A Barclays Premier League football club is preparing for a host of away fixtures, with food rather than football taking centre stage.

Sunderland AFC, which has long managed its own in-house catering at the Stadium of Light, has launched 1879 Events Management and already won a number of major contracts.

“As well as providing match day hospitality for thousands of customers on a regular basis, we play host to everything from business meetings and award ceremonies to conferences and major music concerts at the stadium,” commercial director, Gary Hutchinson, said:

“We recognised there was a gap in the market for quality catering and hospitality management throughout the wider region and we saw this as an ideal way to put our experience and skills to greater use.”

Named after the year the club was founded, 1879 Events Management bucks the trend of stadia outsourcing their catering and extra-curricular operations.

A Barclays Premier League football club is preparing for a host of away fixtures, with food rather than football taking centre stage.

Sunderland AFC, which has long managed its own in-house catering at the Stadium of Light, has launched 1879 Events Management and already won a number of major contracts.

“As well as providing match day hospitality for thousands of customers on a regular basis, we play host to everything from business meetings and award ceremonies to conferences and major music concerts at the stadium,” commercial director, Gary Hutchinson, said:

“We recognised there was a gap in the market for quality catering and hospitality management throughout the wider region and we saw this as an ideal way to put our experience and skills to greater use.”

Named after the year the club was founded, 1879 Events Management bucks the trend of stadia outsourcing their catering and extra-curricular operations.