Up to now, the zoo has provided all catering in-house but, with 500,000 visitors each year and plans to develop its event offerings, the decision was taken to ramp up its catering services.
Lindley Heritage has taken over all services starting this month in time for the zoo’s 50th birthday celebrations.
Mary-Lorraine Hughes, acting chief executive at Twycross Zoo, said: "After half a century of managing the catering in-house, we decided that it was time to look externally for some inspiration and expertise to help us to further develop our catering offering.
"Initially we approached The Lindley Group to assist us on a consultancy basis, but during our discussions it became clear that if we were to make the step-change needed to achieve our vision for enhancing our visitor catering and elevating the level of our conference and events bookings, that we needed the full-time support of a professional catering partner who could create and implement fresh new ideas, and who had the infrastructure and focus to drive and deliver a comprehensive sales and marketing programme for the venue."
Immediate plans include introducing new menus and a different style of service at each of the cafés and restaurants at the venue.
A new barbecue and outdoor seating area will open this summer prior to a major relaunch of the Himalaya Restaurant – the zoo’s main restaurant, which is also available for private hire.
Anna Standen, The Lindley Group’s corporate and social responsibility manager, will also be working with the venue on a number of sustainability initiatives including the composting of waste, serving Rainforest Alliance-certified products and championing local suppliers.
Turnover from the catering and event management at Twycross Zoo is estimated to be in the region of £2m each year, which totals around £11m for the length of the contract.
Jonathan Davies, sales and marketing director of The Lindley Group, said: "Twycross Zoo is one of the major visitor attractions in the East Midlands, and its extensive conference and banqueting facilities combined with its good transport links make it an ideal choice for event organisers. There is plenty of scope for development."
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