CASE STUDY
Wallacespace
London meeting venue operator Wallacespace provides facilities for a prestigious client base. Having worked with Lynx Purchasing for 10 years, Wallacespace continues to expand the range of products it buys through suppliers introduced by Lynx.
Meeting Customer Demand
Support for unlimited food & drink at Wallacespace venues
Wallacespace operates four meeting venues in the competitive London market. With sites in Covent Garden, Spitalfields, Clerkenwell Green and St Pancras, its clients range from media, pharma, finance, training providers and charities. Along with premium meeting facilities and high levels of customer service, an important part of the appeal is Wallacespace’s unlimited food and drink offer.
“Working with Lynx Purchasing has made a big difference to our business in terms of managing costs. I hadn’t worked with a purchasing specialist before, and, particularly as prices only ever go up, it’s an incredibly useful asset.”
The Challenge
Delegates at meetings and events held at Wallacespace venues have unlimited access to food and drink. Along with hot food to order, this includes fridges filled with a range of interesting soft drinks, along with healthy bars and more indulgent options, and retro ‘Tuck Shop’ sweet, coffee and hot drinks.
While the unlimited offer is an important part of Wallacespace’s customer appeal, it creates challenges for James Perry, Associate Director of Caffes. “We have a set budget per head for food and drink, which comes from the overall fee per delegate,” he explains. “Within that budget we need to make sure that the offer is appealing, has variety, that we’re keeping up to date with menu trends, and that we’re meeting delegate demand without creating waste. That means the budget can sometimes feel quite tight, especially as product costs rise.”
The Solution
James has worked at Wallacespace for more than 15 years, and began working with Lynx Purchasing a decade ago. “It can be time-consuming researching suppliers to look for new products or better prices, so when you find one you tend to stick with them. Matt at Lynx effectively does the research for us, and introduces us to new suppliers and products, and so improves our choice.
“We update our menus and food products regularly to meet changing trends. In addition, we don’t have any single use plastics in the business, which is something our customers also appreciate. Matt is able to research and recommend products and suppliers that can meet those requirements within our budget.”
Beyond food and drinks, Lynx has been able to recommend suppliers of catering equipment, including new bean-to-cup coffee machines, as well as cleaning chemicals and supplies, and more recently a new stationery and print supplier.
The Result
Wallacespace has made an immediate five figure annual saving on the switch to its new stationery and print supplier. Other savings are harder to quantify, “as it’s an ongoing process. We’ll mention to Matt that we’ve seen a product we’d like to offer, or he’ll come to us with a supplier in a product area he knows we use.
“Working with Lynx Purchasing has made a big difference to our business in terms of managing costs. I hadn’t worked with a purchasing specialist before, and, particularly as prices only ever go up, it’s an incredibly useful asset.”
