Christmas & New Year Office Party Catering

Office party...celebration drinks...end of year gathering with friends and colleagues?

Need Catering, but looking for inspiration without blowing the budget?

Why not give us a call on 01707 331751 and discuss your requirements for Christmas fair foods that can be created around your specific tastes!

CHRISTMAS BUFFETS

Everyone at eatlunch would like to wish all of our amazing Customers and suppliers a very Merry Christmas and a successful 2011.

We can deliver your office Christmas buffets right up to the Christmas Eve.

Please order as soon as you can, but ensure that we have received your order before 5pm on Wednesday 22nd December to ensure that our kitchen's have all the necessary fresh ingredients to prepare your favorite buffet items.

We will then be closed until TUESDAY 4th January 2011 - when we will be delivering as normal. 

PLEASE NOTE: All orders for Tuesday 4th January MUST be made using our ONLINE ORDERING SYSTEM before 5pm on Monday 3rd January.

CHEF'S SPECIAL

Enjoy an introductory buffet at a special price consisting of:-

An assortment of bite size cakes.

Two ‘chefs choice’ finger food items

Packet of crisps

Uncut Fruit

Round of sandwiches per person

Enjoyed at your workplace - delivered fresh!

Free delivery paper plates and napkins with this buffet

Minimum 4 people per order please.

ONLY £5.95 Per Head 

(introductory offer only - 1 per Customer)

Focused on growth of core business

IMPORTANT 2010 UPDATES
2009 was a good year for eatlunch and Kingfisher Caterers with yet another 12 months of steady growth in both of the catering sectors that we trade in (corporate lunchtime catering & private events catering such as weddings). So much so, that as a management team, we have had to ask ourselves some big questions about the future development of our business and how we protect and build on our successes. Standing still is never an option for a business that continually strives to deliver better products and improved services and with this theme at the centre of our planning, we have made a number of exciting changes to underpin our ability to continue to grow and continue to deliver catering innovation and value!

These IMPORTANT CHANGES are summarised below:


CHANGE 1 - Sale of Kingfisher Caterers Weddings & Events brand to Chef: Dan Kempson:

We’re thrilled to announce that Dan and his wife Rebecca have purchased our PRIVATE CATERING 
order book and all the marketing vehicles such as the website and venue locator service.
 Dan is an extremely talented chef and has been instrumental in our growth over the past 5 years. It is so pleasing to have reached an agreement with Dan and Rebecca that not only enables Dan 
to continue to develop his skills within the sector that he loves, but which also means that we are
able to let go of this part of the business with complete confidence that it is in safe hands.

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CHANGE 2 - Business name change to support the sale of our private catering brand and to underpin growth:
Although Dan and Rebecca have not purchased the Limited Company ‘Kingfisher Caterers Ltd.’, we felt that to minimise customer confusion with two Kingfisher brands in the region, we would re-name our business. This has now been completed with Companies House and you will notice that all future invoices will come from ‘Eatpure Ltd.’
eatlunch.co.uk is still alive and well and is even more at the centre of our business than ever before, but with a growing number of our services being ventures which ADD to our lunchtime catering service (café and vending services etc), we felt that is was important that our Company name refl ected the ability to do what we do best - at whatever time of day you want to eat!

For more information on on-site café or vending solutions - give Ian a call.

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CHANGE 3 - We’re recruiting to underpin our growth plans within our core sector:
With Dan now focussing on his new business, we have begun a rigorous recruitment drive to fill his shoes. Also, our recent growth has demanded that we also look to add to our kitchen team. The appointment of a new Chef is always a vital appointment within any professional kitchen and is always worthy of an extra level of detail and scrutiny. Until we find the right person Pam has gone back into the kitchens to do what she did brilliantly for many years and with the fantastic support of Serena and Sigita and our new kitchen team member Nicky Mowll, quality buffets are still fl ying out of the kitchens.

It is also great to welcome back to the business, Peter Farquhar as our General Manager. Peter has rejoined eatlunch after several years away, growing his catering industry knowledge within businesses on his amazing trek around the globe. Peter is responsible for all the day-to-day operations on-site and is also ensuring that our Health & Safety and HACCP procedures are correct and proactive.

Ordering lunch on eatlunch.co.uk is NOW EVEN EASIER

Providing lots of choice is what our Customers demand, but choice has always meant that our order forms could look a little daunting at fi rst glance. WELL NOT ANY MORE...

