Levy, the sports, leisure and hospitality industry of Compass group UK and Ireland, has revealed an special partnership with street food pioneers KERB, which will see the shipment of an ingenious street food offering.
The industry-first offer will type part of a larger partnership with Compass UK and Ireland, to establish and provide new hospitality and retail services to bring the very best new food-talent and the extremely newest in retail street food patterns to Levy’s sporting, events and seminar venues across the UK.
KERB was established by Petra Barran in 2012 with the goal to seek out the most interesting street food talent, bring them together on the streets of London and legitimise and professionalise a previously dynamic however unorganised industry. Over the past eight years, KERB has grown into the UK’s largest neighborhood of street food entrepreneurs, with over 240 traders introduced with the organisations inKERBator and accelerator programmes to date.
KERB operates six street food markets across the capital, including its flagship indoor, seven Dials Market, a 24,000 square foot, all-day destination packed with 21 independent food companies in Covent Garden. KERB has also developed a successful events catering business, disrupting a when recognized industry, catering over 250 events a year and protecting listings at London’s most significant and many prestigious venues. This new partnership will support KERB’s plans to broaden into other major UK cities through Levy’s nationwide network of venues.
Exciting plans are in the making to bring an skillfully curated mix of KERB’s street food society to a few of Levy’s venues, bringing new menus and food experiences to fans and visitors during 2021.
Jon Davies Managing director of Levy UK, said:
We are consistently evaluating exactly how we finest support clients, not least because of the pandemic, with different and appropriate concepts that show the future we’re going into – whether that’s exactly how we serve our food or exactly how we organise our venues and our people. Our commitment to development at Levy is unwavering and when it concerns street food, one of today’s essential taste trends, KERB is totally unrivalled in its passion, proficiency and experience. Petra, Simon and their team have produced a extremely agile and experienced retail and operations team, that share our commitment to the greatest expert requirements and always providing an outstanding consumer experience. It is interesting to support KERB’s aspiration to grow its footprint into other cities in the UK through our network of venues across the country. By working directly with the very best in the business, we can assist our clients to relocation with even higher speed in accessing our nation’s finest new food skill and continue to offer the broadest and boldest options that finest show the quickly altering tastes and expectations of customers.
Davies continued:
This is not only a partnership borne of a shared like of the delight that excellent food can bring, however also a partnership developed on shared values. Through our Levy Cares commitments, we believe the food market has a obligation to do much more for the planet, the teams we work with and the neighborhoods we work in, and these principles have been part of KERB’s DNA from day one. I cannot wait to begin working together to roll-out a few of the most diverse, tasty and inventive food in the UK today and see the smiles on people’s faces.
Simon Mitchell, CEO at KERB said:
From our roots as a little group of like-minded street food traders in King’s Cross, KERB’s objective has always centred on offering our members with the very best possible platforms to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams. Our partnership with Levy is the begin of an ambitious new chapter, which will allow us to broaden from our London heartlands and apply our deep proficiency in producing dynamic retail markets and providing unforgettable food experiences, to spectators, members and delegates at Levy’s venues across the UK. Whether it’s award-winning Venezuelan stuffed arepas, Cajun crawfish spheres or Korean fried chicken, KERB and its food entrepreneurs together with the market leader Levy, will be setting a new common in taste, choice, imagination and sustainability.
Through its inKERBator programme, each-quarter KERB recruits a fresh batch of early stage companies with raw skill however bit experience and over a three-month period quickly bring them as much as the organisation’s exacting standards. This includes offering market pitches, mentorship, access to company resources and continuous comments with one-to-one sessions and focus groups. recent inKERBator graduates include Biff’s Jack Shack, Zephyr, eat Chay and Lords of Poke, with 30 out of the time Out ‘Top 50 street food traders in London’ being KERB members.
Image: Simon Mitchell, CEO, Kerb; Jon Davies, Managing Dinull