Simon Opie - Food & Beverage on the Pier Update

Food and Beverage Update

We spend a lot of time talking about the physical progress on the Pier but there is a lot going on in the background.  Perhaps one of the trickiest is planning for and meeting the food and beverage needs of all the visitors to the new Pier.

A pier is very seasonal, it must satisfy a lot of different customer needs and the offer must be popular with all visitors, locals, day tourists, holidaymakers and especially families.  New restaurants are expensive to build, equip and operate and ours must pay for itself plus contribute to the financial future of the Pier.

We began an open tender process for the food and beverage opportunities on the Pier in October last year.  Tenders were invited for the bistro / bar area planned for the existing building at the front of the pier as well as for the new Visitor Centre facilities including the rooftop terrace.

An integral part of the requirements for both these tenders is that the eventual winners must support the town’s economy by supporting local suppliers, providing employment to the local area and ensuring training and apprentice schemes required by the charity will be filled from the local catering college.

Good interest was shown in both food and beverage opportunities on the new Pier and discussions are progressing with a number of possible providers.

It is projected that the new Pier will provide around 40 additional local jobs and add a further 180,000+ visitors a year to the town.