Rapidly growing Tees firm wins prestigious Wimbledon contract
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Rapidly growing Tees firm wins prestigious Wimbledon contract
WORDS : PHILIP TALLENTIRE
Cup winner – Event Cup Solutions ’ director John Reeves with some of the firm ’ s products that will be available at the Championships , Wimbledon .
There ’ s guaranteed to be a British presence in action throughout this year ’ s Wimbledon Tennis Championships . That ’ s because Teesside-based Event Cup Solutions has won the right to provide reusable cups at the globally famous sporting event – starting on July 1 .
The business , which has only been operating from its Skippers Lane HQ since 2021 , has rapidly climbed to the top of the rankings when it comes to delivering a firstclass service game in the hospitality sector .
Event Cup Solutions not only provides the cups for major sporting and musical events , but it also takes the used cups away each day , cleans them at one of its four – soon to be five – nationwide wash centres , and returns them to be used all over again .
It ’ s an ultra-efficient , eco-friendly solution that has attracted an impressive portfolio of big-name clients , including London ’ s huge O2 Arena and Manchester City , one of 10 Premier League football clubs on the firm ’ s books .
Many of those clients ’ event catering needs are served by Levy UK ( part of the Compass UK Group ), which has forged a successful partnership with Event Cup Solutions .
Director John Reeves explains how his company sealed the Grand Slam deal with Wimbledon .
“ We ’ ve been in dialogue with Wimbledon for a couple of years ,” he begins . “ They were under contract with another supplier but when that contract ended , we were approached by them – they wanted to engage with us , and they agreed to switch over to us .
Prepared – Event Cup Solutions managers and supervisors are put through their paces at a Wimbledon briefing day
“ When the contract came up , we ’ d built up a reputation across the sites within the Levy portfolio and I suppose that made the decision easier for them .
“ Wimbledon is truly a blue-riband event ,” adds John proudly , “ especially when you consider there are only four Grand Slams . “ This arguably is the biggest event in world tennis . For us to win that contract in what is only our third year of trading says a lot about the credibility we ’ ve gained in that time .
“ We ’ re now proud to say Wimbledon is a customer . I was recently visiting another high-profile customer and when we told them we are supplying Wimbledon it immediately gave us credibility .
“ There ’ s a great deal of pride , a great deal of self-satisfaction but also a great deal of humility as well .
“ We ’ ve done part of the job , but the hard work starts now because we have to deliver against what we ’ ve committed to . In tennis terms , we ’ ve come through the qualifiers and we ’ re through to the Wimbledon finals and now we need to deliver right through to the final day .”
The logistics of the Wimbledon contract are impressive . The tournament will use more than 50,000 cups per day over 14 days , meaning Event Cup Solutions will wash in the region of 750,000 cups over the two weeks of the Championships . All the beer pint cups will be manufactured on Teesside by Eaglescliffe-based Tees Valley Plastics before being transported to London in time for the start of the event .
Once each day ’ s tennis has been completed , the cups will be collected ,
Iconic – the All England Lawn Tennis Club .
loaded onto trucks and transported to Event Cup Solutions ’ London wash centre where they will be cleaned and then returned to Wimbledon .
John will be on hand at Wimbledon to oversee day-to-day operations , while his business partner Les Vipond will monitor the washing process .
Not only is Event Cup Solutions providing the cups for thousands of tennis enthusiasts at Wimbledon , it will also supply , wash and return the players ’ drinks bottles .
That contract is with Danone , suppliers of Evian , and is another huge feather in the company ’ s cap .
“ We ’ ve been through a strict audit to make sure we meet all their hygiene regulations ,” says John . “ We will initially be washing 15,000 players ’ bottles . They ’ ll come straight from the factory , and we ’ ll wash them and repack them and send them to Wimbledon .”
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