60 years of Sodexo: Leading with Purpose – Food and Support Services, Done Brilliantly Together 

For me personally, this milestone coincides with my first year as CEO of Sodexo UK & Ireland. It has been a year of focusing on service excellence by listening, learning and spending time where our business truly lives – at our client sites, with customers, alongside our teams and in conversation with the people we serve. If there is one thing this year has reinforced, it is this: our strength sits firmly with our people and the experiences they create every day.

Shining a brighter light on food

Food has always been part of Sodexo’s heritage. It is not a new direction for us. But our 60th year provides a natural platform to shine a brighter light on it. Across workplaces, hospitals, schools, defence sites, stadia and heritage venues, food plays a central role in shaping better everyday experiences. It supports well-being, fuels productivity and brings people together.

Over the past year, we have made a conscious decision to elevate our culinary ambition even further. That means investing in talent, strengthening leadership and ensuring we stay ahead of changing client and consumer expectations. 

Our reinvigorated Culinary Leadership Team is championing standards and mentoring across the business. Our newly launched Culinary Academy supports colleagues at every stage of their careers, integrating technical excellence with leadership development.

These initiatives are about raising standards consistently, at scale, across more than 2,000 client sites. In a competitive market, excellence is not optional – it is expected. 

Food and support services, done brilliantly together 

We are often recognised for our facilities management expertise – and rightly so. It is a core strength of our business. But what makes Sodexo distinctive is our ability to deliver high-quality food alongside complex FM and workplace services – food and support services, done brilliantly together.

That integration allows us to create genuine added value for our clients. We understand how catering, cleaning, energy management and workplace services combine to shape the overall experience of the people who use those spaces.

Clients are increasingly focused on environments that support wellbeing, engagement and productivity. Food is central to that ambition – whether it is nutritious meals in hospitals, vibrant workplace dining or hospitality at cultural venues. 

Our role is to deliver that consistently and responsibly, as a trusted partner. 

One client recently told me that when you walk their site, it is difficult to tell where their team ends and ours begins. For me, that is what trusted partnership looks like: shared standards, shared ownership and shared pride.

Cook for Change! excellence with purpose

In March we hosted Sodexo’s global Cook for Change! sustainable chef competition final in London, for the first time.

Cook for Change! brings together culinary excellence, sustainability and creativity from across our international community. It celebrates not only technical skill, but also the power of food to drive positive environmental and social impact.

Sustainability is no longer a differentiator in our sector – it is an expectation. The real question is how deeply it is embedded into operations and is genuinely making progress to Net Zero.

Over the past year, we have made strong progress on our environmental targets, including industry leading reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and food waste. But what matters most is how our chefs translate evolving expectations – around health, affordability and carbon impact – into delicious, practical, high-quality solutions every day.