The evening commenced with a champagne reception served with a selection of exciting canapés including guinea fowl and sun-blushed tomato brochettes, tuna tartar with lime, chilli and Cornish sea salt, and marinated beef fillet with mango and pawpaw salsa.  Later in the evening, hearty bowl food was handed round with guests offered a choice of mini bangers and mash, vegetable Thai green curry or hake goujons with skinny chips.  Finally the sweet treats at the end of the night were warm chocolate brownies and mini meringues kisses with cream.  The delicious food was complemented by wines from the Forbes House list and we sent 200 happy satisfied guests into the night after a very successful party.

JM Finn & Co is a privately owned investment management company, based in Coleman Street, EC2. With previous catering operated in-house, Harbour & Jones started their contract at the beginning of December 2009 with the aim of improving the quality and service of their busy hospitality rooms. Current turnover is £178,000.

British Standards Institution (BSI) Group is the world’s first national standards body, offering training, product testing and independent certification of management systems. Based on Chiswick High Road, Harbour & Jones took over the previous contract held by Compass on 4th January 2010 courtesy of Stern Consultancy Ltd. Harbour & Jones operate the staff restaurant for around 700 people on site alongside BSI’s hospitality facilities, improving sales and service. Current turnover is £500,000.

Medical Defence Union is a not-for-profit organisation, established in 1885, which defends the professional reputations of medical staff.  Based in Blackfriars Road with 300 people onsite, Harbour & Jones are providing a full hospitality service and staff trolley from 1st February 2010. Current turnover is £250,000.

Our newest recruit, Sarah Tester, is to head up the B&I sales team, working with Nathan Jones to continue to build up business in this sector.  Sarah has many years experience in the contract catering world having spent the majority of her career with Sutcliffe Catering and Baxter and Platts in both operational and selling positions.  More recently Sarah has been Head of Service for Catering at Carillion Facilities Management, gaining expertise in a number of business disciplines that has helped her gain a significant insight into the “other side” of the contracting fence.  Commenting on her appointment as sales director Sarah said, “I’m very excited to be joining such a dynamic company and am hugely looking forward to working with the team to develop the business in this challenging market.”

Meanwhile sales dynamo Sally Main, who has recently returned from maternity leave, takes up a fresh challenge as director of the newly formed venues and events sales team.  Sally has been with H&J for 4 years in both operational and sales roles and her latest promotion recognises her hard work, talent and commitment to the company.

Also promoted is Gary McKechnie who becomes our Director of Food, moving up from his previous role as company chef for hospitality.  Gary joined H&J a year ago and has consistently impressed with both his food and his ability to lead and manage other team members.  He and his team will be responsible for developing strategies to implement the H&J food style and to continue to drive up standards across the business.

With help from the indefatigable food guru, Jenny Linford, whose books including Food Lovers’ London and The London Cookbook we are such fans of, we set about collating all the information, testing recipes and whittling down the collection to a manageable number of recipes which could be arranged by season.  Jenny then applied a house style to the writing whilst Chris travelled around our sites to meet the chefs and photograph their dishes.  The resulting book, with recipes for delights such as goat’s cheese with honey and pea shoots, baked Cromer crab and cobnut ice cream, will, we hope, become an indispensible staple on our clients’ bookshelves, full of delicious, easy to cook recipes to suit almost any occasion.

If you are interested in getting your hands on a copy of the H&J Cookery Year, please contact our sales team with details of your company on or call James on 0207 520 5448.

The date was set and Leo, Candice and Gary set off for Dorset on a Friday night.  After a 4 hour journey with bumper to bumper traffic on the motorways they arrived at their hotel tired, thirsty and hungry, but a couple of pints and some good pub grub made everything better and they went to bed feeling excited about the day ahead.

Deer stalking takes place either at first or last light so our trainee hunters had an early start and were up and ready to go at 5.30.  After a detailed safety talk, each chef went with a stalking expert and spent the morning learning how to follow trails, how to identify the different breeds and, of course, keeping an eye out for the elusive deer.  Candice and her guide were the only successful party and back at base all three chefs were shown how to gut (or gralloch) the deer and prepare and check the carcass for market. 

After a week of hanging, the deer carcass was brought to London and was the star turn at our game demonstration workshop run by our H&J butcher.  At this workshop, our chefs learnt to prepare various different types of game, both feathered and furred, picking up skills such as plucking, skinning, gutting and jointing the meat into recognisable cuts for the kitchen.  All agreed that it was a fascinating day and most were quite envious of Candice, Gary and Leo for their chance to really see where the meat had come from.

The competition was launched earlier this year to raise awareness of coeliac disease and the need for chefs to provide gluten-free options on their menus.  Candice designed a 3-course menu which comprised poached Barradale egg with cavolo nero and shaved brussel sprout salad, followed by roast partridge and game pie and Regents Park honey ice with roast figs and clementine cake.

As Head Chef at St. Paul’s Cathedral Candice caters for a wide variety of customers and needs to create menus using the best seasonal produce which can be enjoyed by all.  She has a particular interest in cooking gluten-free food as a close friend of hers has Coeliac disease and Candice loves finding new recipes and trying out new dishes for her.

