Millwall Football Club has signed up Lindley Venue Catering, the specialist sports stadia catering division of The Lindley Group, to manage match day catering on the public concourses at The Den for a further five years.
Lindley Venue Catering has operated the catering kiosks at the 20,000 capacity stadium since 2007, and with the initial five-year contract up for renewal, the npower Championship League club has reached agreement with Lindley to continue providing match day public catering services through to the end of the 2016-2017 season.
Having been awarded the £3 million, five year contract, Lindley Venue Catering will be investing in re-furbishing all of the kiosks at the ground and introducing customized versions of the new range of award-winning branded retail concepts launched by Lindley earlier this year.
The caterer will also be introducing new staff training and incentive schemes, offering loyalty concessions for season ticket holders and will be make use of social media marketing to maximise revenue potential from match day sales. Lindley is also working in partnership with the club to develop an external supporters’ bar with fixed seating outside the Cold Blow Lane end.
The concourse kiosk refit will take place over the summer months and the new installations will be in place for the start of the 2012-2013 season in August. The range of new food outlets will include Lindley Venue Catering’s Frank’s Original New York Streetdogs™, FGB – Flaming Good Burger®, Henry’s Chicken® and The Pie Factory® kiosks.
Lindley Venue Catering is also working with the club to develop a family-friendly unit offering a choice of healthier meal deals, juice and flavoured water alongside high quality mini hotdogs, mini burgers, mini pies and a selection of traditional boiled sweets.
The refurbishment and catering services will be overseen and managed by Terry Buxton, a life-long Millwall FC supporter who has worked his way up the ranks from serving in the kiosks on match days to become Lindley Venue Catering’s resident Retail Catering Manager at The Den.
Adam Elliott, The Lindley Group’s CEO, says: “We’ve established a great working relationship with the team at Millwall Football Club and we’re delighted to have been given the opportunity to continue providing and developing the retail match day catering services at The Den for the next five seasons.
“This level of commitment has enabled us to invest in developing the catering facilities and services at the ground. Introducing the new branded retail concepts along with the bespoke staff training programme we have developed really will take the match day catering experience for fans onto an entirely new level.”
Andy Ambler, CEO of Millwall Football Club, says: “We’ve been very impressed and enthused by the passion shown by the new management team at The Lindley Group and by the fresh, new approach they have brought to the business. The work they have done recently in developing their range of branded retail concepts is outstanding, and the capital investment Lindley is putting into re-furbishing the facilities at The Den, along with the specific proposals and plans for improving the quality of food and customer service levels has demonstrated their commitment to the club and our supporters.
“Because of the vision, enthusiasm and dedication shown by the new team, we have had no hesitation in agreeing to extend our catering partnership with Lindley for another five years.”