CEO Newsletter
CEO Newsletter
Team,
Wow, I can’t believe that it’s already July. We have reached the half way point of 2015 and Centerplate is rolling. We’ve had a bunch of great news recently that I thought would be appropriate to share with you as we approach this holiday weekend.
First of all, kudos to Drew Revella, Peter Matra, Pat Bruhn and the entire NYRA team for developing and executing a great operating plan for the Belmont Stakes. There is nothing easy about the amazing results we achieved in a venue that was built 110 years ago. Not only did American Pharaoh win the Triple Crown, but the Centerplate team delivered over $3Million in event day revenues (“trust me, those are championship numbers”). It’s on to Saratoga for Drew and his thoroughbred team.
The New Business Development (NBD) team has also been working hard. I’m pleased to announce the newest addition to our portfolio, the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This 10,000+ seat Arena hosts over 100 events a year, drawing approximately 600,000 guests annually. The main tenant is the Halifax Mooseheads, a hockey club of the QMJHL. Please join me in welcoming our new Halifax team members to the Centerplate family.
Additionally the NBD team, in tandem with our GM’s and support staff, has successfully renewed several key clients, including Gunstock Mountain, Roland E. Powell Convention Center, Scotiabank Convention Centre Niagara Falls, the Javits Center, and the Royal College of Surgeons (Scotland). We are currently working on a number of other important re-bids as well as a few select opportunities. Allow me to take a moment to thank each of you for making our task easier during the renewal and new bid process. When we are graded on quality and service, I’ll put our Centerplate team up against anyone in this industry.
In mid-June, Hadi Monavar, Adrian Dishington and I traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland where we had the opportunity to spend a week visiting with each of our Heritage Portfolio clients as well as meeting with all of our local management and culinary teams. In case you are not aware, we operate some of the finest catering venues in all of Scotland and our HPL team absolutely excels with its high end offerings. To use the word impressive would be an understatement. Each one of our clients was ecstatic in their praise of our team of professionals, which is led by Mark Miller.
On my way home from the UK, Adrian and I stopped to visit our team at ACCL Liverpool. Our GM, Samantha Lincoln, led us on a hard hat tour of the newest addition to the property, the ECL. When the construction is complete, this venue is going to be spectacular and will further solidify Centerplate’s UK reputation. The official grand opening is September 17th.
And finally, it took us a while, but we have confirmed our plans for next year’s annual conference. As you know, we have some great options with all of our magnificent venues. After agonizing over which venue would be the right choice, in the end, it came down to having the right dates. So the 2016 Annual Conference will be held at the Pasadena Convention Center on March 8-11. Feel free to reach out to Doug Finney and congratulate him (or console him) for being our next host.
Folks, I can’t tell you how proud I am of what we do as a team. It’s an absolute pleasure to be your partner in Centerplate. I know that many of you will be working this holiday weekend, because that’s exactly what we do in the hospitality industry. But I hope that each of you is able to enjoy your family and friends at some point during the 4th of July weekend. Be responsible (but have fun) and enjoy whatever festivities are in your plans.
Thanks everyone, I’ll see you soon…
Andrew Pollard July 9, 2015 at 4:38 pm
Great to see that Centerplate is now “Coast-to-Coast” in Canada with the addition of Halifax!
For those that have not visited, Halifax is a pretty neat little city with a metro population of 390,000 and a rich naval history.