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Mark This! is a podcast in which we peel back the corporate curtain to reveal the cool and innovative people, programs, and projects that are happening all over Aramark’s varied lines of business. These remarkable initiatives happen because we have remarkable people behind them--building opportunity, building innovation, and building community.
Mark This: Episode 48, Everton F.C.
Host: Heather Dotchel, Corporate Communications
Guests:
- Tom Ford, Vice President for Marketing, Strategy, and Culinary, Aramark UK
- Jay Morrison, Vice President for International S&E Operations, Aramark
Heather Dotchel:
It's time to Mark This!, a podcast in which we peel back the corporate curtain to reveal the cool and innovative people, programs and projects that are happening all over Aramark's varied lines of business. I'm Heather Dotchel. As a member of Aramark's communications team, I see and hear amazing things that are happening across our company every day. These remarkable initiatives happen because we have remarkable people behind them, building opportunity, building innovation and building community. Welcome back to Mark This!. As the new Premier League season kicks off, we're turning our attention to one of Aramark's exciting partnerships, Everton Football Club.
Aramark UK became the official food, drink and experiences partner of the new Hill Dickinson Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock last season, marking Aramark's debut in English football. The partnership aims to transform the stadium into a year-round destination, serving nearly 53,000 fans on every match day. Join us as we dig into what this partnership means for Aramark, for Everton and for every fan walking through the gates of this new home. We are joined by Tom Ford, Vice President for Marketing, and Jay Morrison, Vice President for International Sports and Entertainment Operations, to let us in on the evolution of and the revolution within the sports hospitality world. Tom, can you introduce yourself to our audience?
Tom Ford:
Yeah, absolutely. Hi everybody, I'm Tom Ford. I look after the marketing, comms, design, ESG and culinary teams in the UK business and across our global energy business as well. But my background really focuses around major transformations in sport and entertainment destinations and was one of the reasons I was brought into the organization. This is a real passion project for me and it's been a journey that myself and Jay have gone on for a little while and we're really excited to talk to you today about it.
Heather Dotchel:
Jay, what is your role with Aramark and Everton?
Jay Morrison:
My role is, as you mentioned, Vice President of our International Sport and Entertainment Operations, with Aramark for just over 20 years. And in this international role, half of my remit is really helping to support our businesses through major events. And then the other half is retention and new business development in our countries and supporting those growth pursuits by bridging the gaps of the best practices that we have in one country that may give us a competitive advantage in another.
Tom Ford:
And the other half of your role is reigning me in.
Jay Morrison:
That is it.
Tom Ford:
Yeah.
Heather Dotchel:
Well, hopefully there won't be too much reigning in the podcast because we like to have a little fun here. So the first season is complete, we're embarking right now on the second. What proved to be the key reasons Everton Football Club was the right organization to partner with?
Tom Ford:
Yeah, look, I can probably jump into that one, because obviously it was our first statement into the stadium market in the UK, so we had to be really intentional with what we were trying to do there. We needed a client who was also ready to dive into that project and actually revolutionize the guest experience, be really open to the new technologies that we'd bring, and also create a sense of fun. But what really set Everton aside, and one of the reasons we really early on in the process got super excited by it was actually how humble they are as a football club.
Jay Morrison:
Organization.
Tom Ford:
They're known as the Peoples' Club because it's a working class background in the city. Although we create incredible premium experiences, we want to make sure that everything feels humble and authentic-
Jay Morrison:
Approachable, yeah.
Tom Ford:
Approachable and rooted in a hospitality culture. And I think that's been a really unique journey for us because actually, we've ended up creating something pretty remarkable with them, which takes the best of other stadiums that we see across Europe and across the US, and it brings the best in a very uniquely authentic and humble way to the audience.
Jay Morrison:
Yeah, and it's a unique one from a partnership standpoint because it is a new stadium. A lot of the clubs are playing on historic grounds and in historic venues, but this one was an opportunity to go in and impart some innovation and new trends in a new build. And because the relationship was started well in advance of the stadium actually being completed, we did have some influence over what the final design ended up being as the doors were open to the fans.