As part of our new computerised Kitchen Information System (KiS), we have designed a bespoke and very easy to use website interface which, as it says on screen, is as simple to use as: 1, 2, 3.

1. Pick what you want to eat from one of our 6 core menu categories. 
2. Tell us ‘who’, ‘where’ and ‘when’ you want your food.
3. Press ‘SEND’ to place your order.
IT’S REALLY THAT SIMPLE!
Our menus have changed a little, mainly to make them even simpler to choose from and to
highlight some of the healthier eatpure options, which lots of you told us that you found difficult to find in last years presentation. You also said that you loved the simple to use, desktop menu - so we’ve updated that too. Call us on 01707 323208 for your FREE DESKTALKER MENU.

eatlunch.co.uk launches message in a bottle campaign

Say no to plastic bottles

The health of our Customers, staff and also our environment has always been at the centre of everything that we do, and we have become increasingly concerned by the amount of plastic packaging that our society disposes of.
One way we feel that we can have a positive impact on this global problem, is to offer our regular Customers the option of ordering stylish, reusable glass bottles instead of plastic bottles of water.
We also hope to add some lovely cordials to our range soon - so if you want your buffet to look even better on your boardroom table AND also do a bit more for our environment, then join our
Message in a Bottle Campaign. Call Ian or Peter on 01707 323208 for more information.

eatlunch raises funds for enhance herts

With the support of Customers of the Eatlunch Cafe and our Christmas top-up, we were pleased to present a cheque for £150 to Becca Cheesman from Enhance herts for the cardiology unit at Lister Hospital (picture shows Eatlunch Cafe Manager Karen Downs presenting the cheque).
Enhance herts, raises money to help hospitals in East and North Hertfordshire to provide the added extras that makes a visit to hospital more comfortable and less stressful, such as: State-of-the-art equipment, better surroundings and new research at Hertford County hospital, Lister hospital, Mount Vernon cancer centre including the Lynda Jackson Macmillan Centre and the QEII hospital.


If you would like to add to our donation or offer any kind of help, please contact their fundraising team:
By telephone 01438 781 682
By email info@enhanceherts.org
By visiting the Enhance herts website

Eatlunch opens cafe in Stevenage

Eatlunch has opened the doors on its first cafe project at the impressive new Stevenage Business & Technology Centre (btc).

The btc is run by Wenta and has just benefited from a £7 million extension that was funded by Stevenage Borough Council, the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and the Local Government Communities Fund. The centre is located on Gunnels Wood Road and provides a great space as well as support services to help start-up companies, as well as a superb meeting and conference facility for any other local business.

At the centre of the new extension is the eatlunch cafe, which provides a convenient space (in-door and out-door courtyard) to meet with colleagues, customers and suppliers, whilst enjoying a cappuccino and a panini, or a convenient way to grab a quick snack from our chillers or vending machine.

For more information on booking a meeting room of conference suite or to enquire about becoming a tenant, contact btc on 0845 0780700 or e-mail info@btcstevenage.co.uk

We hope to see you for a coffee soon.

Eatlunch teams up with Noel Edmunds to lend a hand

Eatlunch teamed up with Noel Edmonds and his ‘feel good’ programme ‘Noel’s H.Q. on Sky 1’ to deliver hot meals to the senior residents in the Woodside Care Home at Campus West in Welwyn Garden City.
Noel’s programme wants to “make a difference to Britain” by involving companies and the public in demonstrating acts of kindness”. When he heard about the ‘Meals on Wheels’ service being unable to bring food to the seniors he wanted to do something about it.
Managing Director, Ian White said, “We were really happy for our ‘Eatlunch’ brand to get involved with Noel to get hot meals to the Care Home.  We had read about the ‘Meals on Wheels’ service not being able to make it through the snow to some seniors and hoped we might be able help out. We have always felt it important to be involved in the local community and this was a great opportunity to contribute.”
The Woodside residents were surprised on 5th February with a hot lunch of Shepherd’s pie and fresh vegetables followed by chocolate bread and butter pudding and cream. ‘Eatlunch’ supplied all the food and it was prepared on-site by their Head Chef, Dan Kempson.
Programme presenter, Gaby Roslin and celebrity chef Nancy Lam were on hand to ensure that proceedings went with a swing. Russ Pinder entertained everyone after lunch with a selection of all the old songs which were popular at the time of the Second World War.  


