Gather & Gather Ireland has been awarded the catering and hospitality services contract for the RDS, which includes servicing all public cafés and restaurants as well as the RDS Members’ Club and corporate catering.
The win is the result of a competitive tendering process to award the catering contract in line with the RDS’s procurement policy. It sees Gather & Gather Ireland bring the innovation and relevance they are known for in a fast-paced, demanding food services sector to a wider audience.
Welcoming the decision, Geraldine Ruane, CEO of the RDS, said: “We are seeing strong demand for our exhibition spaces, sporting facilities and educational projects such as Science Blast. I am delighted to have Gather & Gather as one of our new catering and hospitality partners. They came through an extremely competitive tendering process. It was their food technology, innovations and new business acumen which saw them awarded the contract and we believe our members, guests and visitors will enjoy their culinary services.”
“The RDS as a venue is unique and requires catering and hospitality expertise in many areas: from public, corporate, sporting events and through to our Members’ Club. Gather & Gather not only demonstrated an in-depth understanding of this array of expertise but they also have an excellent award-winning track record in working with multi-functional venues.”
Pauline Cox, MD of Gather & Gather Ireland, said: “We offer our clients forward thinking, creative solutions, underpinned by extensive resources including a team who are responsive, nimble and flexible in their solutions, along with the wider experience of a large, long-established organisation. Our team are the people who live, work, and enjoy leisure time against the backdrop of the events that take place at the RDS. Our sense of empathy could not be higher. We want the RDS to have the best food story that complements its reputation as an iconic venue in Dublin.”
“We understand that a successful partnership with the RDS means honesty in our approach, demonstrating our commitment to sustainability, creativity, and ambition in how we bring a great experience around food and drinks, with a fundamental aim of taking good care of all people.”
The RDS has seen membership rise in the past twelve months and has experienced a strong uplift in its events business in the past six months amid rising enthusiasm for the Society’s sporting facilities and exhibition spaces, with over one million visitors expected this year. The Dublin Horse Show is returning to the RDS this August for the first time in three years while other new events such as Van Gogh Dublin – An Immersive Journey and Connectopia, a corporate summer party experience, are fuelling an appetite for more catering across the Ballsbridge campus.
Known for providing workplace restaurants and cafés, hospitality and event services to a range of clients across a broad spectrum of sectors in Ireland including tech, education and retail, the win sees Gather & Gather Ireland expand their leisure portfolio.
Other recent high profile client wins include The Boathouse Restaurant, Farmleigh, and events catering at Jameson’s Distillery on Bow Street. These are in addition to Airfield Estate where Gather & Gather Ireland has been providing food and beverage services since December 20.