Tom Ford:
It's such a good point, Jay, because honestly, and we saw this through the process, we would've loved to have been involved even earlier, but actually having that early involvement even remotely was so impactful. And also, myself and Jay come at these things from two very different angles. Jay's very operational in his focus. I'm very off-the-wall creative with my approach. And actually, we were going in and presenting to the client based on some floor plans. We actually used to make a joke about it because we used to basically fight to stand at the front and point at the plans, which we really did.
And the client would be laughing along with us, but we were just both so passionate about how we take those floor plans, those drawings, and we turn them into an emotional reality for the guests coming through, the fans coming through. And whether that's Jay being passionate about the technology that we deploy or whether that's me trying to create spaces which have a real rich storytelling, it's been such a fun journey and that process was, it was a lot of fun. We bonded a lot.
Heather Dotchel:
Let's talk about the innovation that we have drawn from at major NFL stadiums, major European stadiums. Which of those features had the strongest impact on Everton supporters throughout last season, and what's been adapted for this season?
Tom Ford:
Yeah, so I don't know if you want to start on technology maybe, Jay?
Jay Morrison:
Yeah, there's quite a few, without getting into the weeds of everything. You have impacts from digital, which is rather a new installation. In UK stadia, you look at a stadium like Goodison Park, which was Everton's home ground for over 100 years. It's very hard to impart digital in an environment like that, that was built and evolved over so much time. But in a new stadium, you can go in and put in that digital infrastructure that gives us an opportunity to really be new and creative on a match by match basis.
So much so that we've imparted with a lot of our proprietary brands from the UK into the food service installations, but then we're also able to evolve those as the season goes along so we can change it seasonally. So as we go into the holiday seasons, we can give it a real holiday vibe. If we have a special match against a certain opponent, we can tailor it specifically to that. Or if we change and we have another event in there besides football, maybe a rugby match, we're able to go in and do custom tailored menu programming.
Tom Ford:
That was what was quite interesting about it, was because we wanted to prove that we could be more progressive with our offer. We could do more from a customer experience perspective. But yeah, so there is this two-pronged strategy where essentially you have transitionary spaces on the one hand where you're really maximizing the technology, you're using that technology to get through speed of service and you're focusing on really reduced ranges. But then on the other hand, you've got to pair that with spaces where you have a little bit more density or a little bit less crowd density, which means you can actually create destinations where you can encourage dwell, you can have better ranging.
And then you bring in the warmth of old school hospitality, which is actually really important. Just using technology to look at speed of service is one thing, but actually celebrating the fact that you're there with your family, your loved ones, your friends, whoever it may be, enjoying that special moment at the game, that's also important. And having a blend of the two strategies is the way that we keep the warmth and the authenticity within the building, but also get through the volumes where we know we'll get pinch points.
Jay Morrison:
Yeah, it's not putting technology in for technology's sake. It's giving people a choice and a chance to shop and experience how they want to. There's quick service opportunities through frictionless, and then there's more traditional bars and kiosks if that's how you want to consume the experience. And then from a hospitality and a premium experience standpoint, technology is usually a barrier to a premium environment. We did bring in quite a bit of ordering technology as tools for our servers, so that they could effectively communicate in what is a very complex hospitality and restaurant environment in the stadium, so that we have seamless communication between front of house and back of house, but it's still very personal in its order taking and delivery to the consumer and that higher end environment.
It is one of the most complex premium environments I've seen anywhere in the world. From a ticketing standpoint, the building has 21 levels of entry, of price point into the stadium. That starts at your general admission all the way up to uber premium, chef table, tasting menus. And on every match day, we run independently, nine, what would essentially be High Street restaurants that are either three or five course menu options, and each one is a different concept. So it's a very complicated environment that we don't see in a lot of other stadiums.
