Bishopsgate Institute – Café Operator Advice & Support

Montfort Catering Consultants have advised and supported Bishopsgate Institute identify and place Darlish Ice Cream as their partner for their Brushfield Café space. Our catering consultancy advice and support included identifying and approaching relevant food and beverage operators; development of café brief; initial informal engagement with interested parties; reviewing operator proposals; preferred supplier details for board paper;  development of heads of terms and liaison with all parties throughout the process.

Key to the selection of a preferred partner was an obligation for a future operator to assist Bishopsgate Institute achieve their financial, audience development as well as in-house catering objectives for venue hire and events clients.

Bishopsgate Ice Cream parlour opens today, Thursday 28^th March 2024.

Darlish was launched in 2018 as a Hertfordshire-based ice cream parlour, opening their first parlour in St Albans. Since then they have added parlours in Central London, Hatfield House and Harpenden, bringing the total to four. In previous years they have also operated kiosks in Bicester Village and Selfridges, and were stocked in Waitrose for 3 years. They have been featured in publications such The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Time Out, Conde Nast…. and worked with big brands such as Google.

Their ice cream is made in Hertfordshire by co-founder Laura, who is on a constant mission to make magical ice cream flavour combinations using all natural ingredients, often inspired by her heritage and by natural botanicals. Their ice cream style is a Philadelphia (eggless) ice cream which is dense and creamy, with a focus on use of quality, fresh ingredients for clean flavours with plenty of texture.

Bishopsgate Institute is a cultural venue in the City of London.

The beautiful Victorian listed building is open to all, providing welcoming spaces for people to learn and flourish, offering a diverse range of activities.

The building is also available to hire for meetings and events. The Grand Hall can host dance events and conferences for up to 500 people. Alternatively there is the imposing Boardroom and atmospheric Library.

Our initial catering consultancy advice to Bishopsgate Institute included advising the Board of Trustees (via the Asset Management Committee and Finance Committee) determine the operating management model for the café. To read about our earlier work with Bishopsgate Institute click here.

If you’re looking for a hospitality consultancy to support you determine the future operating model for the café in your cultural venue or need support with a feasibility study or help identifying and selecting a new catering partner for a new or existing café, restaurant or bar, do get in touch.

Posted on March 28th, 2024