Manchester Central, one of the UK’s leading events venues, has had its vegetarian and vegan dishes accredited by the Vegetarian Society’s approved trademarks, as the business moves forward with its ambition to lead the way in the embedding of sustainable practices.
The venue, which has a capacity of over 10,000 and a strong pipeline of events for both 2022 and 2023, has been working with the Vegetarian Society to gain the prestigious accreditations. As part of the process, all of Manchester Central’s vegetarian and vegan dishes have been fully audited by the society, giving full traceability of ingredients to confirm that they are suitable for vegetarian and vegans.
Shaun Hinds, CEO of Manchester Central, said: “We’re incredibly proud of our latest vegetarian and vegan dishes and securing the use of the approved trademarks exemplifies our commitment to full traceability of the food that we serve. At Manchester Central, our approach to sustainability has been core to the way we operate for many years and we are keen to work with partners who share and implement this same ethos.”
Vanessa Brown, Head of Business and Catering Services at the Vegetarian Society, said: “There’s a growing demand for veggie and vegan dishes everywhere and it’s fantastic to see Manchester Central's catering meeting the needs of their customers. By displaying the Vegetarian Society Approved vegetarian or vegan trademarks they are making a clear statement to their consumers that they can trust these dishes to be vegetarian and vegan.”
The accreditation adds to the wide range of initiatives and investments across every area of Manchester Central’s work to ensure it operates in the most sustainable ways possible. As such, wherever possible, the venue sources food ingredients from the North Wests to minimise fuel emissions and reduce carbon footprint. It also closely monitors, measures and diverts waste from landfill; donates surplus food to local charities; and purifies and bottles water on-site.
It is also the host site for the Civic Quarter Heat Network (CQHN) in Manchester city centre, helping to generate low-carbon heat and power for the city. With the introduction of this facility, Manchester Central has decommissioned 19 legacy boilers across its campus.
Manchester Central has also recently teamed up with Mash Media to undertake research on behalf of the events sector, to help pave the way for a more sustainable future for the events sector as a whole. Kicking off with a survey, titled ‘Sustainable events: Play your part in shaping the future’, the two organisations are seeking opinions on the evolving role of sustainability in an events strategy, uncovering what has already made a real impact and where we can collectively make a difference moving forward.
Hinds added: “We’re ambitious in our plans to lead the way for the events industry in terms of the benefits of embedding sustainable practices and we’re also fully committed to helping Manchester achieve its target to become carbon neutral by 2038. Our strategy is absolutely about protecting the natural environment while also considering social, economic and cultural impacts too.”