Tom Ford:
And I would want to also just give a real shout out to the team that essentially make that happen. Because yes, there was a narrative that was set for different areas, there was a strategy around the venue. But actually, those individuals across culinary, across our service team, they've really taken those stories and they've tried to create a richness to the experience from beautiful crockery which pairs with the space and is made by someone out on the River Mersey, literally just down the road, to actual stories around the food coming from the trade routes, so celebrating the trade routes into Liverpool. The Blue Line, which came through North Africa, for example, we celebrate that in one of our North African, Mediterranean Tapas spaces as well. So just a real richness of storytelling within that space, but our team just committed to it and have created real unique stories that you just don't see anywhere else.
Jay Morrison:
Yeah, it's a really vibrant environment because it's certainly about the club, but when you're in these dining spaces, it's broader than that. It's more about the heritage and the history of Liverpool as a city, as an entry point for all of the UK at one time. And so while there are nods to the club in some of the dining spaces, it's really embracing what Everton is and how much of a part of Liverpool that it is.
Tom Ford:
And you are really familiar with those docks because we actually got Jay an apartment out on those docks for the year while we mobilized the stadium. So as you might have told from his accent, he is not from Liverpool originally, he is from Denver, Colorado. And he spent a significant amount of his own personal time coming over here. But I also think that's what makes Aramark so special.
Jay Morrison:
Yeah.
Tom Ford:
We've had people from Kansas City, people from Denver, people from across our European business within this building, helping make it happen. And there is an openness to different ideas and collaboration, which is really unique to our business, really unique to our business.
Heather Dotchel:
You've talked about the stories behind the food and you've touched upon how this ties into the local community, the premium tiers, all of these pieces. What has resonated most with the fans across the board?
Jay Morrison:
Toffee donuts.
Tom Ford:
Yeah, toffee donuts, that's been a big one. I mean, Everton is known as The Toffees. And there's a history behind that where they used to have a Toffee girl, who used to go around and she used to give toffees out to the crowd, and that's how they became known as The Toffees. We wanted to celebrate that and create something unique. The Toffee Donut has become such a thing that we've had players, we've had it on TV. We've had our Culinary Director, Adam Bateman, actually making the toffee donut on Blue Peter, which is a massive children's program in the UK. But I also think Adam and the culinary team have created some really unique stories around products, which, although they operationally can be delivered really, really well, we're bringing through those local stories. So there's a really strong Chinese community historically in Liverpool, one of the first Chinatowns in Europe, I think the biggest Chinatown in Europe as well.
And actually, salt and pepper chicken is something that's really famous in Liverpool. So it's essentially like a Liverpudlian version of a spice bag, an Irish spice bag. And so we've done all sorts of varieties on the salt and pepper chicken within the stadium. And I think also on top of that, it's quite a broad question, but I would also answer that our hospitality area called Dock On 1 creates something truly unique at a level that's never been seen before. So essentially, you buy a membership into that package and you have four different restaurant experiences, a bar experience available to you on a rotational basis. Now, that's a trend we're seeing within hospitality massively at the moment, especially in Europe around giving people choice.
But typically you find that at the top end of the tiering structure, whereas this sits very much in the mid-tier of our tiering structure. So it's available to a much wider bulk of fans and it creates something just truly unique. So if I buy into a hospitality package, I know that actually, one week I might be going with my dad to the game or my wife, whereas the next week I might want to be hosting a client, potentially. And so actually, I can tailor my experience. And even though I've bought into a seasonal package or a multi-seasonal package, actually, I can choose the experience that's right for me on the week. Might just be that I want to sit in the bar, have a quiet drink-
Jay Morrison:
Have a few pints, yeah.
Tom Ford:
With a friend and then pop in. Or it might be that I want to book into The Navigator, which is a really formal brasserie where we do our famous Wellingtons.
Jay Morrison:
So fine dining, sit down, bone china, crystal. And it's quite unique because you are making a commitment, a season-long commitment, but your match day experience can vary quite greatly.
