Category Archives: News
05 Nov |
Christmas Prep |
Christmas comes but once a year; and already November is here. While there were no presents in the Budget for the catering and hospitality sector; the old certainty of making the most of Christmas is once again on colleagues’ minds. As a sector it’s often a peak time to make money in order to wait out those winter months; when normal trade tails off until longer days bring it back.
Christmas Prep Always Starts Early
Food prep always starts early, so that in the heat of service everything can be delivered perfectly and on time. Maintaining your Rational oven is just the same.
At AC Services Southern, we are always surprised when in early December we get that phone call asking us to service their Rational oven. And can it be sometime this week as their planned series of Christmas events kicks off on Friday? Not surprisingly the Christmas season is also one of our busiest times and while we always try to accommodate the request; sometimes it needs to be the following week. Or if the call is in late December, the next year!
Our request to help us help you is to think about when your Rational oven was last professionally serviced, today. Then if needed phone us to arrange a service in good time on 01454 322 222. November is not too early for that call, so we can both plan the most efficient time.
A Second Early Check?
While you’re thinking about a Rational oven service, November is a good time to make a second check. As well as regular maintenance, using Rational cleaning products helps ensure the optimal performance of your Rational oven. They are proven to reduce the possibility of breakdown, which none of us wants at a peak time.
What are your current stocks of the cleaning products for your specific oven(s)? Are they sufficient for the peak services to come in December? Again, ordering early is a good idea to allow time for delivery.
Either order on line or if you have any queries or need advice, please call the team on 01454 322 222. We are here to help catering colleagues make the most of the Christmas season.
Published Date: 5th November 2024
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Cleaning Products, News, Rational
Tags: Catering business, Cleaning Products, Servicing
03 Oct |
Making a Difference |
Everyone in the catering trade knows that service is stressful.
Whether that’s food service when all the prep comes together or servicing the Rational ovens which make that possible.
Often running catering businesses, we think of our need for time, when we can just get away and relax. Well Helen, our MD did just that in September and at the same time did some good.
Stress
Stress is a funny thing in some ways. A life without stress removes the peaks and troughs that can make life enjoyable. Meeting the challenge and delivering great service makes the job worthwhile.
But we all also know that long-term constant stress is not good for body or mind. It’s particularly harmful for the heart and the circulation system. That is why it is good to take a break during the day and during the year.
Sadly, with things like covid and the cost-of-living crisis, catering has become even more stressful. Over the last three years, we have lost colleagues from heart problems as they have had to rise to those challenges. Which is why Helen on her break cycling from London to Bristol, decided to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.
Successful De-stress
Helen is not your archetypal cyclist. But that did not stop her from cycling 174 miles from central London. First along the Thames through Richmond and Windsor and then to Newbury along the many hilly country lanes. Across the downs via Hungerford to Devizes to pick up the cycle track along the canals to Bradford on Avon; and then to Bath and Bristol before finally home to Yate by train from Temple Meads.
The 4 days were not about speed rather an extended country ride. Amazingly for this September, the weather was fine and no rain. And yes, the muscles did ache afterwards but spirits were high.
Why? Helen decided that her ride would be in aid of the British Heart Foundation and is truly thankful for those who sponsored her. So far, she has raised over £1200, but is happy to receive more; if you can make a small donation Together we can make a difference for our colleagues in catering and elsewhere.
Published Date: 3rd October 2024
Category: Blog, Catering Business, News
Tags: AC Services, Catering business
03 Sep |
Hospitality’s Smoking Gun? |
Is the potential smoking ban the final bullet for many pubs? This is a question that reared its head this week with the news that the government is looking to ban smoking in outdoor areas of pubs and restaurants.
Why is it being considered?
A stated reason is that smoking causes around 80,000 preventable deaths in the UK amongst smokers and non-smokers. This puts a significant burden on the NHS at all levels. In addition to the preventable deaths, there are the additional treatments required by those, who are fortunate not to die this year from smoking-related ailments
Quickly cutting the opportunities to smoke therefore makes sense. This may be why 58% of the population in a YouGov poll supported this proposed ban. So, everyone wins, right?
