Eurest wins £12.5m Defra estate catering deal

The deal for Compass Group's B&I division builds on a successful business relationship providing catering to two of its sites. As part of the contract Eurest will operate employee restaurants, hospitality, conferences and vending across Defra's 10 sites for a total of 7,500 employees. To ensure a consistent look and feel across the country, Eurest has designed a bespoke brand for Defra called Harvest which will be rolled out in all foodservice and retail areas in the early months of the contract. In addition to its foodservice offer, Eurest will also introduce the Costa Coffee brand across the estate, including the two Westminster locations which will have fully licensed cafés. The contract will be operated at zero subsidy across each of the sites. Andy Barry, Managing Director of Eurest Services (Foodservice) said: "During the tender process and throughout our relationship, we have proven the quality of ourfood offer, the breadth of our training programmes and our health, safety and environment credentials, showing Defra that they have a reliable partner in Eurest Services. "We are proud to have been awarded the contract for the entire estate." Andrew Croston, Head of Defra Procurement & Contracts Division, said: "The Eurest Services bid helps Defra provide a broader catering service to staff across our network and offers a quality and value for money service".