reminder of our roots. What is the difference between Greggs the Bakery and your traditional high street shops?