Balanced Consequences
Smoking is currently a legal choice for UK adults. The proposed legislation to gradually increase the legal age to purchase cigarettes is likely to be enacted by the new government. This perhaps has more sense to it. Why- because it gives time for evolution. And evolution is good for businesses like hospitality that has faced recent shocks from covid and cost of living crisis.
In 2007, the indoor smoking ban came into force. Critically hospitality had sufficient notice to invest in and devise workarounds. This allowed smokers to still enjoy their habit in outside spaces. If they could brave the colder areas of marquees, umbrellas and designated smoking areas often in the previously overlooked beer garden; then there was no issue.
This adaption also coincided with the increase in gastro pubs and more family-friendly facilities to attract new markets. The combination of the outdoor areas and this pivot meant that for some pubs and restaurants trade actually increased. But there is no doubt, it also fuelled the massive reduction in UK pub numbers over the last 20 years.
Pulling the Trigger
The key is timing. No one is arguing that passive smoking is desirable. Or that the best long- term outcome isn’t fewer or no smokers for the health and economic benefits that it brings for all. What needs to be fully considered is the long-term detriment it may have on the UK’s hospitality industry if brought in too quickly. Many establishments don’t have the financial resources to sustain a downturn in trade, while they adjust. They will go bust.
In round terms, UK pubs and bars employ 0.5M people. And when combined with all staff in restaurants and hotels c2.5M. Even if only small percentage of additional businesses fail, that has a significant economic impact not only on the individuals involved; but in the commercial transactions of those businesses and supplier organisations. Pull the trigger quickly and we kill an important economic sector, which ironically is just recovering from the catastrophes of the early 2020’s. Provide a sensible timetable and lead time; the industry will adapt again.
Published Date: 3rd September 2024
Category: Blog, Catering Business, News
Tags: Catering business, Pubs, Restaurant
06 Aug |
Summer of Sport? |
Why is it always called the summer of sport? Especially now, when sport is almost year-round. Gone are the days when the FA Cup Final in May marked the end of the soccer season. Until it restarted in September as a winter game.
Is it perhaps because the UK’s traditional summer sports were more about socialising than athletic sporting prowess? The Epsom Derby kicked off the summer season on the first Saturday in June. Everyone poured out of London to gather on the Surrey downs, regardless of class, to eat drink and spectate.
Summer sport was clearly spectating and catering. And the catering was probably more important, hence Wimbledon strawberries and Henley Pimms, not tennis and rowing. And the best-known phrase about England’s summer sport- cricket teas!
2024’s Summer of Sport
Arguably this year’s summer of sport began with the Giro D’Italia throughout May. Professional cycling continues through the Tour de France in July and the Vuelta D’Espana in August; finishing with the Tour of Britain in September. June and July had the Euros. August is Paris and the Olympics. The Paralympics follows in August and September. By now we’ve all become armchair experts on the minutiae of the many different sports, that we have never done or barely dabbled in.
Why is it that sports events bring people together? It is a bizarre fact that for over a thousand years the Ancient Greeks would stop fighting and come together every 4 years to compete in their Olympics. There is something about the spectacle of the event and our need to support.
This is probably why today so much is raised from sponsoring individual fundraising connected with sport. It’s also why sports clubs see a flood of new participants, who are motivated to take part after the big events. People know that they will never be the elite, but want to give it a go.
AC Services Sporting Request
Like the professionals in mid-September, AC Services Helen will be attempting her own sporting challenge. Not for her the fastest time or longest distance, nor even in an organised event; but because she wishes to give back. She will be cycling 167 miles from the Brunel Museum in London to Bristol Temple Meads Station along the Great Western Way. This 4-day mixture of roads, canals, and cycle tracks, is just right for the scenic cyclist rather than the speedster.
