Lexington worked with Catering Design Group (CDG) to refurbish the restaurant at Knight Frank to improve the use of space for the onsite team and customers.
The team took the opportunity to look at the whole catering offer as part of the refresh.
The refurb included a re-design for the kitchen, salad bar, coffee and dining areas allowing flexibility to satisfy all operational requirements and to facilitate the high volume of events.
Working with CDG and Knight Frank we were able to completely overhaul the kitchen, modernising the equipment and space to make things easier and more workable. A rotisserie was installed behind the counter in the restaurant, which was a huge hit with customers. It allows the team to provide hot food throughout the day and allows our customers to see the chef in action.
The restaurant refresh provided a great opportunity to relaunch Lexington’s food brands which in turn reignited Knight Frank’s ‘Foody Group’, made up of around 20 customers across Knight Frank. They meet once a quarter giving the catering team an opportunity to share ideas and discuss innovation but to also hear what Knight Frank customers would like to see in the restaurant.
The space has been opened up, which makes it much more versatile. It is constantly busy and there is a definite buzz in the restaurant now – customers use it to hold meetings as well as to take a break. It lends itself to holding hospitality events, which often extend out onto the beautiful terrace where the team regularly use Knight Frank’s resident Big Green Egg.
To help promote the launch we created a desk drop card that offered discounts to customers over a four-week period. This promotional campaign ensured customers kept visiting the restaurant to try the new offer, helping improve loyalty and create excitement around the refresh.
Danny Leung, Head Chef at Knight Frank, created some amazing pop ups that got customers talking and most importantly buying! He also introduced a vegan range that has been a hit with the customers.
The team relaunched Lexington’s Flex and Blend food brands with a big Chef’s Table to drive awareness and interest. Not for designer: Add pictures of the brand logos here perhaps
As part of the refresh the team used it as an opportunity to review suppliers.
– Knight Frank felt that coffee supplier’s Change Please mission to make homelessness become a thing of the past resonated with them as a property business and as a result they switched coffee suppliers.
Cemal, the founder of Change Please ran the engagement session along with a beneficiary of the Change Please programme, and our Knight Frank catering team were on hand to help out…
– The team also used the refresh as an opportunity to go plastic free – Vegware, provider of eco friendly packaging and catering disposables, was already being used onsite. The team used the launch as an opportunity to promote this and introduce KeepCup and canned water, plus a hydration station, in a bid to go plastic free.
With the new space came the opportunity to incorporate new technology. To compliment the new facilities, we have introduced an app and rolled out the Vita Mojo Operating System. This allows customers to pre-order, pay and choose a collection time that suits them via an app – bypassing the need to queue. It also really adds value in its personalisation of food, particularly for customers who have allergies or specific dietary requirements.
The team saw an increase in events held in the restaurant and on the terrace, compared to the previous year. Since then the team have refreshed the hospitality offering to help drive sales and keep the offer exciting and relevant.
