Jonathan Doughty, Group Managing Director of Coverpoint Catering Consultancy Ltd, talks to RLI about the company’s diversification and growth into new markets, stressing the importance of personality and personal relationships in building a successful business.
Coverpoint views foodservice as a ‘people’ industry and, believing that the knowledge and experience that individuals bring to the business sets it apart, it works tirelessly to employ ‘foodservice people’, adding a greater depth and breadth to the company’s services.
“Our clients and operating partners value and respect this unique approach,” says Group Managing Director, Jonathan Doughty. “Our structure is simple, with each project delivered by a named team. Each proposal sets out the involvement of key personnel and we commit to our clients those resources for the duration of the project.”
Coverpoint is currently active in 44 countries, including of course the UK, a market that has proved incredibly important over the past two years and in which the company has refocused, particularly with its tenant support services.
The company is currently working with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, helping it to shape its food service for the next ten years. “For me, this is a very personal project,” says Doughty. “It is a world-class site and I have very fond memories of Kew, to be able to work there is a wonderful opportunity.”
Doughty and his team are also involved in a number of exciting projects in Brazil, where it is assisting in the emergence of a new and more sophisticated shopping centre product. “There are already a lot of large and powerful centres over there, but food sophistication is in its infancy. As the market fills up, it will become more important to create synergies between retail, leisure and food as projects head towards true mixed use.”
Coverpoint is also working at the Holiday Village in Russia, situated about 100km south of Moscow, where it is working with Foster & Partners on a high quality, short-stay residential holiday experience village.
The team is also currently involved in a number of other leisure and retail food service projects in Russia which, despite the economic downturn, are progressing well.
“This year has been extremely challenging and there has been a great deal of uncertainty in the marketplace,” Doughty explains. “As a result, we have the largest number of proposals that we’ve ever had, but also the shortest project stream – effectively, our work has gone from longer- to much shorter-term assignments.”
www.coverpoint.co.uk
For the full article, please see the November 2009 issue.
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