Like many social sportspeople, her journey started many years ago. After the premature death of her mother through heart problems, Helen took up social cycling to increase her own fitness. The two recent deaths of Rational colleagues prompted her to want to do more by raising money for the British Heart Foundation.
If you can help, please go to her justgiving page
Or to find out more about simple things to do for a healthier heart check out this BHF leaflet.
After all what links elite and individual sport is motivation; doing to the best of your ability; and supporting whatever the season! And September must be the last month of any summer of sport.
Published Date: 6th August 2024
Category: Blog, Events, News
Tags: Catering business, Events
27 Jun |
Typical AC Services Monday |
Life is never dull in the ACS offices supporting catering businesses with their Rational ovens. Often what our Office Team copes with seems to go unnoticed. Today’s blog shines some light on Lynne, Neil, Allison and Helen’s work making sure customer’s problems are solved on a typical Monday.
AC Services Monday Emergencies
Bizarrely for some, our Monday starts on Sunday! We check in late Sunday afternoon with the engineer on call on the weekend to see if any calls were attended. And equally importantly those that have been carried over.
This means when Lynne opens up the office at 8.15; they are prepared for the email check from third parties, who want attendance often Monday and if not Tuesday at latest. There are also clients who’ve emailed rather than called. For us there is no difference. We need to respond. And immediately rejuggle our engineers’ visits to fit in the urgent ones with where the engineers are already attending on the day.
Of course, then the calls and emails start for those, who have waited until the office is open. Gone are the days of the office’s post-it whiteboard. This was like fighter command from old war movies. There was a constant rejuggling of the visits to efficiently deal with those that were next to each other. Today it’s a shared spreadsheet. But the activity of keeping our catering colleagues informed is still the same; typically by phone so we know everyone is updated.
Last in is often Helen. She is forgiven as we know she may have been on the phone solving problems already. There were the classic calls from the butchers at 6am and pub at 7. They got their problems sorted by 9 and 10 respectively. Both had very significant events that day so we understood their need; but these very early calls are thankfully the exception. More often Helen is redirecting an engineer from the route planned the previous week for more routine visits.
Supporting Our Customers and Our Engineers
Since ACS started in 1990, much has significantly changed in our office support. We have been running a fully automated service system for over a year now. This minimizes not only physical paperwork, but increases our responsiveness to calls from the information shared.
All jobs are placed on the system so that the engineers can use their mobile app to confirm which site they will be attending. Once there, all parts, timings and follow-up needs are shared. Lynne and Neil in the office can immediately save the jobsheet, prepare estimates should revisits be required, order non-stock parts, send copy jobsheets to third parties; and of course, raise invoices.
Not app-based are the necessary approval phone calls, while on the job for third party clients. Here the engineer informs the office so that Lynne can call the appropriate person for authorization to proceed. On the days she is in, Allison will take card payments if payment is required upfront or check the bank for Bacs payments.
Before leaving for the next job, the engineers always call in to doublecheck if the job on his system is where he is still going. Or whether an emergency has diverted him. This gives the office a chance to ring the customer with an eta. We can then ensure it’s convenient for us to attend at that time and for them to prepare for the engineers visit. We need access to left-hand side panel of the oven, often installed next to a wall. This can cause some disruption to the workings of the kitchen.
Paperwork, Parts and People
By no means are all Monday jobs, emergencies. Many are planned service calls either on regular maintenance plans or ad hoc. These may lead to estimates on costs to be approved or occasionally for parts not carried on the vans.
We repair most ovens first time with our 95+% first-time fix rate. But space constraints on the vans means we can’t carry everything. If parts need to be ordered Neil usually does this and then arranges either have them delivered direct to site or to the office for the engineer to take out.
Of course, once a part is used, it needs to be replaced on the van for when the engineers come in to restock. As Mondays calm down in the afternoon, we pick parts. This is something we do every day to ensure the appropriate van bins are ready for the engineers’ return.
Sometimes visitors come to the office to collect parts and cleaning products. This is when the office team actually get to meet our clients face-to-face rather than by phone or email. This is always a pleasure as it helps build relationships, upon which friendly efficient customer service is based.
