catering, cafe, museum, heritage and art

Serpentine Bar and Kitchen


Maximising the Market


The Client

The Serpentine Bar & Kitchen in Hyde Park occupies one of the best locations in London in the heart of Hyde Park with magnificent views up the Serpentine.  Following previous contract tenders (by Boyd-Thorpe Associates) in 1994 and again in 2005, the Serpentine had been successfully operating as a self-service cafeteria. However, markets change and food trends shift and the restaurant had failed to keep abreast of these changes in both design and operation. Furthermore, significant capital investment was required to inject new life into the Grade II listed building.

The Challenge

Boyd-Thorpe Associates recognised that the key to driving revenue within this tight space was to maximise the sales opportunity in the peak periods through increased penetration and spend per head, whilst simultaneously developing a concept that would appeal in the off-peak season, thus creating a new market when the restaurant was typically quiet.

Results Delivered

Following a detailed competitive tender process, The Royal Parks appointed Benugo as the catering operator and, on completion of an extensive refurbishment programme (part-funded by Benugo), renamed the Dell Restaurant ‘The Serpentine Bar and Kitchen’. In the first full year of operation the Serpentine Bar and Kitchen delivered a 48% increase in turnover. The Royal Parks benefitted from significant capital input from the caterer and an uplift in concession revenue of 41%.

Delivery Model

  • Brief for the competitive tender, designed to take the restaurant to a new level
  • Pre-qualification process: contract advertisement, preparation of pre-qualification information pack and questionnaire, analysis of pre-qualification returns, interviews with the prospective catering companies
  • Preparation of tender documentation: invitation to tender, service specifications, draft contract, tender acceptance and tender submissions
  • Tender issue: tender publication, attendance at pre-tender site meeting and management of candidate questions
  • Bid analysis: operational, technical, and financial analysis of the bids, comparative analysis of the submissions and executive reporting
  • Post-tender interviews
  • Negotiation of final financial offer and contract terms with the preferred bidder

“Fiona is far more pro-active than other consultants. She won’t necessarily tell us what we want to hear
– she challenges and tells us what she thinks.” 
Head of Procurement, The Royal Parks

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