02 March 2020 | Bradford Keen
Independent caterer CH&CO and boutique caterer Vacherin have announced that they have joined forces, with the latter company joining the CH&CO family of catering businesses.
Vacherin, based in London's Hatton Garden, has a turnover of £30 million and 45 operations across the capital. Mark Philpott and Clive Hetherington founded the company in 2002, with Phil Roker joining four years later before coming managing director in 2016.
Roker will continue in his role and all three owners will continue to be involved in the business and retain a financial interest.
Roker said: "The past few years have seen Vacherin consistently grow and we were at the stage where we needed to either seek significant investment to take the company to the next level, or join forces with another successful company and grow with them. I'm delighted we've chosen to grow with CH&CO. Vacherin will continue providing catering and front-of-house experiences with a difference by delivering exceptional food, drink and wellbeing initiatives that make our clients' businesses stand out from the crowd."
Philpott, chairman of Vacherin, said: "We've been impressed by the way other organisations have transitioned into the CH&CO family, which now has an established model of successfully bringing together businesses with similar cultures and strategies. This deal sets Vacherin up perfectly for further growth and as part of a larger organisation, our team will also have access to more and wider opportunities for development and career progression."
Hetherington, Vacherin's executive finance director, added: "Now as part of CH&CO, Vacherin benefits from the support of a larger business to help us address some of the challenges a growing company like ours faces, particularly in areas like technology and systems, and these will help enhance our administration processes."
Bill Toner, CEO of CH&CO, said: "I would like to extend a very warm welcome to Mark, Clive, Phil and the whole Vacherin team. Vacherin has achieved significant success and has been a strong operator in the London market for many years.
"While it is very much business as usual, this next stage for both Vacherin and CH&CO will be about giving the combined business the resources to perform even more effectively in this very competitive marketplace and sharing innovation and tactics to help us all become stronger and deliver exceptional food and service to our clients."
The addition of Vacherin to the CH&CO Group adds more than 600 employees to the wider team.