For the ACS Office Team, the rest of the week is less manic. Not least as the emergencies are more evenly spread, until we get Friday! But that is a completely other story.
Published Date: 27th June 2024
Category: Blog, Case Study, Catering Business, News
Tags: AC Services, Combi Oven, Maintenance, Servicing
29 May |
Under Starters Orders |
Finally, the news we’ve been waiting to hear. No more dilly-dallying, we’re under starters orders to see who will come out strongest. The long-anticipated event to change the hard slog of reduced footfall and wet weather has happened.
Yes, the annual cheese-rolling has taken place at Gloucestershire’s Cooper’s Hill. Summer has started and with it the opportunities for catering businesses to join in with themed events and menus.
The Euros
Last weekend saw success for Manchester with United beating City in the FA Cup Final. This traditionally has been the end of the football season, when it was a non-summer sport. But the UEFA European Football Championship better known as the Euros literally kicks off on 14th June with Germany versus Scotland. England start on 16th against Serbia.
The quarter-finals, should any British team get this far, are on 5/6th July and semis on 9/10th. The Championship runs through to the final on 14th July. For those not following football and wanting to host another event, it’s Bastille Day. This celebrates the French national day and the French Revolution. Goodness only knows what would happen, if France gets through to that final! Either way a French-themed event for your business would be a safe bet; unless their opponents are England!
Paris Olympics
A century after it last hosted the Olympics, Paris will host its third from the 26th July to 11th August and then the Paralympics from 28th August to 18th September. The last time, in 1924, led to 2 movie legacies. The British runner Eric Liddell declined to run on the Sunday finals of the 100m. A story celebrated in Chariots of Fire. The other was Johnny Weismuller’s successes in the pool, before in the 1930’s he became Tarzan. Not a bad outcome, given he only began swimming on his doctor’s recommendation having contracted polio at the age of 9!
Paris will see 329 events contested for individuals and teams. The day for the largest number of medals is the 3rd and 4th August. A case of less the Super Saturday of London 2012 and more Whole Weekend. Interestingly each medal will contain an original piece of the Eiffel Tower. An inspired way to get rid of waste from regular maintenance.
Another Event
One other event is the General Election being held on 4th July. The weekend following is of course widely celebrated in America as Independence Day weekend. We’re not sure that was considered when the date was chosen!
For catering businesses, events and themed menus are a great way to create additional trade. They give a reason for promotion, which by experience, leads to returning customers. Planned effectively they bring in much needed cash to replenish reserves.
With the summer of sport, there are dates to avoid. Or perversely to push for those who don’t like sport. The latter could be linked through history, culture or local tradition. The choice is endless but could make your catering business, a winner by summer’s end.
Published Date: 29th May 2024
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Events, News
Tags: Catering business, Events, mass catering, Pubs
03 Apr |
Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Show 2024 |
Last week saw the Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Show 2024. This is a must-go to show for anyone in UK hospitality and catering businesses. It’s held every year as part of the Food, Drink and Hospitality Week. It’s 5 linked shows attract over 1,500 exhibitors and 27,000 visitors.
The timing this year in the week before Easter was not ideal for some. Particularly if you’re in an area like Gloucestershire, where that was the first week of the school holidays. If the clash prevented you from going here are some highlights.
Sampling the Rational Experience
As usual Rational had a large stand. Here visitors could explore and engage with Rational experts on innovative, intelligent cooking systems, such as the iVario advanced bratt pan and the iCombi Pro combi-steamer. Or they could take part in the Arena Show. This is an exclusive 12-seater arena for an intimate experience, where members of the trade can witness the artistry of Rational cooking, showcasing the powerful performance of Rational cooking systems, and to sample the plated dishes.
