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!

 

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.

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!

 

 

 

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!!

Valentines....a treat for ALL our customers

Not only did our art loving customers enjoy a fantastic evening at Dulwich Picture Gallery on Friday but our four legged friends in Greenwich Park also got in on the action!

For the whole Valentines week Creative Taste sold heart-shaped doggy biscuits from the Coffee & Bakehouse next to the General Wolfe Statue getting a big paws up from our canine locals!  A big thank you to Josh the Spaniel our lovely model.

Gift wrapped rose meringues and shortbread hearts were also a hit with our National Army Museum visitors.

Watch this space for an Easter installment...

Here's to 2014!

2013 was a fantastic year for Creativevents and Creative Taste.  We had some wonderful successes to announce including winning the mobile catering contract at RHS Hampton Court Flower Show for another 5 years and adding The Royal Parks, Greenwich Park to our list of venues. 

We opened Dulwich Picture Gallery Café in May and have seen the newly refurbished café go from strength to strength, aided by new menus, local marketing and boosted sales from Bernadette our Citroen Van which provided a café operation in the garden throughout the summer.

Brooklands Museum also had an extremely busy year, and after the refurbishment of its event spaces saw a 51% increase in hospitality sales from October through to December compared with the previous year.  A fantastic result for the team and a credit to all their hard work!

As we roll into 2014 we look forward to opening our sites at Greenwich Park after their extensive refurbishment, continued growth in our exhibition centres, Earls Court, Olympia and ExCeL London and particularly to welcoming some fantastic new people to our senior team.

Happy New Year!

A fantastic night at Dulwich to launch Creative Taste at the Gallery

A beautiful day at Greenwich Park - Creative's latest contract win

The art deco style Blue Bird room at Brooklands Museum after its refurbishment

Happy days in the exhibition centres as business continues to grow

Continuing our relationship with the RHS at Hampton Court Palace