Five-year growth streak continues for contract caterers

Contract catering firms have logged five consecutive years of revenue growth, buoyed by employers competing for talent through better workplace perks and a gradual but steady increase in office attendance. Food-service providers report that businesses are once again willing to subsidise canteens, coffee bars and meeting hospitality as part of wider return-to-office strategies, reversing the sharp contraction seen during pandemic lockdowns.

For fleet and mobility managers, rising office occupancy has a direct bearing on grey-fleet mileage, car-park demand and the business case for pool cars versus personal company vehicles. If more employees work on-site three or four days a week, the need for daily commuter allowances may fall while demand for short-notice pool EVs or salary-sacrifice schemes rises. Understanding occupancy trends helps you right-size your fleet and avoid carrying vehicles—and their associated tax, insurance and depreciation—that no longer match actual usage patterns.

Watch your own office attendance data and correlate it with fuel-card transactions and mileage logs. If you see consistent on-site presence, consider whether some roles still justify a dedicated company car or would be better served by a car-allowance top-up and access to a shared EV pool. Equally, if your business is investing in workplace amenities to draw people back, make sure your mobility offering—charge points, cycle-to-work, flexible leases—reinforces rather than contradicts that message.

Bluepoppy helps service and facilities-management businesses align fleet strategy with workplace policy, ensuring your vehicles, fuel spend and benefit-in-kind tax reflect how people actually work today. Our Fleet Cost Review includes a utilisation audit and scenario modelling for pool cars, salary sacrifice and grey-fleet alternatives. Let's make sure your fleet investment supports—not undermines—your people strategy.

Bluepoppy view: Rising office attendance changes the mileage equation—time to right-size cars and boost pool EVs.

Source: i-FM — summarised and written from a Bluepoppy perspective. We don’t reproduce the original article.