Public Sector Relations

Effective public sector relations are critical to our success at Sodexo. Around half of our business in the UK & Ireland is in the public sector: we serve food and provide a wide array of other services in schools, hospitals, army garrisons, local and central government and universities. Increasingly we are also responsible for the delivery of frontline public services, such as prisons and social care. It is therefore vital that we understand and demonstrate a strong public service ethos and a focus on quality outcomes.

The coalition government is determined to transform public service delivery by opening it up to a wide range of providers across the public, private and voluntary sector. At Sodexo, we are determined to play a leading role in this transformation. It is therefore important that we actively engage in the debate and build strong relationships with senior civil servants and government ministers to better understand the scope and ambitions of their policies so that we can adapt our business practices to their expectations and provide expertise from our experience. This cooperation should contribute to an outstanding delivery of public services to the benefits of citizens.

All engagement activity in the UK & Ireland is governed by our lobbying policy and our ethical principles.

"A new Government has brought reform and change, calling for a stronger role for companies like Sodexo to deliver core public services alongside social good. Outcomes are the holy grail and have the ability to recast the historic pattern of the provision of public services. It is just the thing there should be more of in the future. To make this a reality, the public sector needs the business skills and commercial acumen that companies like Sodexo can offer."
Andrew Haldenby, director, independent think tank Reform