Contact Us

What to tell us

The more of this you can give us first time, the more useful our first reply will be. Nothing is compulsory.

• The date, or roughly when
• The venue — or “a field on my parents’ farm”, which is a perfectly good answer and often the better wedding
• Roughly how many people
• What kind of day it is: seated and formal, a long table, a barbecue, or people standing and talking

If you do not know some of it yet, ask anyway. Working out the shape of the day is most of what a first conversation is for.

What happens next

We answer with something useful rather than a brochure — usually a note on what your venue means for the catering, and a quote. Then a tasting if you want one, and a deposit books the date.

If it is urgent, ring rather than email. If it is a funeral or a wake, ring — we will keep it simple and come back the same day.

Come and eat first

You do not have to take our word for any of it. The Outlook at Fox’s Marina in Ipswich is our own café, bar and restaurant and it is open to the public, Wednesday to Sunday. Go unannounced on a Saturday and watch how the front of house works when nobody is expecting you. It will tell you more than a brochure and more than a tasting.

Where we are

Stonham Road, Mickfield, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 5LS. We cater across Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire.

How quickly we come back

Within a working day for anything with a date on it, and the same day for a funeral or a wake. If you have not heard from us in two days, something has gone wrong with the email rather than with your enquiry — ring, and we will apologise properly.

The first reply is a person rather than an automated acknowledgement, and it will usually contain a question, because the second email is more useful than the first once we know what your venue means for the catering.

What a quote looks like

An itemised price per head with what it covers set out plainly, the staffing we would bring, and anything that is genuinely extra listed as extra rather than discovered later. If something is likely to change the number — a venue with no kitchen, a long distance, an awkward access — we say so at the quote rather than at the invoice.

We do not do a hard sell and we do not chase. If you go quiet we assume you are thinking about it or you have chosen somebody else, and both are fine.

Before you enquire, if you would rather

You are welcome to come and eat at The Outlook at Fox’s Marina in Ipswich first — it is our own restaurant and it is open to the public Wednesday to Sunday. No appointment, no obligation, and nobody will know why you are there.

If you would rather read first, what is included and how booking works covers the money and the order things happen in, and the questions people actually ask covers power, space, rain, staffing and how far we travel.

Suppliers, venues and production offices

If you are a venue, a marquee company, a wedding planner or a production coordinator rather than a private client, say so in the first line and it goes to the right person straight away. We are happy to send insurance certificates, risk assessments and hygiene documentation without being chased for them.

If you would rather ring

Some things are quicker said than typed. A complicated venue, a date that is close, a wake, or simply wanting to know whether we are the right sort of caterer for what you have in mind — all of those are better on the phone, and you will get a straight answer rather than a proposal.

We are not a call centre. Whoever picks up is somebody who works on the events, so you can ask a practical question and get a practical answer without being called back.

If we are out on a job, leave a message with the date and we will ring back rather than emailing you a form to fill in.