GIG's profits make it the UK's fastest growing foodservice company

Chesham, Bucks: November 11, 2016 - Global Infusion Group (GIG) has been named as the UK's fastest growing independent foodservice company as a result of the profits generated by the high-flying business.

The Foodservice Growth Report 2016 produced by Alixpartners, the consultancy and business advisory service, and EP Business in Hospitality magazine has placed GIG at number one in its index of profit making companies. The index covers companies primarily spanning the catering and hospitality worlds of business and industry (B&I), heritage, events, sports, education, Government and healthcare.
The report states that GIG, a privately owned business run by Managing Director Tony Laurenson and Global Operations Director Bonnie May, showed a turnover of £17m with a compound annual growth rate of 67.9% over the past three years — more than 20 per cent ahead of its nearest rival.
Tony Laurenson says: “We are delighted to be placed number one in this prestigious league table of the fastest growing foodservice companies in the UK. Our position at the top of the index is a tribute the all the hard work of the entire team at GIG from the directors and all our senior executives and managers to our operations teams, chefs, waiters and waitresses. Everyone right across our business has played a part in our success and has helped to grow our business.”

Bonnie May comments: “A significant contribution to our growing success in the sports world has been in project management and consultancy to major games’ Organising Committees (OC’s). We have seen great success from our appointments by OCs to work with a local ground partner to deliver Global Games, which in turn has a very positive impact on Games’ legacy.”

The Foodservice Growth Report’s profile on GIG says: “Leading the index for 2016, the Global Infusion Group (GIG) has a long and distinguished history in the global events catering space, having emerged from the Eat to the Beat business created by Managing director Tony Laurenson more than 32 years ago. ETTB is one of the most recognisable names in the world of live events, providing specialist backstage catering services for the music, entertainment, film, and TV industries. The business initially focused on the music arena and now serves major events such as Glastonbury, the Reading Festival, and major concerts in Hyde Park.

“GIG has also had recent success through its Sports division, which served London 2012, the 2015 European Games in Baku, and the 2016 Rio Olympics. Based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, the business now also operates from offices in Studio City, California; Shanghai; and Dubai to deliver a truly global service offering. It has been progressively expanded over three decades to deliver bespoke events planning and delivery at accredited venues through GIG…fyi and events logistics support through GIG...e2B.

“GIG won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade 2014 and has achieved stellar compound profit growth of 67.9% over the past three years, supported by 16.7% turnover growth in the past financial year. With an established brand that boasts genuine longevity as well as recognised but diverse events skills, the business appears well-placed to continue its growth trajectory in the coming years.”

About Global Infusion Group
Originally launched in 1984 as Eat to the Beat – an artist, production and crew catering business specialising in backstage catering services for music, entertainment, film and TV industries – the company has catered many of the biggest names in the entertainment world.Eat to the Beat provides backstage catering support for international tours, major festivals such as Glastonbury and Reading, concert venues and TV and film locations. Additional divisions were added to the Eat to the Beat brand as the business evolved and diversified and now includes a bespoke corporate & private party planning, catering and event design division (GIG…fyi)since 1988; global sport and automotive event catering (GIG SPORT) since 2002 and a logistics and brand support division to promote predominantly food and drink products (e2B Logistics) since 1997. All divisions trade under the umbrella of Global Infusion Group which has its UK headquarters in Chesham, Bucks. The company has catered functions at iconic locations such as Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street to the Great Wall of China and the more remote; the Ice Fields of Inner Mongolia. GIG were also on site providing catering at London 2012 and Sochi 2014 Olympic Games.GIG has established international offices in California, United States, Qatar, Middle East and Shanghai, China catering across Asia and the Far East. It is soon to open a branch in Brazil to service the South American market. The group employs around 170 full-time staff world-wide supported by up to 3,000 freelance professional specialists to support the hundreds of global events and functions it works at each year.

For more information, please see:
www.globalinfusiongroup.com

PAUL SMITH ASSOCIATES
15th November 2016