Tottenham Hotspur, along with its Official Catering Partner Levy UK, has revealed the full line-up of world-renowned chefs bringing their expertise to the premium offering at the club’s new stadium, with Bryn Williams and Dipna Anand the final additions. Read more
Phoenix Raceway is set to debut its luxury suite experience – Curve – during the Can-Am 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series semifinal race weekend in November. Read more
Twickenham, the home of English rugby, has launched a campaign to celebrate shared experiences at the iconic sporting venue. Read more
The Bar Pass app in use at Wembley Arena
Levy Restaurants UK, the official catering and hospitality provider at Wembley Arena, has introduced an app for concert goers at the iconic concert venue. Using their smartphones, visitors will be able to order food and drink straight from their seats.
Developed by Bar Pass for Levy Restaurants UK, the ordering service has been implemented to improve service speed during intervals and to open up a second sales channel during peak periods. As a result, customers at Wembley Arena have seen a much faster speed of service of on average 70%, due to cashless transactions, and subsequently incremental revenue increases at peak times.
Customers can choose drinks and snacks from the Bar Pass UK app, select collection from either the North or South concourse, and then confirm and pay using a credit or debit card. The system then sends the order to a tablet at the specified collection point. Once the order is ready a push notification is sent to the customer from the bar team alerting them their items are ready for collection.
The service has been introduced at a number of events, with attendance ranging from 4,500 to 11,500, and has produced impressive results with over 5,000 visitors downloading the app. As a result, average spend and transaction size have both increased between 20-30% and customer feedback has been excellent. Repeat usage has been very high, with 70% of customers placing two or more orders and 40% placing three of more.
Fred Wilson, Levy Restaurants UK’s general manager at Wembley Arena, said:
We are really excited to be working with Bar Pass to introduce mobile ordering. The system aligns well with our current operations and our team finds it incredibly simple to use. Wembley is an extremely busy venue so we are always looking for innovative ways to improve customer experience and drive sales – this certainly does both.
The Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) announced this week an exciting and breakthrough food and hospitality partnership with Levy Restaurants; an alliance that will enhance the fan experience at TD Place at Lansdowne.
The announcement was made at a tasting event held in the Canadian Museum of Nature, where Levy showcased some of the items that will be available at TD Place.
Recognized as the leader in premium sports and entertainment dining, Levy Restaurants will provide exceptional food and beverage experiences for all major events at TD Place at Lansdowne, including games of the Ottawa REDBLACKS (Canadian Football League), Ottawa Fury FC (North American Soccer League), Ottawa 67`s (Ontario Hockey League), and all concerts and other events.
“Our objective is to provide fans and other guests at TD Place with the best possible food and beverage experience, and we know that’s what Levy Restaurants will deliver,” said OSEG CEO Bernie Ashe. “In addition, Levy is committed to ‘wowing’ fans with tremendous customer service. In that, we share a common objective and that’s to exceed the expectations of our visitors.”
“We are all about making the event day great for families and we love OSEG’s passion for fans,” said Andy Lansing, President and CEO of Levy Restaurants. “We are thrilled to partner on the transformation of Lansdowne and we look forward to working with local purveyors and restaurants to celebrate the flavours of Ottawa and give a warm welcome to guests in new facility.”
Levy Restaurants was chosen as the food and beverage partner at TD Place following an extensive review process during which OSEG representatives visited and researched sports venues across North America. A select group of candidates were then invited to visit Ottawa and the Outaouais, to gain a sense of the region’s taste preferences and culture, and to subsequently present ideas for providing guests with an exceptional culinary experience.
The tasting event featured a range of food selections that will be available at TD Place including the REDBLACKS Dog-a premium hot dog topped with 14-hour smoked brisket, St-Albert Grilled Cheese & Tomato Basil Soup, Barbecued Rib and Duck Wing Combo Platter and Lobster Mac and Cheese.
Many people tend to have hankerings for beer, milkshakes or bacon – or for that matter all three – and now thanks to Levy Restaurants and Texas Motor Speedway those cravings can be satisfied all at once.
Levy Restaurants Executive Chef Joel Pena has created the Shake ‘n Bacon Brew beer milkshake, a delectable, bacon-infused, alcoholic novelty concoction that fans enjoyed during the recent AAA Texas 500 NASCAR tripleheader race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
The Shake ‘n Bacon Brew utilises local Texas products in its key ingredients with the beverage featuring a signature craft beer from Rahr & Sons Brewing Co. of Fort Worth and ever-popular Blue Bell Ice Cream, a company that was founded in 1907 in Brenham, Texas.
The $10 frothy beverage consists of six ounces of Rahr & Sons Ugly Pug Black Lager, six ounces of Blue Bell homemade vanilla ice cream, two ounces of bacon-infused maple syrup that is mixed in a blender for a unique milkshake for adults 21 and over. The Shake ‘n Bacon Brew is poured into a 16-ounce plastic souvenir cup featuring the brew’s pig mascot and then topped off with three ounces of whipped cream and bacon crumbles.
Levy Restaurants also produced a ‘Shirley Temple’ version for those fans under 21. The Shake ‘n Bacon Brewless substituted root beer for the Rahr & Sons beer.
Check out the top six flavour trends for concessions at your venue in 2014 in the Winter issue of PanStadia & Arena Management.
Levy Restaurants has been recognised for its revolutionary approach to enhancing the customer experience at Chelsea Football Club through its ‘Home from Home’ programme. The business, which is the sports and leisure division of Compass Group UK & Ireland, took gold place in the ‘Best Hospitality, Leisure, Retail and Tourism’ category at the UK Customer Experience Awards.
Levy Restaurants worked with the club to create a warm welcome to visiting team’s fans and revamped the entire customer journey from greeting guests at the Tube station, to ensuring the visitor’s stands become an extension of their home ground. Simon Hunter, Head of Venue & Brand at Chelsea FC, said:
We are very proud of the match day experience we offer all visitors to Chelsea Football Club, whether they are our season ticket holders, hospitality guests or away supporters, and this award recognises the excellent relationship between Levy Restaurants and the club. The ‘Home From Home’ concept is now in its second season and continues to make us a unique and welcoming destination.
In the areas for away fans, Levy Restaurants’ employees wear the visiting team’s colours and offer these guests the club’s signature food and beer. This tailor-made approach also makes sure that the dwell time at the stadium is extended and good behaviours are encouraged.
The judges commended the impact of the ‘Home from Home’ concept, which has so far touched 90,000 visiting fans, on the overall customer satisfaction and the calming influence this has had on the relationship between away fans and the local community. Andy Clare from The Stairway consultancy, who was part of the judging panel said:
I wanted to add my congratulations to the Levy Restaurants team, I thought their presentation and what they achieve at Chelsea Football Club is fabulous. I am really heartened to learn that Levy Restaurants took the award as their concept is mind-set changing and I am sure a lot more success awaits the company.
Anna Fenten, Levy Restaurants’ Head of Marketing, commented:
We are absolutely delighted to receive this commendation. It reinforces the great work our team at Chelsea Football Club do to ensure the highest delivery of standards to customers and clients. We serve millions of customers every year and our team at Chelsea are great ambassadors of our ethos, which is to create a memorable experience for every guest across all our venues.
The awards ceremony was organised by Customer Experience Magazine and the Cranfield Customer Management Forum (CCMF).
