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!!