Eurest Awarded Catering Contract by Defra

It is anticipated that contract catering equipment business, Eurest Services, could be set to create various new positions within its sector, following agreement on a new deal to provide its food service to the Department for Food and Rural Affairs' (Defra) entire estate.

Valued at a reported £12.5 million, the arrangement will cover the next five year period, with Eurest Services to run all of the Defra employee restaurants as well as catering for conferences and events taking place across the ten sites associated with the department.

Eurest, which forms part of the Compass Group, takes pride in its achievement and attributes its Defra success on the quality of its food, the coverage of its training programmes, as well as its focus on the environment, health and safety, according to managing director for the company, Andy Barry.

In relation to Eurest's parent company, Compass Group, the business just last month announced a ten-year contract with Edinburgh Zoo and, more recently, has also communicated news about its acquisitions in both the Netherlands and Sweden.

The Compass Nederland subsidiary agreed to acquire the food service operation of locally-based Elior for an undisclosed figure, a deal that is said to have already been completed. Meanwhile in Sweden, Eurest Services AB has purchased BGP Resurs AB, which serves the leisure, business and industry sectors, from Steringer Resurs AB, for the local equivalent of a reported £1.6 million.

In other related activity, Compass, which provides food, vending and other such services at its clients' sites, has also handed over its Express Cafes operation to Central Catering Equipment Services for an unknown sum.