Keith Prowse’s corporate hospitality offering at The Championships, Wimbledon, ranges from The Gatsby Club, a purpose-built structure with a menu devised by Michelin-starred chef Albert Roux, through to the luxury offering of The Centre Court Skyview Suites. For overseas guests, The Wimbledon Experience includes an area where people can relax, eat, drink and mingle with friends.
What is on offer at the Gatsby Club and how is this reinvented every year to exceed expectations?
It is important that Keith Prowse innovates its offering each year in terms of food and menus, as well as the styling and overall experience. Today’s palate is far more sophisticated and the company has worked hard to adapt to this and create a menu that is befitting of a world-class event. Sharing platters such as the 'plats de fruits de mer' proved extremely popular last year and feature again on this year’s menu. Keith Prowse has also championed the garden area, which has been a huge success in the summer weather for both pre-lunch drinks and sundowners.
We have developed new packages aimed at different budget levels that appeal to high-end corporates and private clients, as well as small companies looking to entertain their staff and customers. There is a distinct growth in a more consumer-led market too. 
How many months of planning is involved in the run up to the event?
The planning process for the event starts as soon as the tournament finishes; it is a 365-day-a-year job ensuring that the necessary planning, logistics, staffing, orders and supplies are in place for the event.
Recruitment of team members starts 12 months ahead, while menu planning and ensuring the best of seasonal produce is used starts six months before. Matching wines takes place once the menus have been finalised and team training takes place two days before the event.
Corporate hospitality areas are all completed one day before the event allowing us to have a dry run-through with the staff and make tweaks if necessary. The build process for The Gatsby Club itself is three weeks and dismantling takes ten days. Alongside this, we do brainstorming sessions eight months prior to the event with monthly innovation meetings held too.
Throughout the tournament there are 1,800 catering staff who are required to operate the catering and hospitality outlets, serving 207,000 meals over the course of the tournament. In The Gatsby Club, there are up to 180 members of staff each day employed in corporate hospitality areas for Keith Prowse alone including 60 waiting staff, 26 hosts/hostesses and 14 chefs overseen by Albert Roux.
What food and drink was on offer at this year's tournament?
The menus drew on fresh seasonal produce and were exclusively designed by Albert Roux. 2014’s menu encompassed a starter of seared scallops, avocado cream, asparagus shaving, radish, truffle juice vinaigrette, while main courses included an assiette of Cumbrian lamb, roast rack, braised shoulder, spiced sausage and baked aubergine, Israeli couscous, pistachio yogurt, pomegranate glaze, followed by a Black Forest gateau dessert.
What do you want customers to take away from their experience?
As the official hospitality partner, Keith Prowse is at the tournament for the duration. Each day is as different as their clients and therefore service requirements vary from an exclusive hire of The Gatsby Club for 600 guests to more intimate tables for a wide range of companies, individuals and media.
At Keith Prowse we measure service levels, the quality of food and drink, and the overall enjoyment of the day; each of these benchmarks measure over 90%.
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