Throughout the show there was a fantastic line-up of Rational chefs and special guests including:
- Simon Rogan MBE, Rational Ambassador and Chef/Owner L’Enclume
- Tom Barnes, Rational Ambassador and Executive Chef of Umbel Restaurant Group
- Keziah Whittaker, Young MasterChef Winner 2023
- Rehan Uddin, Rational Ambassador and Head Chef Owner of Indi Yang
- Holly Charnock, Rational Ambassador and Head Chef at Woodlands Primary School
The Pub Show
Our focus this year was the Pub Show. Here the British Institute of Inn-Keeping launched its brand-new free-to-use membership platform called Workforce. This is a great source of information on professional development, apprenticeships and training information for anyone in the pub trade. It’s particularly useful for the independent pub owners, who make up the majority of its 13,000 members.
To be honest we were drawn there by the first launch of a new drinks category for training by the Wine and Spirit Education Trust in 10 years. It launched its Level 1 and 2 Awards in Beer. Here the focus is on training through tasting to become beer confident through product knowledge and developed tasting skills. The beer market is changing surprisingly quickly especially amongst microbrewers. Pre-covid the focus was on heavy alcoholic stouts and sour beers; now the trends are towards simplified pale lagers and pale ales as the experience, not the drink, becomes the focus of the night out.
Among the product highlights was Clear Brew, a beer-line cleaning using water-fed mixing unit requiring no electricity or propellant gas; and Love Corn whose corn kernels are bang on trend being vegan, gluten-free, low sugar and high fibre!
Work-Life Balance
The main show hosted Planday whose report The Shift Towards Retention was created in collaboration with the Burnt Chef Project. This urges a move away from last minute rotas and towards conscious scheduling, even shift plans 22 days ahead. The main driver is improved mental health for the sector.
Almost two thirds of hospitality businesses suffer from staff shortages currently. 40% as result have had to reduce opening hours. The main new workforce is Gen Z. Gen Z focuses on well-being as a main career goal. This conflicts with the traditional view of the sector as being low pay, unstable and unsure hours and unclear career progression. The industry has no option but to change.
Catering Industry Talking and Knowledge
As ever there was a packed three-day programme of talks around anything to do with the business including:
- Future of Foodservice, a 2030 vision
- Making Sense of the National Living Wage Rise
- Future of African and Caribbean Cuisine and Culture
- Looking after Our Teams: the Importance of Physical Health
- Hospitality Marketing Trends to Watch; and
- Kan UK’s largest Hospitality Salary Survey results
While the talks have gone, some essential knowledge is still available by going to the IGD reports page. Here you can download a whole series of reports and forecasts on UK markets and sectors from the five 2024 eating out market trends, through retail technology trends to food & drink and food to go market forecasts. The latter demonstrate the difficult markets we all face currently. Food-to-go will grow by 6.2% in the current year, but this is only inflation with real growth in 2025; food and drink is more steady and overall by 2028 will grow by a fifth in value.
Visit in 2025
At this point, we realise we’ve not yet talked about all the product launches at the various shows and the other innovations. But that is the beauty of this event pulling all the different sectors of our business together to share.
You may have missed the Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Show 2024 but next year’s shows are 17-19th March. So put them in your diary now to gain inspiration for many different aspects of your business
Published Date: 3rd April 2024
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Events, News, Rational
Tags: Catering business, Pubs, Restaurant, Show report
01 Mar |
Food and Drink in Trouble |
Pre-Covid when AC Services Southern published a weekly blog, we ran a series on the food and drink in trouble in the world due to climate change and disease. We were reminded of these, last month, when the Economist published an article on how a “warming planet threatens the world’s favourite drug”.
Aside from the catchy attention-seeking headline, the article confirmed the changes that will be coming for coffee.
Healthy Food
Sadly, coffee is not alone as anyone trying to buy olive oil will know. Last year prices rose by over 70%. And this on top of hefty increases the year before.
Spain is the world’s biggest olive oil producer and accounts for 70% of European consumption and close to 45% of the world’s. It’s harvest typically takes place in October and November. With Spain in its second year of drought, 2022’s bad harvest has been followed by one of the worst on record.
Using alternatives will cut down on the agreed health-giving benefits of olive oil consumption. Sadly, this may become necessary.