Bob Hoskins got the festivities underway by switching on the lights at St Paul’s and was joined by Spandau Ballet, Little Boots and Scouting for Girls amongst others, all of whom performed on the steps of the cathedral for the crowds of Londoners who had gathered to enjoy the show.  Andrea Bocelli and the St Paul’s Cathedral Choir then led London in a record-breaking Christmas Carol sing-a-long with thousands joining in the singing of Silent Night.

As we catered for those performing at the Cathedral, we got the chance to mingle with some of the stars of the evening and we also fed and watered the 100 guests of the Corporation of London at their party in the Chapter House at the end of the night.  The Chapel Down sparkling wine and Parmesan lollipops went down a treat.

Jackie was running to raise money for Lupus UK, the only charity in this country supporting people who have this currently incurable disease of the immune system where the body produces an excess of antibodies and starts to attack itself, causing inflammation and destruction of the joints, muscles and other organs.  Lupus UK raises money for research into this disease as well as providing information and welfare to sufferers.  Jackie has so far raised £500, but is hoping to raise more through her page at www.justgiving.com.

This was Jackie’s first long-distance race and indeed she usually runs no more than 5 or 6 miles at a time with her local running club so had to step up her training by adding a mile a week until she reached the ten mile goal.  She then ran that distance a couple of times before the race itself.  The training started in earnest over the summer which meant that she could go out after work and make the most of the long, light evenings and nice weather.  Jackie completed her run in 2 hours and 3 minutes, cheered on by the fantastic crowds.  She had been given the tip that if you put your name on your t-shirt people will shout for you and it worked!  There were different bands at various points on the course and the atmosphere was amazing. 

Jackie is determined to race again next year and has thrown down the gauntlet to Harbour & Jones to help her raise more money for Lupus UK by offering to arrange some training runs.  Come on Patrick and Nathan, I’m sure you’d love to join her!

With its roots in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer’s collect for the day, ‘Stir-up Sunday’ is the tradition of preparing a Christmas plum pudding on the last Sunday before the season of Advent. Everyone in the family takes a turn to stir the mixture whilst making a wish before leaving the pudding to mature. The pudding is stirred from East to West to honour the journey made by the three wise men, and children sometimes chant the following rhyme adapted from the collect reading:

“Stir up, we beseech thee, the pudding in the pot; And when we get home we’ll eat the lot”.

Honouring this tradition the team at St Paul’s invited friends and family to stir-up the finest locally sourced ingredients to create the ultimate plum puddings from a much-loved recipe that had stood the test of time. Available for diners to savour in the stunning surroundings of the Cathedral’s crypt or take home to enjoy over the festive period, St Paul’s plum pudding is an absolute must.

Available to buy in ceramic basins and wrapped in muslin from just £7.95.

The gauntlet had been thrown down and all our H&J sites rose to the challenge and sent in their recipes for the ”Long Acre Posse” judgement day.

The top eight tastiest sounding recipes were chosen, whipped up and cooked in time for them to be tested by Patrick and Nathan… on a baking hot July day!  With the sound of carols drowning out the ice cream van tinkling on the street, Patrick, Nathan and the Operations team bravely consumed spoon after spoon of Christmas pudding, surrounded by baubles, tinsel , fake snow and the obligatory fairy lights.

All eight recipes went down a storm and the final version was subject to a few H&J tweaks.  With Nathan and Patrick full-bellied and full of summery Christmas cheer, the date was set for an old fashioned “stir up Sunday”.

Traditionally on the Sunday before Advent, family members would take it in turns to stir the Christmas pudding, with each person making a wish at the same time – this was called “Stir Up Sunday”.  This family tradition will be embraced by all the H&J sites, who each will hold their own “Stir Up days” in November using the H&J Christmas pudding recipe and inviting the on-site catering team, clients and customers to be part of the event.

Not only will we be serving up our very own H & J Christmas pudding across all our sites this year during the run up to Christmas, we will be placing 100 special edition St Paul’s Cathedral coins at random in the three thousand odd puddings we are making. The lucky finder of one of these commemorative St Paul’s coins will be entitled to lunch for two (excluding alcohol) during the month of January at the Restaurant at St Paul’s Cathedral.

At Rock-a-Nore fisheries, a family-run company selling the freshest of wet, smoked and shellfish, we met Declan who kindly showed us round the beachfront shop which was full of bright-eyed, sparkling fish.  Candice eagerly eyed up the plump mackerel that would soon be appearing on her menu at St Paul’s Cathedral and we were all overwhelmed by the wonderful ozone scent of the sea.  In the smokery at the back of the shop kippers, mackerel and bloaters are smoked over applewood chips and we were invited to sample the results.  The huss, a species that has appeared on fish & chip menus in the area for years, was voted second only to the succulent trout by our posse of chefs.

