Catering income question (NOT a moan about queues, pies, chips etc!)

[Brovion]

Obviously I don't expect you to divulge commercial information and I'm not interested in the exact figures - but do the club receive a 'cut' from every pie, pint, etc sold at the Amex? Or do we receive a flat fee from Azure regardless of volumes sold?

 

[Insider]

The more food that is sold, the better for the club. With regard to the feedback (positive and negative) that has appeared here on NSC, Azure and the club are aware of it and are working to resolve any issues. The club is committed to giving supporters a quality offering at the stadium - which is why we have gone to the lengths we have re pies and beer etc.

A few things to bear in mind:

1. All the staff are totally new to catering in a football stadium, which is a totally unique situation, it's not like working in a fastfood place elsewhere - and some are still getting used to the job. We are all learning, and it is worth remembering that those who only work matchdays have only worked here at the Amex seven times (the equivilant to a week in a normal job).

2. The average take up on catering inside stadiums is approximately 30 per cent, we are getting 80 per cent of the crowd! We expected to be above average, but this very high. Of course we want to keep at that level, but appreciate we will have to make sure expectations are met.

3. Transaction time is getting quicker. We are able to monitor this and it was quicker for Leeds than Liverpool, and we expect it to be quicker tonight, but it is a learning process for all the staff.