Heather Dotchel:
Oh, that's incredible. I love that and I think we should petition all stadiums to adopt that. Because as an avid sports fan and one who loves to go for the experience, that is absolutely next level.
Tom Ford:
Yeah. And that's a really good point though, because yes, of course Europe, we think that's a leading solution at the moment and people are looking at it, of course they are. But also, a lot of our American businesses coming across and a lot of our clients in the US and potential clients in the US are looking at that, too. So as much as there were amazing things we've learned from our American colleagues who have been so supportive throughout our entire sport and entertainment journey in Europe and in particular the UK, it's nice to see that we can add some value back the other way in the areas that maybe we're really good at as well.
And I think that is how you design experiences which are truly new, because you've got to take on board new cultures. I mean, as we started creating these semi-open hospitality spaces where you get semi-private dining concepts, we call them a lot low suites. Actually, that came from a blend of the American offers with what you see often in Scandinavia, because culturally it's very different how they dine. So I think taking in all cultures, understanding how the power of all cultures can come together, that's how we start to get the best of the world into all of our spaces and not narrow our thinking at all, which I think has been really, really valuable and it's been absolutely incredible.
Heather Dotchel:
This partnership projected the creation of a significant number of local jobs, a new social enterprise with Everton within the local community. What tangible outcomes have you seen for residents and for local food and beverage suppliers in the region?
Jay Morrison:
Yeah, obviously from the local community, it's a major employer of the local workforce. The employment size of the new stadium is around four times what the old stadium was. And one of the best parts was the recruitment process, but also the training processes that we went through. We had people coming into these environments, whether it was the general admission environments and being somebody that was front of house servicing through the point of sales or if they were in the back cooking, or in the many restaurants that we operate. We were giving people the real opportunity to come into a brand new environment and give skills that some of them didn't recognize before. And we've really been able to create an engaged and excited group of people that are part of our everyday team there.
Tom Ford:
I do think as well, Everton in the community is a market leading charity across the UK and Europe. I think it's the most active football charity in the UK, so the role that we can play in supporting them. So we've had donation programs through our toffee donut. We've had engagements with the team where we're capturing any sort of food waste and making sure it doesn't go to waste. There's so much that we do. And our local team, again, I can't give them a shout-out enough because what they do and how they engage and support that charity and make it a priority to them is what's been really impactful.
I also, as someone who looks after culinary, I have to shout out to our amazing culinary teams and the skills that I've seen developed there. And under the leadership of Adam Bateman, I've seen standards being driven from a culinary perspective, which I have not seen anywhere else, which is amazing for the area of Liverpool, to give these individuals the opportunity to learn from some of the best people in the world from a hospitality dining perspective.
I can't explain to you how special that is and how excited they all get and the way they mentor each other and they support each other, which is a really, really important thing for us. And actually, by creating a stadium which is more progressive, has the technology, is more accessible, it also means that a wider demographic are coming to that stadium. So a much better male-female mix, much better age split. And people feel like they can come to the stadium, whatever their background is. Then that also then sets a tone for the team members that work within that building because it creates a much safer, nicer environment. I think the impact on the community has been absolutely amazing.
Heather Dotchel:
All right, Tom, so here's a two-part question for you. Favorite moment from the inaugural season? And then part two, what you're most looking forward to as this new season opens?
Tom Ford:
That's a great question. Favorite moment, so the stadium, I think, was it the second loudest in Europe last year?
Jay Morrison:
Yep.
Tom Ford:
The noise is incredible. The priority was around getting the fans close to the pitch and creating a cauldron. And after, what was it, three and a half years of us working on that project together?
Jay Morrison:
Yeah, standing out there for the first roar.
Tom Ford:
We heard that first roar and the stadium coming to life, and I'm not that ashamed to admit it, I was crying. I was crying.
Jay Morrison:
I'm not ashamed to admit it either, he was crying.
Tom Ford:
I was, I was in floods, I was in floods.