With most of their fish coming from just three boats that moor up in front of the shop on the Stade, the old Saxon term for “landing place”, we were keen to meet the fishermen.  Dean, Jason and their two brothers come from a long line of fishermen who maintain the tradition of going out at night and fishing with nets in the tidal waters up to six miles off the coast.  Whilst Jason tended the nets Dean explained that things have not changed much in generations for the families that fish these waters although the use of tractors and diggers has made slightly for an easier life; up until 10 years ago they would have to haul and push the boats in and out of the water by hand!

Our next stop was Northiam and our cherry trees.  We were met by farmer Michael Dallaway who, alongside his commercial orchards, devotes one orchard to the “rent a cherry tree” scheme, renowned both locally and nationally, thanks to Henrietta Green and Food Lovers Britain, for helping to preserve the British cherry tree for future generations.  Families and foodies alike gather during the season to pick their trees and our Penny trees did us proud yielding us over 30 kilos of these perfectly scented and mouth-watering fruits. 

Michael has recently stopped supplying supermarkets and now concentrates on selling his fruit, which is all hand-picked, at farmers’ markets and also at New Spitalfields Market in London.  When we asked him why he had decided to move in this direction he explained that the amount of paperwork involved in selling to supermarkets was enormously time-consuming for a small grower and with any slight dimple or other perceived imperfection in the fruit leading it to be rejected, there was also an unacceptable degree of wastage which he doesn’t get selling direct.  He told us that he loves meeting the people who are buying his fruit and gets a lot of satisfaction knowing how much they enjoy it.

Stuart our sous chef from the Royal Society pipped the others as chief picker, although Leo, our head chef from IOP most definitely holds the cherrylicious crown having created jams, tatins, fools, black forest gateaux and other treats to promote the British cherry tree over the past few weeks.  Before we left, Michael kindly allowed us to pick a nearby Regina tree as we were keen to taste the difference between the varieties and see if our Penny cherries were the best.  Laden down with trugs of cherries we decided that the Penny cherries were juicier and more refreshing although the Regina came out tops on sweetness.

Toby Mason, the beekeeper who looks after 40 hives, two of which are now owned by Harbour & Jones, explained that his chosen Queen bees shipped over from New Zealand were prized for their gentle nature.  With all the bees in the hives sisters or at least half sisters we were pretty much guaranteed a lot of bee activity without any sting in the tail.

After prizing off the lids, some which were glued down with propolis, he gently inspected the brood boxes and we took a peek ourselves. We were fascinated to hear how the bees carefully laid down their honey on the hexagonal frames and we got to see first-hand the frames starting to fill up and ooze with rich coloured flower-scented honey, covered with a protective wax layer.  It was equally surprising to hear that the colonies are made up predominantly of females with a few males that are “chucked out” at the end of the year!  After inspecting a few frames we were lucky enough to spot the larger, distinctly gold and black striped Queen herself, tended to by her workers.

It was an exciting and educational experience for our chefs to realise that what they saw before them would shortly, weather permitting, be extracted, organically filtered and then neatly packaged to arrive at our sites ready for eager team & customers alike to taste the first batch of our H & J honey this year & guess what our busy bees had been feasting on!

Download the characters of Harbour&Jones and have your own fun with mixing and matching their body parts.

Simply click here to download the H&J crew and cut along the dotted lines to get started.

Our coach trip started early and with a few hangovers in tow we set off towards Kent.  The crack events team of Laura, Kat, Jules and Louise had prepared breakfast for the journey along with a quiz to entertain so the trip flew by.  After a slight detour caused by a technical hitch with the sat nav (which just goes to show that it’s a good idea to have a map as backup) we came to our first stop at Valley Farm.

Here farmer Les and his wife made us very welcome for a bit of ‘pick your own’ fruit & veg.  Whilst everyone got stuck into picking strawberries, cherries, broad beans and spring onions, Kat and Lou set up the bar and started mixing the Pimms.

Back at the pay & weigh there was a moment of panic as Lou surveyed the huge amount of fruit & veg that the guys had managed to pick.  On further investigation it became clear that Kat had told her coach that it was a competition and we had to engage in some friendly bargaining with Les in order to come in under budget and avoid the wrath of “Mr Purse Strings”, Kevin Harrison!

Next stop was the beach at Herne Bay.  Our fabulous chefs, the two Kevs and Gary had been slaving over several hot stoves to create a delectable Best of British picnic which included such delights as home-made Scotch eggs, Montgomery cheddar & onion pie, plates of smoked eel, trout & salmon with horseradish cream and pea shoot salad, Jersey Royal potatoes and fennel & artichoke salad.  For those who could still find room, there was also summer pudding, scones with butter and jam and a selection of British cheeses.  What a feast! With the marquee up and the tables groaning with glorious food it’s no wonder we had many envious glances from passers-by. 

After lunch the games began; volleyball and Swingball for the more energetic and for those who preferred cerebral challenges we had a quiz on all things British and foodie with extra bonus points for correct answers to questions on H&J.  Congratulations to Denis, Oscar and the Royal Society team for taking home the Bucket & Spade award presented by Patrick Harbour.

After a jolly good day had by all we waved goodbye to the coast and made our way home.