Supplier Profile - AJ Butchery

Our Creative Chefs gathered together this week to attend a group butchery demonstration arranged by our Executive Chef Bruce. After a tasty breakfast of sausage and bacon baps, the team joined Steve Turton, a butcher from AJ Butchery, to learn and discuss the different cuts of meat available to them and the best ones to use for their menus. Steve brought along the best beef, lamb and pork that they supply, including Black Angus beef, Suffolk-Texel cross lamb and large white-Duroc cross pork.

AJ Butchery is a family-run business based in Newton Abbot in Devon run by Steve, his son, Andrew and his mum Pam, they are obviously very passionate about the extensive work they do. They even work with lots of small independant farms in Devon and the surrounding areas, choosing the animals to develop the best meats that they then supply to their clientele, including some high class London restaurants and Winter Wonderland!

 

Royal Parks Marathon here we come!

We are all geared up and ready to scurry along to Hyde Park to begin the Royal Parks Half Marathon this Sunday!

So far we have raised a total £600.00 but it would be great to raise more for the Royal Parks Foundation, so please do sponsor us at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/CreativeTeamSquirrel

Good luck Team Squirrel!

 

Meet the Team - Rachel Smith

Name: Rachel Smith

Job Title: Finance Coordinator

Venue: All venues

Favourite Drink: Fizzy Vimto or Cider - depending on the time of day!

Favourite Meal: Moussaka

I started working for Creative... in 2006 at the NEC in Birmingham, I had just finished university so I was looking for a new challenge. I started off as bar staff then became a Bar Manager within a few months after which I became Staffing Manager. I had a few years off travelling and then came back as Office and Commercial Manager after the Olympics, which then turned into my current role in finance.

In a nutshell my role is... quite hectic! I process all invoices for the majority of our venues and outdoor catering department, and during the summer months I help out as a Commercial Manager by cashing up at busy festivals as well as helping out at other venues when they have busy shows on.

On an average day... I am processing hundreds of invoices!!

My most rewarding moment was... (I have a few!) Working at the Olympics, meeting Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver at the NE, watching my favourite bands at various festivals and getting to work with a great group of people.

My most challenging moment was... working long hours and for many days in a row at the Boat Show, Grand Designs and Travel Market at ExCeL Exhibition Centre. All worth it though!

I couldn’t cope without... great colleagues, they keep you upbeat when you need it most!

Best piece of advice... be nice to everyone, you may need their help in the future.

Less than 1 month until the Royal Parks Half Marathon

Having been training for the last couple of months, we are now counting down the few weeks left until the Royal Parks Half Marathon kicks off in Hyde Park on Sunday 12th October.

16,000 runners will run the 13.1 mile route through Central London and the beautiful Royal Parks. Our Creativevents Team Squirrel consists of 10 squirrels and we will be scurrying our way to the finish line in order to raise our target of £2,250 for charity.

With less than a month to go we would really appreciate any donations towards our cause: The Royal Parks Foundation, who rely on your support to keep the Parks bursting with life by funding projects in education, wildlife conservation, landscape restoration, sport and art!

If you would like to sponsor Team Squirrel, please visit our Virgin Giving Page - http://bit.ly/1tEBiGc

Introducing our new TK Artisan Bakery at Olympia!

Why not stop by at our new TK Artisan Bakery located within the charming Pillar Hall of
Olympia Exhibition Centre. We’ve made it personal by joining our TK brand with
the Artisan Bakery which has a lot of history behind it. We have some great stories to tell……

Timothy Knowles, a Creative ancestor, had four bakeries in Yorkshire and Manchester back in the 1880s. The joke at the time was that TK used to make the best ‘TKakes’ – we have his original hand-written recipe books so we’ll be recreating these and many more treats for our new bakery.

We’re also having a lot of fun hunting down props and adding the finishing touches that, with the food displays, will bring the bakery alive.

