Introducing the Thirst Link Consulting business partners

Roy Girt

Roy has had a highly successful career in sales, general management and corporate account client management. He spent almost 30 years working for Selecta, who are the largest vending operator within the UK and Europe, a division of the Worlds largest food services organisation.

Roy was personally responsible for securing contracts with some of the UK’s most successful organisations and then continued to be accountable for the delivery of the on-going ‘operated’ service to these clients. During this time Roy applied his skills and knowledge to analyse situations and data rapidly, resolve any problems, enhance the service to the satisfaction of consumers and help achieve significant reductions in annual subsidies on behalf of major corporate clients.

Thirst Link Consulting was established through Roy identifying a need in the marketplace to provide major companies with a dedicated focus and objective advice on their refreshment vending facilities. As a consequence, Roy has further developed his knowledge of the vending industry, gaining a detailed understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of all the major vending operators and manufacturers / suppliers in the UK market place. His commitment to detail and service delivery has built a unique business as a specialist vending consultancy.

David Bate (FHCIMA, MCIM, MIOD)

David’s career spans 28 years in the catering and vending industries.  His knowledge covers all elements of the business as his experience has been gained from working at all levels and managing diverse business sectors.  Over the last 14 years David has headed up a number of companies as Managing Director, firstly for Granada Food services then Compass Group, resulting in him holding a seat on the board of Directors of Compass Group UK & Ireland.

His career has always involved vending; in 1987 to 1990 he was a Regional General Manager for P&O Vending Services, responsible for all parts of the business.  In 1998 he led the Quadrant Catering joint venture as Managing Director between Granada Food Services and The Post Office, responsible for the catering service provided in some 460 restaurants and vending in 3,200 separate addresses.  Before joining Thirst Link Consulting David’s most recent position was as Managing Director of Selecta UK & Ireland, with overall responsibility for the servicing of some 4,200 clients and operating 22,000 machines.

David’s insight into literally hundreds of businesses coupled with his knowledge of operating companies and a passion for excellent customer service combines to bring enormous benefits to contractor reviews and how contracts can be run successfully to everyone’s mutual benefit.