Compass Group UK & Ireland has today announced the formation of the ‘RA Group’.
Bringing together Restaurant Associates, Levy Leisure, which will now be rebranded as RA Venues, and Rapport – a family of companies that together embody the highest standards of food and hospitality within the industry.
The new name, which takes immediate effect, reflects the values, consumer demographics and food and service standards that are shared by these three companies, as well as their commitment to recruiting, retaining and developing the very best talent in the industry.
Alice Woodwark, Manager Director, RA Group, said, “Joining together these three impressive businesses within one Group brings great benefits to our customers and guests as well as to our clients.
'Restaurant Associates and Rapport clients will gain access to a prestigious range of venues within which to host external events, as well as access to the strong catering and events capabilities of the RA Venues team.
'Equally, RA Venues clients will benefit from insights and opportunities from Restaurant Associates and Rapport’s leading position in the corporate market.
“As the workplace food landscape becomes ever more consumer-focused, Restaurant Associates will also gain from RA Venues’ retailing expertise in over 50 public-facing cafes and restaurants.
'Similarly, the recognised leadership that Rapport holds in the field of guest services – as a multi-award-winning business that has been recognised as one of the Top 30 Best Places to Work in Hospitality for the last five years – brings further depth to the great service culture at both Restaurant Associates and RA Venues.”
All of RA Group’s businesses possess a rich heritage and expert position in the UK hospitality market:
Restaurant Associates: Founded in New York almost 60 years ago and then in London, Restaurant Associates brings the highest quality employee dining, hospitality and coffee to workplaces across the UK.
RA Venues: Formerly known as Levy Leisure, RA Venues provides visitor and catering & events hospitality at leading visitor attractions across the UK.
Rapport: A boutique provider of award-winning guest services, Rapport proudly provides services for many leading organisations in the UK and overseas, often working as a combined team with Restaurant Associates, as well as on a standalone basis.
RA Group also incorporates a number of fine dining and public restaurants including Roux at Parliament Square, City Social in partnership with Jason Atherton and Bryn Williams at Somerset House.
The creation of the RA Group family enables three great market-leading businesses to share best practice and training expertise to increase both the breadth and depth of the Group’s skill base and constantly improve the customer experience. The formation of RA Group will also increase opportunities for talented employees across all three businesses, bringing fresh ideas to sites and new experiences for the teams.
Moving Levy Leisure into the RA Group and rebranding it as RA Venues has the additional advantage of aligning the Compass Group brands in the UK and America. In the USA, top-flight visitor attractions including The Met Museum in New York and The Guggenheim are served by Restaurant Associates.
Bringing leisure venues within the RA Group family will strengthen the bonds between Compass Group’s market-leading leisure sites on both sides of the Atlantic.