Staffs company gets Olympic spin-off contract

The London Olympics have resulted in a £600,000 business boost for a Staffordshire leisure contractor.

Rugeley firm Kribensis Leisure Contracts – based on the Towers Business Park – has completed an extravagant refit of a Malaysian restaurant next to the Olympic park in East London. The restaurant’s owners are preparing for major increase in trade during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Jom Makan Malaysian restaurant is on the upper dining terrace of one of London’s newest and most prestigious shopping centres – the Westfield Centre, Stratford, which overlooks the Olympic Park.

The 130-seat restaurant has been extravagantly re-designed in a combination of traditional and modern Malaysian style, and has outside balcony seating.

Kribensis owner Neil Morten said, “The Westfield Stratford is part of one of the largest urban regeneration projects ever undertaken in the UK, and we are delighted to be a part of that. So much focus on development in London inevitably opens up opportunities outside the capital which smaller firms can get involved in. It’s encouraging that the impact of the 2012 Olympics is reaching far outside London and into Staffordshire.”

This was not the first Olympic spin-off project carried out by the Rugeley firm. Its sister company GMP Design, also based on the Towers Business Park was drafted in to redesign the interior of the iconic Rex Bar in Stratford, just a stone’s throw from the new Olympic Stadium. The nightclub and bar is expecting a huge increase in trade as athletes and Olympic visitors flock to the area.

The GMP plans for the club, in Stratford High Street, include the complete refurbishment of the buildings main interior space into a multi-functional venue, a new wine bar, a tapas restaurant, a nightclub, a basement R&B club, a VIP area and a press bar.

The club is in one of the most distinctive buildings in Stratford High Street. The 1930s listed art deco edifice is a former theatre. It has become one of East London’s most popular nightspots with live acts and top DJs reinforcing its reputation as London’s foremost drum and bass venue..

Kribensis was established 10 years ago and has become an international leader in new builds and refits in the leisure and hospitality industries.