When Fabio Quartararo won the Moto GP at Silverstone, Freemans Event Partners also had cause to celebrate – it had clocked up 40 years as a business partner with the famous British motorsport circuit.
In its four decades supporting the venue with food and drink the Gloucestershire family business has grown from providing a single fish and chip outlet to an eclectic menu for all tastes on a phenomenal scale.
It is just part of a success story which saw the Gloucester firm achieve a turnover of more than £57 million in its last full year of normal trading, pre-pandemic, and sees its team of 85 grow as big as 900 for major events.
Stephen Freeman, chief executive officer of Freemans Event Partners, whose father, Stephen Freeman senior, founded the business in 1975, said: ‘Collaboration has been central to the success of our relationship.
‘With an agreement now secured to work together for years to come, we are looking forward for what the next decade holds.’
Stuart Pringle, managing director at Silverstone, said: ‘Freemans Event Partners has become an integral part of the team here at Silverstone.’
The British motor racing venue attracts more than two million visitors and hosts 50 events per year including the Formula 1 British Grand Prix, Silverstone Classic, Ford Fair, British Moto Grand Prix, British Superbikes and the Lap of Lights.
Freemans now supplies everything from soft drinks to champagne bars, gourmet burgers to vegan feasts, curry to Thai street food, pizza to katsu noodles and logistics services to get the goods to site.
An F1 event at Silverstone would see a gate of about 356,000 and Freemans deliver as many as 60,000 cases or kegs, 4,000 litres of champagne, 318,000 bottles of soft drinks, 26,500 kilogrammes of chips, 4,000 litres of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and 40,000 burgers and 27,000 chocolate bars.
In total Freemans serves more than 15 million people annually at 400-plus events across the UK and Europe.
By Andrew Merrell
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