Food For Thought: Catering in Museums

There are many different ways that museums can provide a catering offer for visitors, but how we make them accessible, sustainable, financially viable and ultimately successful is a big question. In this session Paul Smith of Montfort Catering Consultants will introduce the different management model options and we will hear a range of case studies from museums in the North about their experiences.

Case studies include:

  • Gareth Redston, Chief Executive, Manchester Jewish Museum will explore how they make their catering offer culturally compatible with the museum, and the additional ways in which it is integrated into overall programming
  • Gaynor Seville, Creative Director, The Whitaker Museum and Art Gallery, Rossendale will detail how they have taken their catering from in-house to outsourcing
  • Harriet Wilson, Operations Manager, Arts for Recovery in the Community, Stockport will talk about the volunteer run café at Hat Works in Stockport and the opportunities it brings for skills development
  • Alison Bowyer, Executive Director, Kids in Museums will share details of the Kids in Museums Family Café Standard
  • Heather Lane, Honorary Curator, The Museum of North Craven Life will talk about delivering an in-house award winning catering offer

The session will be held on Teams and there will be a screen break half way through.

Follow-on One-to-one Advice

As a follow-up to the session, there will be an opportunity to apply for valuable one-to-one advice from Paul Smith of Montfort Catering Consultants. Montfort is an established, innovative and trusted independent catering consultancy, delivering commercially sustainable and culturally sympathetic catering operations. They work in partnership with organisations looking for specialist advice to develop new cafes, restaurants, bars and event catering as well as supporting those wishing to improve the performance and customer experience of their existing food and drink operations.

An Expression of Interest form will be sent out to all participants after the session.

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