Kent Cricket’s catering partner announces jobs at risk

Kent Cricket has today confirmed that its catering partner, Sodexo, has been forced to place the majority of its staff who support the Club at Canterbury and Beckenham, at risk of redundancy. This follows a dramatic reduction in the Club’s match day and non-match day catering business, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kent Cricket’s Chief Executive, Simon Storey said: “These are immensely challenging times for the Club and our catering partner, Sodexo Catering Limited.

“The joint venture with our catering partners has been running since 2012 and in recent years the business has been showing healthy growth. In 2019, we generated turnover of almost £1.2m as the team worked exceptionally hard on improving the quality of our customer service and our menus.

“Sadly, with the on-going restrictions on large gatherings and the changes in furlough conditions, Sodexo have had no choice but to review the staffing levels.

“The demand simply isn’t there and Sodexo have to reduce their cost base to a level that is required to support the remaining business needs. This is now limited primarily to hosting small meetings with limited catering for our essential service partners and our in-house Club catering for players.

“This is a difficult time for everyone who may lose their job. Whilst the staff are employed by Sodexo, we run the business as a joint venture and they are all very much part of the Kent Cricket family.

“We will do everything we can to support Sodexo and their staff through the consultation process and in their efforts to protect as many jobs as possible.”