Member Article

Regional hospitality firm shows commitment to local suppliers

A leading regional hospitality business is practising what it preaches by partnering with a range of local suppliers – bringing a host of new tastes to its popular venues. No Ordinary Hospitality Management (NOHM), which operates Coombe Abbey Hotel, The Avenue at Coombe, the Park Bistro at the War Memorial Park and St Mary’s Guildhall, has been stressing the importance of trading locally.

Ron Terry, Group Operations Director of NOHM, has been leading the call at events across the region – including a recent Meet The Supplier exhibition held with Destination Coventry and Shakespeare’s England at Stratford Racecourse. NOHM has added products from five more local businesses to its stocks at The Abbey Artisan Market at Coombe as well as at the Park Bistro at the Memorial Park including brownies, honey, apple juice, charcuterie and locally-made, Indian-inspired snacks and sauces.

Honey Coombe, which is produced by Chapelfields Honey, is as local as it gets as it is made by bees that collect nectar from the grounds of Coombe. It is run by Jason Butler, who started keeping bees in 2015.

Jars of Honey Coombe are now available to buy via The Abbey Artisan Market. Jason said: “It is great that Coombe is now stocking our products, under their own label. It’s such a popular place with families across the whole region and we hope this means they will get to try some truly local honey!”

Auntie’s was established in Coventry in 2018 by Gregory Davies, Shireen Dhaliwal-Davies and ‘Auntie’ Mrs Pannum (Shireen’s grandmother) and offers a range of Indian-inspired sauces and snacks. Gregory met the NOHM team at the Meet the Supplier event in Stratford and, now, products such as its Indian ketchup, chilli mango sauce and handmade apple crumble samosas, will be available to pick up at the farm-style shop located in The Avenue at Coombe.

Customer favourites including aloo tikki – which are crispy potato-based snacks – as well as gourmet vegetable samosas and onion bhajis are available individually, or as part of a snack box complete with a choice of one of its signature sauces. Auntie’s products will also be available to buy via the Abbey’s coffee hatch, which allows visitors to pick up drinks and snacks while their children explore the play area or just to grab and go.

Gregory said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for us to reach more members of the public and grow our brand, and hopefully for lots more people to try some of our creations.” Faith Carter from Rugby, started making and selling brownies from her kitchen over Facebook in 2018 to make a living while recovering from hip surgery – just months after finishing university.

Five years and countless brownies later, Baked Brownies has a cult following on social media with online orders often selling out in minutes. Now, Baked Brownies has teamed up with NOHM to bring its tasty treats to the Abbey Artisan Market and Café in the Park at Coombe Abbey, and the Park Bistro at War Memorial Park. Faith said: “I am honoured to be partnering with NOHM, and really excited to see the results.”

On top of those three, NOHM is working with Brinklow Apple Juice by stocking its uniquely flavoured juice made from 34 varieties of apple which are grown locally. It is also stocking produce from Warwick-based Cureights, which offers award-winning, hand-made cured meats. Ron Terry, Group Operations Director of NOHM, said: “We are thrilled to be working with five more amazing local suppliers and it brings a range of new flavours to several of our venues.

“We believe whole-heartedly in working with local companies because it’s great for the regional economy and, also, is a much more sustainable way of operating. “That said, the products have to be great and be up to the extremely high standards that fit in with our offer – and Baked Brownies, Honey Coombe, Brinklow Apple Juice, Cureights and Auntie’s all do that!”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .