SPRING | FEATURE
The Beat goes on
As Eat To The beat celebrates 40 remarkable years catering for everyone from Slipknot to the Pope , we speak to its managers and customers about Tony Laurenson ’ s impressive legacy
Words : Christopher Barrett
Eat To The Beat has come a very long way since 7 February 1984 , when Tony Laurenson set up shop in his parents ’ garage with one flight case for company . With experience of catering in the Merchant Navy , his inspiration for the new business came after hearing that musicians on tour were not being properly catered for .
During Eat To The Beat ’ s first year in operation Laurenson took that flight case on the road for tours with Joe Jackson and Iron Maiden , the latter remaining a client of Eat To The Beat to this day .
Says David Shackleton , MD of Iron Maiden ’ s management company Phantom Music Management , “ Tony was a huge Maiden fan , and it was the legend that is [ tour manager ] Dickie Bell who brought in Eat To The Beat all those years ago . I remember them being on the road when I first toured with them as a journalist back on the No Prayer tour in 1990 . For me , there has only ever been one name that you associate with tour catering – Eat To The Beat .”
Now a multi-faceted catering operation that has fed everyone from Slipknot to the Dali Lama , and the Rolling Stones to the Pope , the business operates out of a state-ofthe-art , 84,000 sq ft , facility in Aston Clinton , Buckinghamshire , while also having bases in the US , Middle East and China .
In 1991 , Eat To The Beat expanded to become the Global Infusion Group , encompassing GIG , the catering and hospitality division that Eat to the Beat is part of , sister company Bonnie May Food & Events and brand logistics business e2b .
Over the past 40 years , Eat To The Beat has worked on a jaw-dropping array of milestone events , including Roger Waters ’ Berlin Wall Concert , Live Aid , Live 8 , Nelson Mandela ’ s 90th Birthday Tribute Concert , the Queen ’ s 90th Birthday , the Papal visit in 2010 , London 2012 Olympics , Frank Sinatra ’ s final tour and the Coronation of King Charles III .
Among the company ’ s many longstanding clients are bands
including The Rolling Stones and Coldplay , festivals such as BST presents Hyde Park , Isle of Wight and Glastonbury , sports events including the Olympics , Ryder Cup and Porsche Carrera Cup , Cirque du Soleil , and multiple TV shows such as the National Television Awards .
Over the years the company has won more than 60 awards including the Queen ’ s Business Award for Enterprise in International Trade in 2014 and 2017 . The group now employs 130 fulltime staff worldwide and is supported by up to 3,000 freelancers . On 19 January 2021 , Laurenson ’ s tragic death sent shockwaves around the industry , not least the business that he had founded and grown so impressively . Having been with Eat To The Beat for more than 30 years , Laurenson ’ s wife , Bonnie May is now CEO of the company working alongside business director Mary Shelley-Smith – who joined in February 1990 .
Isle of Wight Festival
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