Flying Trestles dishes up new business partner

1 June 2012

Flying Trestles dishes up new business partner

A renowned Queenstown catering company offering the district’s most ‘flexible’ cuisine has announced a change in ownership which will see the business expand further into the local community.

Flying Trestles has been owned and operated by Colin Sutherland for the last 23 years and this month welcomes new business partner David Arnold.

The company has a rich history of providing an ‘on location’ catering service to the movie and commercials industries, conferences, weddings, and corporate and sporting events, not only in New Zealand, but Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Flying Trestles could be described as the ‘Hollywood caterers’ and the ‘go to’ guys of film industry catering. They’ve dished up exquisite cuisine in some of the most remote and obscure locations for some of the world’s biggest movie stars, including Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Sam Neill and Hugh Laurie.

Mr Sutherland said he was thrilled to have David Arnold on board to work side-by-side with him and the experienced Flying Trestles crew, and to look at other areas of opportunity within the business

“We’ve had many ideas to bring our cuisine back into the local market for some time, so it’s great to have Dave join the team and help get projects off the ground and spread the word about our unique offering.

“We’re quite the experts when it comes to delivering fine cuisine absolutely anywhere, and we even have a kitchen geared so that it can be transported by helicopter,” he said. “We’re famous for our great food and being extremely flexible and are available to cater for everyone, not just our Hollywood visitors.

"Our commitment is and has always been to provide quality cuisine using fresh and nutritional seasonal produce, for any and every occasion and event. I’ve always said that we’re only as good as our last meal.

“I’ve got the most fantastic job and I love it – the kitchen’s parked up in a different location every day and we meet some pretty amazing people”.

The exquisite food for which Flying Trestles is renowned will continue to be managed by Mr Sutherland and Head Chefs Mike Pugh and Carwyn Powell, who have all been working together for the last 8 years.

Mr Arnold joins the team from the UK where he developed an extensive telecommunications background including directorships and owning his own business. He takes on the role of Sales, Marketing and Business Development Director for Flying Trestles.

Mr Arnold and his wife Vicky moved to New Zealand late last year to fulfill their dream of raising their two small children in Mrs Arnold’s home country.

“Vicky has always wanted to raise our children here so we’ve been planning the move for a few years now,” said Mr Arnold.

“During my years in telco I held various sales and management roles and still have a vested interest there,” he said. “We weren’t entirely sure what opportunities would present when we arrived in New Zealand but we we’ve always been open minded.

“We set up house in Arrowtown and soon heard that Colin was looking for a business partner,” he said. “Vicky and I are passionate about food, so when we met Colin and realised Flying Trestles’ reputation, we started negotiating.

“Our agreement means that Colin can focus on the food delivery side of the business and enjoy more of his passion for farming, horses and his family, while I take care of day-to-day operations and sales and marketing aspect.

“So far it’s been brilliant and I’m really excited to be part of the Flying Trestles future – we’ve got lots to look forward to.”

The Flying Trestles team most recently worked on the set of ‘Top of the Lake’, a six-part mini-series by New Zealand film maker Jane Campion, and earlier this month delivered top-notch cuisine to delegates visiting Queenstown for the TRENZ tourism expo run by the Tourism Industry Association of New Zealand (TIA). They also catered for the New Zealand Deer Conference in Wanaka and worked on ‘The Hobbit’ set and Fox Film’s ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’.

Client feedback speaks for itself.

Two of Flying Trestles chef’s ‘on location’ were thrilled to hear Jane Campion stand up in front of the entire crew on her last day of shooting and personally thank Flying Trestles for looking after them so well.

TIA Events and Sponsorship Executive Caroline Beech said offering “fantastic” food and hospitality from Flying Trestles to international guests was a critical element of TRENZ.

“TRENZ is a showcase of New Zealand’s tourism industry and Flying Trestles rose to the challenge of providing à la carte dining in a buffet format for more than 1000 people per day, and exceeded our expectations throughout the multi-day event,” she said.

“They showed innovation in food presentation, signage and ingredient choices, with beautiful displays of all items as well as practical application for maximum efficiency in delivery.

“We’ve received only positive feedback on the flavours, the unique and varied choices and ingredients they provided every day.

“Flying Trestles has set the bar very high for future TRENZ events with the delivery of catering to such an exceptional standard, and with a level of quality that will be very difficult to beat.”

Flying Trestles operates all year round and will be making an appearance at the Queenstown Winter Festival Remarkables Winter Market on June 30. They’re also preparing to ‘set up shop’ over winter at the Snow Farm cross country skiing area in Cardrona Valley as they have done for the last five years.

Flying Trestles is available for catering at any location in New Zealand and around the world. They specialise in catering in remote locations, weddings, events, conferences and incentive groups and private functions, and for groups large or small.

More about Flying Trestles

At first the business consisted only of Colin Sutherland, a 4m-long caravan and a Land Rover. While catering for a Toyota commercial based around New Zealand's back-country icon the late Barry Crump (Crumpie), Colin was driving around a sweeping corner near Glenorchy, Queenstown, when a trestle strapped to the Land Rover roof flew off, and landed perfectly set up. The name ‘Flying Trestles was born.

Based in Queenstown and Wanaka Flying Trestles has a rich history of catering in this area and in Central Otago, and thanks to its mobile units concept can function effectively anywhere in New Zealand, and often do so.

Flying Trestles is dedicated to providing the most healthy, enjoyable and varied food possible in remote locations. It currently has more than eight fully-equipped mobile kitchens each with refrigeration, ovens, water and waste tanks. It also boasts a number of modular field kitchens equipped with ovens, barbeques, stove tops and water boilers contained in alloy cages, designed so they can be positioned by helicopter.

Flying Trestles has catered for the following films in New Zealand - Lord of The Rings, King Kong, X-Men, Top of the Lake, The Hobbit, Last Samurai, Underworld, 10,000 BC, Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian, among others including Mr Pip – not yet released.

ENDS

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