Kingfisher is a small, professional and well-established business. It is our aim to undertake work that best matches our resources and skills and in doing so ensure the very best attention to detail and quality in everything we do…That means, we look after you! For this reason we are unable unfortunately to undertake formal sit down wedding catering for more than 130 persons, although we are able to cater for larger formal functions dependent on venue and menu selection. Please note that we may also charge a supplement for catering for less than 80 persons, in order to cover running costs and general overheads for this type of event. It is however always our intention to offer value for money and “Kingfisher” boasts an enviable track record and years of satisfied clients and testimonials. While we have indicated minimum numbers for different styles of catering that we offer, we are often happy to undertake smaller groups by arrangement, however an additional surcharge per head may be applied based on your overall requirements, again dependent on venue and time of year.

It is Kingfisher's intention to make our pricing as straightforward as possible and to be ‘up front’ about any additional costs that you may incur that are appropriate to your function. It is always our intention to provide quality and value for money and we will always inform you of any costs that are outside of our normal remit. To aid this we would appreciate a site or home visit prior to the event to ensure that facilities are adequate to produce your food to the highest possible standard and to ascertain if any additional equipment or services may be required. (All of which will be advised to you in our formal quote)

We have a good team around us at Kingfisher, with many experienced service staff who have worked with us over several years. They are, as you would expect, smart, courteous discreet and always professional, no task is too small or large-so you should never be afraid to ask! We are used to working in many different types of environment and we pride ourselves in leaving each and every venue clean, tidy and as found (sometimes better!). We provide and maintain all of our own china, cutlery, crockery (glassware available to hire separately) and even with the most simple of buffets we return all equipment to our purpose built kitchens in St Albans to be cleaned.

All of our food is made and assembled at our own purpose-designed premises. You are always welcome to visit our kitchens to inspect our facilities by prior arrangement. We follow strict HACCP guidelines for all food production, handling, storage and distribution and dealings with our clients and their guests. Of course, health and safety remains at the top of our list of priorities.

Ideally we like to meet and discuss every client’s event and will help you to plan and make your event unique and special. It is our policy to produce a formal written quote prior to your agreement to proceed and bookings are not accepted until our written quote has been formally accepted. We normally ask for a holding deposit to confirm your order and will advise on this at the time of our first meeting. We respectfully request that you make your full payment for your event within our 14-day invoice period (from satisfactory conclusion of your event). On larger functions of over 100 people, we may request a small holding deposit against breakages or losses etc and we will issue you with a “replacement of equipment” charges list. Please note this only applies to events where we are not on site for the duration of your event.

Your peace of mind is of course also high on our list of concerns and our management is on hand whenever required leading up to your event to deal with any questions and organisation of the function, all of these costs are contained within your quotation and we make no additional charges for this service. We do of course have many client references and we can always show examples of events we have undertaken and discuss any areas in which you need reassurance.

It is normal for us to do a “free food” tasting as part of any trial assessment by our clients, this is however only available at our kitchens and would be offered once our written quote has been accepted and a deposit taken, we also discount children’s meals and will provide a small amount of free food to cover others working on the day... Photographer, Band, DJ, etc.

The menus and details contained within our presentation are, we believe, extensive, however given the tremendous range and numbers of events that we undertake every year and the requests that we are asked to fulfil, it is extremely difficult to break down all possible additions or potential variations to the information contained in our brochure. Prices and menus may change from time to time without prior notice in order for us to keep pace with the demands of our clients.

In order to help you budget for your event, please
do consider the following:

1.
Our fixed choice menus are primarily designed to be on a semi inclusive basis, however most other menus may attract service charges which we will make clear in our quotation. Please note that all menus and services (including staffing) are subject to VAT. Every function we undertake, no matter how large or small, is given a formal written quote and subject to any changes made by you, we will never add any unknown costs.

2.
If you are having hot food prepared at your venue and there are no cooking facilities available (or they are very limited), we may have to make additional charges for any special heavy equipment. We will of course discuss this with you at length when helping you with your menu choices and where possible we will utilise Kingfisher's own equipment pool to ensure that no unnecessary costs are incurred.

3.
Prices as indicated do not include glassware (which we are able to hire at a reasonable charge). Any breakages/losses will need to paid for at our “replacement” prices. We have an extensive wine and general bar list and can discuss running a bar service, however we do not charge for corkage, which includes reception drinks, opening and pouring the first glass of wine at the table and any champagne service for toasts and speeches.

Staffing – Every event is different and may need more or less staff dependent on the style of food, the demands of your guests and the numbers of courses available etc. Some basic staff costs, including the kitchen staff teams have already been contributed to within our fixed price menus. Labour costs may also be included for delivery, layout or collection and we have indicated a list of additional services at the rear of this presentation to help you plan and budget. On most functions requiring staffing (which we will discuss and advise you of within our formal quotation), our general policy is to charge a fixed fee per member of staff to cover the initial five hours of service @ £65.00 per session. Thereafter we charge each staff member at £9.00 per hour or part thereof and £15.00 per after midnight. Please note that any additional event managers are charged at £10.00 per hour and £15.00 per hour after Midnight.

As we hope you will appreciate, Kingfisher undertakes many different types of catering throughout the year, from small parties and celebrations to large dining and formal events. Every client is important to us and every meal we produce has the same standards of care and excellence applied to it. It is our aim therefore to “go beyond your expectations” and to lead the way in customer service and attention to detail. The menus in this presentation provide just a snapshot of what we can offer and we have tried to capture some things that we hope will spark your imagination. We are always on hand to answer any questions on the enclosed and are always happy to visit you by arrangement to help plan and cost your event without any formal commitment…so please do not hesitate to call us.

Happy Munching

Pam & Ian White
For & on behalf of Kingfisher Caterers Ltd.