Barbara Carpenter, Scheme Manager at Woodside said, “It really was a great fun day, very unexpected and much appreciated by everyone. It cheered up a very dull day and made a real difference. It was good to see everyone working together to give our residents this special day.”

Eat better - eatpure

‘Eatpure’ is our newest and the most important initiative that we have undertaken. It has been developed to meet the needs of an increasing number of customers who require premium cuisine, prepared to order and incorporating fresh, healthy and exciting ingredients including local and organic choices.
We work closely with trustworthy suppliers who share our ideals, which enables us to have confidence in our fare. We source as much seasonal, local food as possible, which helps to ensure maximum freshness and significantly reduces the mileage food has to travel to reach your plate.

Bamboo benefits as eatlunch.co.uk launches new greener packaging

‘Eatlunch’ has spent the last twelve months developing new, recyclable packaging. All of our newly designed packaging is recyclable: even the gold platter trays and all the clear pots for yoghurts and dips are made from PLA - a biodegradable material manufactured from corn starch. Your buffets are also protected by a clear bag, which is also made from PLA.

Ten years ago environmental concerns were considered unimportant and even a bit boring. Today many would argue that helping to protect our planet can also deliver real social and economic benefits!
‘Eatlunch’ has always embraced this philosophy and has introduced a number of new initiatives to support this approach. We have replaced plastic cutlery with bio-degradable bamboo - although you wouldn’t guess to look at them!! The cutlery looks better than ever but does not contribute to the ‘plastic’ mountain.

Waste not!!

Eatpure accepts that it is our responsibility to produce food hygienically and in a way which is caring to our staff, our local community and to the environment.
We believe that being environmentally responsible is not only sensible for our planet, but that it can also deliver real benefits to our business and to our Customers. Adopting sound environmental policies and practices has led to better environmental performance at Eatpure, across our Eatlunch business buffets activities and also within our café and vending environments.
Our goal is to have zero landfill. We already recycle all our card, paper and kitchen-waste and are pursuing other schemes to ensure that we use even more bio-degradable materials. Eatlunch is working with regional water suppliers to encourage our customers to use glass bottles, which can be refilled with tap water instead of continually buying more plastic bottles of mineral water. We’re also talking to specialist Waste Management companies about encouraging our customers to have bins on their premises to enable them to recycle any packaging from their lunches. These bins would then be collected on a weekly basis.
Read more about how we value our environment.

Business Link take a closer look at eatlunch

Eatpure Ltd. (incorporating eatlunch.co.uk) started from a single unit with just Ian and Pam White providing outsourced catering services for events. Since then the business has grown considerably and diversified further into the hospitality sector.
Eatpure Ltd. provides high quality outsourced catering services for every kind of occasion. When they first started their catering business, Ian and Pam contacted Business Link, but at that time did not appreciate the benefits the organisation could bring. It was when Ian started to implement an aggressive growth strategy, that he felt they needed the extra support.
The business was growing at such a rate it became apparent that managing the growth and training were becoming an issue, especially as Eatlunch are diversifying into other hospitality locations. Ian contacted Business Link Adviser Rod Hill to identify what help Business Link could offer.
Rod's initial action was to conduct an in-depth benchmarking exercise, comparing operations of a similar size and rate of growth in the same sector. This service from Business Link examines the financial health of businesses using ratio analysis, processes, customer satisfaction, supplier numbers, staff turnover and training days, plus a range of other business metrics.
The other major area in which Business Link were able to assist was with staff training. Rod helped Eatlunch obtain a grant from the Towards 2010 initiative, funded by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) to subsidise the training. Plus, Investors in People (IIP) Adviser Penny Taylor reviewed Eatlunch and Ian plans to make a full IiP application.
Business Link uses statistics from businesses nationally to ensure a realistic snapshot of the sector. The results of the benchmarking allowed Ian to compare Eatlunch to similar businesses in the sector. According to Ian: It was a period of self-analysis that ensured we were growing in line with the sector averages; it helped further refine our growth strategy.
Ian has found that his relationship with Business Link is more than just about formal reviews. I like being able to pick up the phone to an impartial Adviser who understands my business and can give me signposts to the resources available. I feel like I am a member of a mutually supportive club. It's not like talking to the bank manager, who is always looking at the bottom line.