Piled high with just-baked morning pastries, lunchtime tarts, crisp wholesome salads and
handmade sandwiches – plus delicious cakes and treats for the all-important afternoon tea,
it’s a lovely spot to meet throughout the day in a relaxed and comfortable environment.
Our homemade lemonade is a must! See you there!

Meet the Team - Jennie Westoby

Name: Jennifer Westoby

Job Title: Senior Staffing Manager

Venue: All Venues

Favourite Drink: A long cold G&T

Favourite Meal: Has to be a hot and spicy curry.

I started working for Creative... in June 2013 on a 3 month contract to support the Outdoor Catering Department for the summer season. Before my contract was up, I was offered a full time position as Senior Staffing Manager.

In a nutshell my role is... to support the Staffing Team and ensure that the appropriate staffing resources are in place for all venues and events throughout the company.

On an average day... I am involved in a number of tasks from ordering food for an event to writing staff forecasts (there is always another one to do!), and from accounting to recruitment of new staff.

My most rewarding moment was... delivering my first ODC event with Luke Jones at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the summer of 2013. It was four weekends of concerts, back to back with retail and hospitality offerings.

My most challenging moment was... at YNOT festival in 2013 when we had an electrical storm one evening and all units were closed. I was responsible to ensure that all staff were evacuated from their units and kept warm and dry ready to reopen when the storm had passed.

I couldn’t cope without... Lily Hayter. A fountain of knowledge and experience. She is a tremendous support to me and a little crazy with it too!

Best piece of advice... is to always take a step back and look at the bigger picture. So often we can get wrapped up in the minor detail of what we do.

What a Summer so far! The Pavilion Café prepares for the last jazz evenings of the year at Greenwich Park

The team at The Pavilion Café, opposite the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park have loved hosting our Friday jazz evenings and are so pleased to see the increase in guests coming to visit... and returning week after week.

 

The audience has got bigger and busier, with families and friends gathering for this relaxed music, food and drink event each week. It's great to see people bringing their own rugs and making themselves at home on our lawns whilst the kids play with the traditional wooden garden games (the really little ones have even been known to have a boogey!). The musicians of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music are incredibly talented and it's been great getting to know them.
 

We've two more jazz evenings this year before we relent to the shorter and cooler evenings, but they'll return next May. See you Friday!

 

 

 

A Butchery Masterclass with Executive Chef, Bruce Wilson

There's nothing like a hands on butchery masterclass with a group of chefs to bring added inspiration to autumn menu planning. And that's exactly what Bruce Wilson, our Executive Chef and Alex Hall, Group Head Chef had in mind when they brought together their band of chefs from each of our sites last week.

 

Bruce shared his in-depth knowledge about different cuts of meat, talked about all the different cuts of pork and also how to fillet different types of fish. It was also a great opportunity for all our chefs to integrate, share their ideas and discuss how we can make the most of the wealth of local suppliers available to us.

The chefs finished their day with a trip to Brixton Market to check out new street food offers which are becoming increasingly popular and to enjoy a tasty lunch together.

 

 

Brooklands Musuem - The 1940's Relived

At Brooklands Museum we enjoyed the third year of the 1940’s relived event last weekend. Welcoming over 2,500 visitors all eager for some nostalgia from the decade that never fails to captivate. The promise of sunny weather earlier in the week encouraged even more people to dress in their finery which lent an air of eerie authenticity to the whole site.

A VE Day street party greeted visitors as they entered the site and the village area featured some of the best vintage sellers around providing everything from clothes to original memorabilia. The dance tent on the Campbell Lawn was the centre of activity with lessons in Lindy Hop, music and live performances all day. Other re-enactor groups filled the Motoring Village and Paddock for a truly fun packed day.

 

Our themed 1940’s menus and creatively dressed vans were a huge hit and our Staff loved getting dressed up in period costumes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creative New Food Concepts

We’ve spent the past few months creating a whole host of exciting new food concepts to enhance eating and drinking for visitors to the exhibitions and outdoor events at which we cater. Inspired by the popularity of street food (we ate our way across every London street food market in the name of research!) we devised a small number of dishes for each concept using the very best ingredients from small producers across the south of England. We let our imaginations run wild with the naming, the dressing and presentation of our vans. Our staff love their new uniforms and their new working environments and the feedback we’ve had from our customers has been fantastic – they love the flavours, the freshness and the theatre.

