Earlier this month, Centerplate's Chris Verros officially dropped the 'interim' from his president and CEO title. He has served as the company's COO since 2010, but stepped up in early September following the departure of Des Hague, who had led the company since 2009.
Hague resigned following an incident of animal mistreatment captured on elevator video in late August, after which he agreed to anger management counseling, as well as to pay $100,000 to a cause supporting animal welfare and serve 1,000 hours of community service. Though the transition has come during a challenging period for the company, Verros sees some positives. Not only has Centerplate retained its existing client relationships, it has refocused on communication both internally and with its clients.
Verros previously served as executive vice president of Boston Culinary Group and, before that, as a group president of Fine Host Corp. following the 1993 acquisition of FanFare, Inc., a company he co-founded in 1986. He got a taste of the industry at a young age as the son of a restaurateur. Following his official promotion, Verros shared some insights with Venues Today.
How is Centerplate's business during this transition period? Have accounts been affected by the scandal?
No, all of our client relationships remain intact. Our business and our relationships with our clients and guests will never rely on any one person – which is what makes this company so great and the work that we do so impressive. It is a true team effort for our 45,000 employees to collectively serve our guests.
We do know, though, that this is always going to be a hyper-competitive industry. While we did everything in our power to keep things “business as usual," we also made it a point to focus on over communicating with our internal teams and our clients during the transition. The lesson, for me anyway, is to maintain open lines of communication with clients and with our team, and to treat everyone with dignity and respect—during periods when things are going as planned, but especially when they are not.
Obviously, your transition to president & CEO happened during a unique time for the company with extenuating circumstances — did that present an added challenge?
It was certainly a challenging period for our company, but I must also say how proud I am of the professionalism that our teams displayed and the way that they performed with grace under fire during the early Fall.
Was Centerplate considering recruiting a President/CEO or was the plan to promote from within?
It is hard for me to answer that question, since I was obviously not part of the process. However, I can say that the Board has a responsibility to the company, our clients and our employees to put the best possible person in place to lead. We’re a growing, $1 billion company in a competitive business, so, when there is a change in leadership, I would expect that decision is taken very seriously and all options are considered. This industry is filled with highly talented, experienced and capable people and I am thankful that they felt that I was the best candidate for this role.
What will change most about your role now that you’re CEO?
I have been a part of the leadership team at Centerplate for the past five years and, while there will certainly be new responsibilities and challenges for me in this next stage, I’m comfortable in the way that we conduct our business, so I don’t foresee there being any drastic changes when it comes to how I focus my time.
This company has had the singular vision and mission of “making it better to be there” for our clients’ guests, which we will not deviate from. I am lucky to have been involved in shaping that vision and I intend to continue to focus on making sure every guest has a memorable experience.
What did you learn as interim president and CEO that you were most surprised by? What was that transition period like?
Having been the COO at Centerplate for the last five years, the transition has been fairly smooth, all things considered. It certainly helped that I was already very familiar with our brand, our clients and our leadership team, but I know better than anyone that there is always room to learn. In that vein, I have been focusing a lot of my recent energy on engaging in a dialogue with people who touch the Centerplate brand from all different angles - employees, clients, executive leadership and partners.
With that said, I was surprised and humbled by the extraordinary amount of support that I received during many of these interactions, especially from employees who truly love their jobs. It is clear that we have the greatest talent in the industry and that positions us for continued success.
In what ways did this challenging time period also serve as an opportunity?
We saw several emergent leaders step up during that process and take on responsibilities that they were not necessarily accustomed to, which is further proof that Centerplate’s greatest assets are its employees.
What do you think has been your biggest achievement with the company so far?
Everything we do at this level is a team effort—I truly believe that. Frankly, it would be hard to pinpoint just one example, because all of the moments matter and we all continually focus on making sure every one of our 116 million guests each year leave happy… and that every client was proud of their hospitality offering.
As a whole though, this company has had some amazing milestones recently. In the last two months alone, we opened Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., hosted the World Series, unveiled the new Sophie’s at Saks Fifth Avenue, even picked up some awards here and in the UK —the Silver Spoon Award from Venues Today was a terrific honor. It has been a busy two months and we’ve done great work, building momentum that will continue to carry us forward.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role?
What really drives and inspires me is the level of collaboration we are able to achieve with our clients. From the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to Levi’s Stadium, home of the 49ers, we have been able to continually create highly localized and customized offerings for our clients that have redefined innovation in the live event category.
I have to say that I’m really excited about expanding abroad, in Spain and the UK—it’s exciting to have this global exchange of culture and practice around food and the events that bring people together.
What can we expect to see from Centerplate moving forward - any big plans?
Put simply, the way we create live event experiences for our clients’ guests will continue to lead the category. We’ll continue to be progressive and aggressive in our approach — progressive in innovation to delight our guests, and aggressive in terms of growth on behalf of our clients and stakeholders.
But I know you want some specifics… I mentioned that we are working toward some new partnerships, which I hope to announce in the coming months. There are some great things in development on the fan experience side with technology and menus, and the expansion of our industry-leading farm-to-table initiatives. We’re really going to continue to examine opportunities globally—here in North America, as well as Europe and the UK. And at the same time, we’re going to focus on growth from the core. I’m a big believer in the constant reinforcement of core values, good business practice, and solid operations. I’m really looking forward to it.
Now, onto the easier questions. Working for Centerplate (and as the son of a restaurateur), do you cook?
I love to grill for friends and family, but I’d be in trouble if I didn’t say this: my wife is a phenomenal cook and loves doing it. She’s far more talented than I am, and I can’t even compare to the chefs at Centerplate. But I do enjoy when I get to take the time to host and be a part of the preparations—there’s nothing like a good meal to bring people together.
What is your favorite dish?
Growing up in Western New York, we were a meat-and-potato family. So I have to admit that I still love a great porterhouse steak, with real mashed potatoes and sweet corn… we have so many great options today, but nothing beats the comfort food I grew up with. But I also love great Italian food. Homemade pasta with Bolognese sauce is always a winner.
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