Jay Morrison:
It was such a long journey to get to that point. We worked there for a couple of years before the stadium was open, so you just saw it come out of the ground. And the amount of time that we spent going over plans, writing menus, just the trials and tribulations of just getting to that moment was incredible.
Tom Ford:
And there's so much that we can do over the next year and the next however many years within that building. But that moment was really, really special. But there was not many dry eyes, certainly not in the Aramark box that day.
Jay Morrison:
No.
Tom Ford:
Upcoming, so this is what's really exciting, actually, is we have built a team of people within that building who are absolute innovators. They know they need to focus on the fan experience. And I have to say, they even challenged me the other day on taking out the toffee donut, which to me seems the most revolutionary thing. And it's like, "Why would we do that? Everyone loves it." But it's like they said to me, "Tom, what if people start shouting to bring back the toffee donut? That's only an amazing message, and if we can do something new-"
Heather Dotchel:
Diabolical is what that is.
Tom Ford:
I know, that's what I though, that's what I though. But then, actually I said to Jay, I was like, "If that's what the team want to do, I have absolute faith in them because they want to build something better and they want to have their new toffee donut." And we found that a lot of our competitors, I don't want to say it, they copied our donut into a lot of their stadiums. And we went, "Do you know what? We're going to do our own thing and we're going to show them that, actually, we are the innovators in this space and others are following." But again, that comes from having the right team in place. And even at the very outset of this process, we took those team members across to the US, we took them on a tour. We went around stadiums and we just built this relationship of-
Jay Morrison:
It's a relationship, yeah.
Tom Ford:
It's this relationship of trust. And we know that no matter what, we're in this together. And if you build the right team and then you allow them to just show us what they want to do year two, I know that they're going to do some amazing things. I've seen some of their plans. And yes, they might seem revolutionary to me, but that's the best bit. We want to see what they do.
Jay Morrison:
We didn't talk about it, but when we went on this journey with the clients initially, this was our first stadia project in the UK, and quite honestly, most of them weren't really aware of Aramark and what our capabilities were. And we felt like it was important because we were able to build that trust and that partnership with the client. We felt as we brought the senior leadership team on board to run this venue from the start through future years, that it was important to take them on that journey as well and to invest in them to understand and almost hand off the vision that had initially been created, either by the mad mind of Tom or the overly realistic operational mindset of myself.
Tom Ford:
That's probably the nicest way you've described me ever, the mad mind.
Jay Morrison:
But it was really to invest in those individuals that we were then handing over our trust and the keys of this venue to.
Heather Dotchel:
Okay, Jay, to turnabout is fair play, though. I'm going to pose the same questions to you here. What was your favorite moment from the inaugural season and what are you most looking forward to in the upcoming one?
Jay Morrison:
Yeah, I mean, easily it was the first roar, but probably can't use the same answer.
Tom Ford:
No, you can't.
Jay Morrison:
I would say the other is I really like to take a step back and I encourage all the teams, you've put in countless hours through these things. So when it really gets going and people really start coming in and seeing it for the first time, it's to take the blinders off of what's going on and how chaotic and crazy it is and just working through the day. Take a step back and just watch the people. And so for me, it was really walking outside and seeing people that were entering the stadium for the first time. Because the curtain, you could see it in development from a distance, but the curtain wasn't pulled back until those first days where you could actually walk onto the grounds and pass the dock wall.
And then further to that, I can't tell you how many people, once I actually stepped outside and was watching the flow of people come from downtown, the number of people that actually weren't attending the games, they were just there as lifelong Evertonians and they were just down, walking to be a part of it because for whatever reason, they couldn't get in that first game. The excitement that the entire community had about it and just to be a part of that process, it's a passion project and something I'll remember for the rest of my life.
Tom Ford:
Totally.
Heather Dotchel:
If you'd like to know more about our Everton partnership and Aramark's international footprint in the UK, visit our newsroom on aramark.com to access more information. Tom and Jay, thanks for taking the time out at the start of the season to chat with us. Mark This! listeners, thanks for tuning in.