Sticky Fingers with a menu of braised Hereford short rib and brisket, braised onions and blue cheese served in a toasted brioche bun. Or buttermilk-marinated chicken, deep fried in smoked paprika flour and servedwith a freshly made waffle and maple syrup.

Delicious Vietnamese Banh Mi, Udon Noodle Soup with marinated tofu or Vietnamese Cod, spiced with chilli, lemongrass and corainder, steamed in a banana leaf and served with tam tom salad and vegetable crackers.



Perfect pairings of wine and food. Pork, smoked ham and parsely rillettes, hot roastedand smoked salmon rillettes with dill and chestnut mushroom, garlic and parsley duxelle. All served with cornichons, baby onions, pickles and ficelle.



645miles to be cycled by Team Creative!

We are very proud to announce that a few brave Creative individuals will be entering the Mitie London Revolution on 17th and 18th May to support the Mitie Foundation. 

Adrian, Ian, Zoe, Charlotte and Lily will be taking on the challenge of cycling a 2 day 180 mile loop of the capital, past iconic London landmarks, scenic backroads and legendary Olympic sites with an overnight base camp on Saturday evening at Ascot Racecourse.  Training  for the collective 645 miles is now underway!

The team hope to raise £1000 for the Mitie Foundation, an independent charity focused on creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds to join the world of work, raising aspirations and unlocking people’s true potential. 

We would be extremely grateful for your support and any donations small or large will be much appreciated.  With your help, we can do our bit for this inspirational cause. To donate, please visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Creativevents.  

Best of luck to the team - we will be cheering you on all the way!!

Update on Greenwich Park and The Pavilion

Thank you to everyone for showing an interest in the Pavilion at Greenwich Park. We are delighted to say that work has now started on refurbishing the building and all being well we should be open for the first weekend of the Easter Holidays.

So on to the name…our research showed that when the Pavilion was first opened it was called the ‘Royal Observatory Refreshment Pavilion’. The Pavilion has had several different names until the current signage for ‘Pavilion Tea House’ was installed approximately 8 years ago. The change to ‘The Pavilion Café’ will enable all visitors to the park to have a clearer understanding of the wider range of food and drink available throughout the day, and for families to enjoy on our summer evening late openings.

We want the Pavilion to be enjoyed by the many different people who visit Greenwich Park – and for our name to convey that this is a place for everyone, with a menu and atmosphere to appeal to all. We are very mindful of the heritage of this lovely building and would welcome any information on its history and identity.  

Please do get in touch with any information, anecdotes or memories of the Pavilion.

Thank you, Creative Taste.
creative.taste@creative.co.uk

Supplier Profile - Chapel Down, Tenterden, Kent

Alex, our Group Head Chef and Bruce our Procurement Manager have been off on their travels again.  This time to meet a number of suppliers in Kent.  

First stop in the Garden of England was the Chapel Down vineyard and winery at Tenterden.  
The south of England shares almost identical geology and soils to the Champagne region, with a chalk seam typified by the North and South Downs of Kent and Sussex and excellent well drained soils in Essex and The Weald. 

Chapel Down is rapidly establishing itself as a world class premium wine brand and is gaining national and international recognition.

The white, red and sparkling English Chapel Down wines can be enjoyed in the café at Dulwich Picture Gallery - the perfect choice in England's oldest purpose built art gallery!

Team Photo Shoot

It's all go for our outdoor events team at the moment - signing up events, recruiting ready for the busy summer weekends, booking, planning, hiring, training, organising... planning... organising...!  At the same time we are creating a brand new website to showcase this part of the company that look after all the special events outdoors.  Watch this space for the new site but in the meantime here's a sneaky peak of some of our team at last weeks photo shoot!