Drug-connected Drink
Coffee is grown in over 70 countries. More than 2B cups are drunk every day. Caffeine is by some measures the most popular recreational drug. Directly and indirectly, it supports the livelihoods of some 125M people.
Again, global warming threatens the areas in which it can be grown. Brazil is the world’s largest producer. Yet in 70 years’ time, between a third and three quarters of its coffee-producing land will become unusable.
The bigger problem is that the most popular bean Arabica, accounts for 70% of the beans sold. It is incredibly fussy as to where it will grow- it needs temperatures to remain constant between 18-23°C. A solution would be to grow it higher up. In Ethiopia, some plantations are already 600m higher. But this solution only works to a certain height, given changes in soil and slopes which affect growth, survival and harvest.
The second most popular bean is Robusta. This is less fussy to grow but is known for its bitter taste. This does not go down well with coffee snobs, which is why most ends up in instant coffee.
While there are over 130 other coffee varieties, ramping them up to fit the Arabica void may not work. In part this is due to taste, but also to their abilities to withstand disease such as coffee-rust fungus or wilt. A bean called Excelsa with an equivalent flavour to Arabica was able to overcome the fungus threat and expanded widely in Africa in the 1910s-30s, but then was devastated by wilt.
Alternatives and Substitution
Many alternatives are now being considered to solve the coffee problem. Sadly, even if a winner is found it will be at least 10 years from selection to commercial production.
Unlike olive oil for many uses, there isn’t a simple substitution for catering colleagues. But as our company comic put it; the positive is they might no longer be in the biggest drug trade in the world!
Published Date: 1st March 2024
Category: Blog, Catering Business, Food Sourcing, Local food, News
Tags: Catering business, Food producers
31 Jan |
Seven Food Trends for 2024 |
January is the time for predictions. So what does AC Services think might be the top seven food trends to be aware of in 2024 for its catering colleagues?
2023 was all about the cost of living crisis and trying somehow to keep going, despite the significant increased costs in energy and food. This year inflation is lower, but still nowhere near what it was for the previous decade. Keeping a tight rein on budgets will continue, but the reliable five will still be a bedrock for success alongside the newer trends:
- Classic comfort food;
- Fast convenient quality food;
- The simple done well;
- Food which awakens the senses; and
- Indulgence worth the price.
Seven Food Trends to Watch in 2024
Some of these trends have already emerged in earlier years, but are still gaining strength.
- Health and Wellness. There is increasing consciousness of healthy eating and the need for minerals, vitamins and probiotics. This means that food not only tastes good, but is believed to be doing us good. It’s part of that personalisation of food that can be quite difficult when cooking commercially.
- Plant-based Products. Gone are the days of a ‘vegetarian option’. Now we cater for flexitarians, pescatarians, vegans and others too long to list. Some are looking for a meat alternative to reduce their carbon footprint; others because of trend 1. 2024 might be the year that mock meat catches on. Either way not offering plant-based products is not an option.
- Ethics and Sustainability. The weather is increasing awareness of the need for action on climate and for everyone to take small and big steps. For catering colleagues offering packaged products, the need to reduce packaging and to use truly recyclable or compostable products is increasing. Fair Trade, local and animal welfare are also increasingly coming to the fore as the ethical choice.
- Global Flavours and British Fusion. Catering from the middle of the last century has increasingly taken inspiration from abroad. The British palate now reliably tastes global flavours. The opportunity is now to match those flavours with British classics with a twist of spice or presentation.
- Research shows that worldwide when eating out, 44% of customers say they enjoy the classics. 26% are looking for something new and different and a further 22% are looking for exotic flavours. The latter might be more tangy, nutty or toasty. This might underpin trend 4. But it might also be something simple. Some are predicting that 2024 will be the year of the cold coffee.
