Sodexo Live! has secured a five-year contract with Nottingham Forest to run stadium retail and premium hospitality at the City Ground, as announced by Sodexo on 21 August 2024.
For matchday workers in Nottinghamshire, this is the operator behind concourse kiosks, the fan zone, premium lounges and the ground’s growing non-matchday events business – not a club careers listing.
What Sodexo Live! is taking on
Under the deal, Sodexo Live! delivers:
- matchday retail operations
- the fan zone
- premium hospitality
- non-matchday sales, marketing and event delivery
The appointment sits alongside a multi-million-pound upgrade of hospitality facilities at the City Ground. Sodexo Live! said menus would draw on local suppliers and ingredients, with food led by executive head chef Darren Kelly, and that further technology upgrades to speed up service would follow.
Non-matchday spaces are part of the pitch too. That includes newly refurbished suites and the Trentside Lounge, a riverside events space for more than 550 conference and event guests – useful if you want midweek hours as well as Saturday shifts.
Claire Morris, CEO of Sodexo Live! UK & Ireland, called the partnership a chance to bring retail, event catering and hospitality expertise to “one of the Premier League’s most historic clubs”. Forest Chief Operating Officer Paul Bell said Sodexo Live! aligned with the club’s plan to improve the matchday experience and service across the stadium’s new hospitality lounges.
Jobs on the table
Sodexo Live! said the contract would create around 15 permanent roles at the stadium and a casual workforce of roughly 500 drawn from the Nottinghamshire area. That is a meaningful local hiring signal for anyone in Nottingham, West Bridgford, Beeston or nearby towns looking for Premier League matchday work without commuting to Birmingham or London.
What this means if you work (or want to work) matchdays at the City Ground
- Apply to Sodexo Live!, not Forest. The club hosts the match; Sodexo Live! hires the F&B and hospitality workforce. Use the Sodexo careers site with a Sodexo Live! / sports filter and search for City Ground or Nottingham Forest.
- Expect demand around the hospitality relaunch. New lounges and a new operator usually mean a hiring push for supervisors, bartenders, kiosk staff, chefs and premium hospitality hosts before the season settles.
- Non-matchdays widen the calendar. Conferences and events in the Trentside Lounge and refurbished suites mean the City Ground is not a football-only shift pattern.
The bigger Sodexo Live! picture
The Forest deal added another Premier League ground to a UK portfolio that already included Anfield, St James’ Park, Hampden Park, Craven Cottage and the American Express Stadium. For casual staff already on Sodexo Live!’s books, that multi-venue footprint is one of the better ways to build hours across the season.
We’ve updated our City Ground and Sodexo Live! profiles to reflect the partnership.
