New win for Peyton and Byrne

Press release, 12 March 2010

Peyton and Byrne, the independent restaurant group and catering company spearheaded by Oliver Peyton, will add one of the world’s leading botanic gardens and UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew), to its growing portfolio of restaurants and cafes in high volume visitor attractions.

The six year contract, worth £38 million in turnover, commences on 10 May and will see Peyton and Byrne transform the catering operation at another London landmark location. The product offer will be varied to cater for the Gardens’ 1.35million visitors a year with a family-friendly restaurant and creamery, two self service cafes and a sophisticated waiter- service restaurant in the Garden’s Grade I listed Orangery building. All four venues, offering over 1,200 covers in total, will be completely refurbished over the first year of the contract.

Each venue will offer a much wider range of food than currently available with an emphasis on British, seasonal and well sourced ingredients as well as Peyton and Byrne' signature range of freshly baked goods from cakes and flans to savouries.

Joni Marks, Head of Commercial Activities at RBG Kew said:
“After climbing up Kew Gardens’ 18m high Xstrata Treetop Walkway, venturing through the woodlands of the Conservation zone, or exploring the tropical Palm House, there is nothing more rewarding than a sumptuous piece of cake with a cup of tea. With their passion for providing great food and service, we are delighted to welcome Peyton and Byrne’s culinary expertise to Kew Gardens."

Oliver Peyton, Chairman of Peyton and Byrne comments:
"The sheer scale of the 330 acre Gardens is truly impressive and a real thing of beauty. We are unbelievably excited to become a part of one of the world’s most important sites for botanical research and to be working with the team at Kew. We hope to bring something quintessentially British to the catering, reflecting the Gardens’ rich 250 year old heritage.”

The Peyton and Byrne group goes from strength to strength. As well as outlets in some of London’s most important visitor attractions including the National Gallery, Wallace Collection, Institute of Contemporary Arts, St James’s Park, the British Library and the Wellcome Collection, the events arm of the business, Peyton Events continues to grow. In addition to their own portfolio, Peyton Events have added a number of unique London venues to their list for event catering, including Kew Palace, Lancaster House and most recently the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The Peyton and Byrne retail product range, available online and from their bakeries on Tottenham Court Road and at St Pancras, also continues to expand with a new chocolate range launched this week.

For more information on:

Peyton and Byrne contact Rochelle Cohen or Gemma Shaw at Roche Communications on +44 (0)20 7436 1111 or rochelle@rochecom.com
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew contact Jo Maxwell or Bronwyn Friedlander on +44 (0)20 8332 5607 or email pr@kew.org

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding living collection of plants and world-class Herbarium as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world. Kew Gardens is a major international visitor attraction. Its landscaped 132 hectares and RBG Kew's country estate, Wakehurst Place, attract nearly two million visitors every year. Kew was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2009.

Wakehurst Place is home to Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild plant seed bank in the world. RBG Kew and its partners have collected and conserved seed from 10 per cent of the world's wild flowering plant species (c.30,000 species). The aim is to conserve 25% by 2020 and funds are being actively sought in order to continue this vital work. Support the work of Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank partnership by getting involved with the ‘Adopt a Seed, Save a Species' campaign.