Open Air Business May 2016

EVENTS
local caterer, Pizza per Tutti, who
was perfect.” You can register for
WorkOpps and use the system for
free as many times as you like at
www.ncass.org.uk/findacaterer.
Very soon WorkOpps will be
incorporated into the innovative
trader management system
NCASS Connect. It’s free for event
organisers, enforcement officers
and traders to use and will save
heaps of time, money and hassle
when you come to sourcing traders
and managing their documents.
Via Connect you can ‘create’
events and shortlist both food
and non-food traders for work.
Shortlisted traders will receive
an email requesting their work
availability and documentation
including insurance certificates, risk
assessments, gas certificates and
more. These documents will then
load onto your event screen from
those who accept.
What’s great about this is
that you can store the traders’
documents for the duration of the
event and share that information
with local authority enforcement
officers. Through Connect you
can ask enforcement teams to
assess your shortlisted traders’
documentation. That’s good for
them as they’ll be able to assess
how many traders need a full
inspection on-site on the day of the
event, and good for you because
you’ll get further reassurance from
the local authority on how safe your
selected traders are. In a nutshell:
› you won’t waste time chasing
traders for their documents
› you can view and store traders’
documents for the duration of
your event
› you’ll put the onus on the local
authority to confirm it’s happy
with the traders and their
documents (rather than it being
your responsibility)
› you can rate and comment on
traders’ performances and view
previous ratings
› it’s free, plus you’ll save time
and money normally spent on
administration
› you’ll minimise cold calls from
traders when you ask them to
apply for your pitches through
Connect
› you’ll help your local authority
to manage traders’ food safety
effectively.
How do we know Connect works?
Organisers of major events use
NCASS Connect. WOMAD Festival
used Connect to run its entire
recruitment process for last year’s
event for both food and non-food
traders. It’s quickly become the goto
place for street food collectives
too. KERB, Digbeth Dining Club,
Feast on the Street, Turntables and
Scoff are regularly using Connect
to manage their events and
markets.
Jack Brabant, Digbeth Dining
Club organiser, said: “We only use
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Laurie is the
director at the
Nationwide Caterers
Association (NCASS),
the only trade
association and
primary authority for
mobile caterers and
street food sellers in
the UK. The NCASS
mission is to provide
traders with all the
information, systems
and support they need
for a profitable, safe
and legal business.
From start-ups to
fully-fledged mobile
ventures, NCASS offers
support and materials
to help caterers at
any stage of business.
Currently looking after
3,500 UK catering
businesses, NCASS
continues to grow year
on year as a result of its
care for and support to
the catering and events
industry.
NCASS members as we want safe
and professional traders. NCASS’s
Connect system has helped us to
demonstrate our professionalism
and compliance and that of our
traders to the council and it’s
undoubtedly opened doors for us.”
And Tony Lacey, head of Feast on
the Street, said: “Connect helps
us enormously because we now
have a way to book, store and
retrieve each trader’s paperwork
at the click of a button and send
that information to the EHO.
This ensures that we have the
necessary health and safety, food
hygiene and every other bit of
paperwork to hand. When you’re
working with so many traders
and so much admin it’s essential
all is kept handy for us and any
environmental health officers to
check.”
Furthermore, the Food
Standards Agency believes that
Connect has the power to reduce
the regulatory burden for food
businesses, event organisers and
local authorities so much so that
it has included Connect in the
new Food Law Code of Practice
guidance notes under section
3.2.5.4.
HOP ABOARD THE
NCASS SHIP – FOR
FREE!
You can find out more about
NCASS Connect and register
for free as an event organiser
at www.NCASSConnect.
co.uk. As soon as you’re
registered you’ll be able to
log in on the main NCASS site
– www.NCASS.org.uk – and
start managing traders and
documentation for all of your
future events.
For more information on
NCASS’s services for event
organisers don’t hesitate to call
on 0121 603 2524 or take a look
around the website at
www.NCASS.org.uk
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