Catering Concession Tender

The contract will run from January 2024 for five years on a fully commercial concession basis wherein

the appointed caterer shall pay a percentage of sales turnover to the Museum by way of a concession

payment supported by a fixed guaranteed annual sum.

The catering contract at the Museum comprises the following interdependent elements:

• The main visitor café in Building 52 (which operates and is referred to as the Hendon Kitchen). The building also houses the main kitchen for the public and event catering operations, and the Hendon Kitchen Function Room (also known as the 601 Room). An assisted service operates from the counter. There is a hot counter, as well as refrigerated and ambient display, and most items are taken to the table by customers at the point of payment. A small number of items, such as panini, are produced/heated to order and delivered to the table by servers.
• The additional visitor café near the main entrance and adjacent to the shop (referred to as the Hangar 1 Café). This is a high footfall area within the Museum and the café is well situated to take advantage of it at peak times. The café opens from 10:00 to 17:00 at the weekends and during school holidays only although it can be opened during the week in response to demand.
• Event Catering referred to as Event Catering Services. There are 14 function spaces available for corporate guests, internal stakeholders, and others to hire in the Museum. These range from purpose built modern conference rooms to historic aircraft halls to outdoor spaces. Some are available during museum opening hours while others such as the aircraft halls can only be used in the evening when the museum is closed to the public.
• Event Catering Sales and Marketing. The appointed Caterer will be required to proactively maximise sales in the Catering Facilities. This means identifying target markets, communicating the offer through appropriate effective media to generate leads, showing prospective clients around the site, confirming bookings, managing the diary,

and dealing with payments (before delivering the events themselves). To deliver this requirement, the Caterer is expected to maintain a sales and marketing presence at site. It is expected this will comprise a Sales Manager at a minimum, plus such additional team members as the Caterer believe necessary to unlock the potential of the site.