NottinghamLIFE: EXCITING DEVELOPMENTS AT THE MOTORPOINT ARENA NOTTINGHAM AS CATERING MOVES IN-HOUSE

The East Midlands’ biggest entertainment venue, the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham and National Ice Centre (NIC), has moved its catering and hospitality operation in-house for the first time.

 

Having previously outsourced its catering operation to Levy Restaurants UK, the venue is now fully responsible for running all of its concourse catering outlets, bars and restaurants.

 

As part of the change; and following consultation with customers on what catering improvements they would like to see at the venue; a number of exciting developments have been made to the Arena concourse, to provide a better variety of food and drink options for customers attending shows and events.

 

The new catering outlets introduced on the Arena concourse include:

·         Sweet Retreat – A tuck shop offering popcorn, candyfloss, doughnuts, chocolate, sweets, ice cream and snacks

·         Fish & Chip Kitchen – Selling a range of fish, pies and other local chip shop favourites

·         Ice Cream Shop – A range of delicious ice cream – locally sourced from Dolcino (based in Nottingham’s City centre) – with all the toppings

·         The Coffee House – Specialist coffees and syrups, plus teas and ultimate hot chocolates along with warm doughnuts, fresh cakes and cookies

·         The Hideaway Bar – With an outdoor vibe, the Hideaway Bar offers a range of premium drinks, including Prosecco and Champagne

·         Quickserve Bar – Set back from the concourse and offering a speedier service for those just wanting a drink

Other improvements made to the venue’s catering offer since the switch include:

·         Encore Bar & Grill (located in the foyer) is now open daily and has introduced a new, discounted menu

·         Introduction of a new £3 a pint Panthers Beer for customers attending ice hockey matches

·         Following customer feedback, new products have been added to the Sub Zero Café Bar menu in the National Ice Centre. Sub Zero’s opening hours have also been extended with the bar now opening from 7am daily to service the needs of skaters and their families.

·         Concession hawkers have been employed to take food and drink directly to customers in the Arena bowl during events.

The transition from working with a contractor to bringing the catering function in-house took eight months and included arecruitment drive which saw over 500 applications processed.

Sam Oldham, Operations Director at the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham and National Ice Centre said: “Bringing our catering operation in-house is giving us the opportunity to maximise revenue in this area and deliver what our customers want. We’re delighted with the new catering units along the concourse and are excited to be able to offer a broader range of competitively priced food and drink options for our customers, whether they’re visiting the Arena to watch a show or ice skating with friends in the National Ice Centre.”

Further information on the new catering options and menus can be found on the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham’s website.