- Convenience and Value. This one is all about perception of the customer. Most customers understand the cost of living pressures for catering companies and that some trade-offs are necessary. We’ve all experienced the reduction or changes in package contents as manufacturers aim to maintain prices despite the increases. But sitting in a cold room in peak hours because heating is restricted to the main area, is a counterproductive saving.
- Trust and Tighter Supply Chains. Over the years AC Services has promoted local sourcing as the way to build stronger partnerships and to develop distinctive flavours. 2023 has caused many to review their suppliers based on reliability and openness. Working closely with all suppliers enables mutual flexibility and reduces obstacles.
December’s Judgement
The beauty of predictions is looking back on them and see what came true. We look forward to seeing how close we are in December with our catering colleagues on our seven food trends for 2024!
Published Date: 31st January 2024
Category: Blog, Catering Business, News
Tags: AC Services
02 Jan |
Ready for More in 2024 |
Each year AC Services starts its regular monthly blog with a calendar for the year ahead. We looked back to the one we had last year. That talked of the broken dreams in 2022 and hopes to shake off the negative effects of the pandemic. In 2023 we hoped again that one of our teams would triumph as World Champions. And again we were disappointed.
The difference in 2023 was the opportunity to plan for the first Coronation for 70 years sadly following the Jubilee in 2022. In 2024 there is no Jubilee, Coronation or Royal Wedding to plan for. There are also very few world championships that most people would be aware of or get excited about. It is an Olympic year, but little of note sporting-wise.
Time to Plan
January is the best time for catering businesses to plan the year ahead in order to survive. That’s why we put forward a calendar, so that key events can be noted and opportunities created.
It’s also why this year we have thrown in a few extra celebration days. Some of these may be obvious, while others could be spurious. Is there really an International Tea Day? Maybe not, but it does provide an excuse to have something different to talk about and promote. And that excuse can get you more customers and demonstrate what you can do. We would also urge you to think locally as your own communities will also have special days.
2024 Events Calendar
January aka Dry January or Veganuary
- 14-28 Tennis Australian Open Melbourne
- 25 Burns Night
February
- 4 Yorkshire Pudding Day and British Pie Week
- 2- March 16 Rugby Union Six Nations
- 10 Chinese New Year, Year of the Dragon
- 14 Pancake Day
- 14 Valentine’s Day29th Leap Day!
March
- 1 Employee Appreciation Day
- 10 Mother’s Day
- 10- 8/9 April Ramadan
- 15 Red Nose Day Comic Relief
- 31 Easter Sunday
April
- 8-14 Golf Masters Augusta
- 8 Total Solar Eclipse North America
- 13 Horse Racing Grand National Aintree
- 10- 6 May Snooker World Championship Sheffield
- 22-30 Jewish Passover
- 23 Great British Beef Week
May
- 6 Early May Bank Holiday
- 20 World Bee Day
- 20-19 June Tennis French Open Paris
- 27 Spring Bank Holiday
June
- 1 UEFA Champions League Final Wembley
- 4 National Cheese Day
- 13-16 Golf US Open Pinehurst
- 16 Father’s Day
- 21 Summer Solstice
July
- 1-14 Tennis Wimbledon
- 18-13 Golf, The Open Royal Troon
- 21 National Ice Cream Day
- 26 – 11 August Summer Olympics Paris
August
- 16 Tell a Joke Day
- 18 National Fajita Day
- 26 August Bank Holiday
- 28- 18 September Paralympics Paris
September
- 1-8 Cycling Tour Britain
- 13 Positive Thinking Day
- 27 World Tourism Day
- 29 International Food Loss and Waste Awareness Day
October
- 12-10 Yom Kippur
- 12 World Hospice and Palliative Care Day
- 20 International Chefs Day
- 31 Halloween
November
- 1- 4 Diwali Festival of Lights
- 5 Bonfire Night
- 9 British Pudding Day
- 29 Black Friday
December
- 7 Small Business Saturday
- Christmas again and looking ahead to 2025!
At AC Services, we wish you a successful and prosperous 2024.
Published Date: 2nd January 2024
Category: Blog, Catering Business, News
Tags: Catering business