Jean Renton on Sodexo's first half fiscal 2025 results
Sodexo is growing in the UK and Ireland and since taking on the role of COO for the region, I have prioritised time meeting clients and visiting our site teams who are delivering service excellence – whether in providing delicious, nutritious and sustainable food, running large and complex contracts or in creating welcoming and engaging workplaces. Their commitment, spirit and hard work is without doubt adding value for our client partners and those we serve every day. This is what fuels our growth and our ability to create positive social impact in the communities where we operate, and I am so grateful to them all.
Over the last six months we have welcomed new clients across our markets. Whether in the private sector or as a strategic supplier to government, we are demonstrating how the seamless delivery of food, hospitality and FM services can significantly enhance the employee and consumer experience.
As the leading expert self-delivering in these fields, our unique, insight-led proposition attracts clients who want to maximise value creation from a single, trusted partner.
These clients include HMRC (western region), and East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) – two new food and FM services contracts that have both leveraged our refreshed Kitchen Works food brand, which offers high quality, nutritionally balanced and affordable meals, and our FM and asset management expertise.
ESNEFT is a large, complex contract which includes two acute hospitals – Colchester (first time service outsourcing) and Ipswich Hospital, as well as its county-based community services. We are delighted to have recently mobilised this contract and welcomed new colleagues to Sodexo.
We continue to lead with our portfolio of chef-led food brands, and alongside Kitchen Works, we are seeing an increased take up of Modern Recipe, Good Eating Company and Fooditude – particularly in large London-based corporate workplaces, where we also deliver the FM. We have more planned for the coming year.
Sodexo is recognised and valued for its onsite delivery, scale and the ability to work in true partnership to contribute ever more significantly to the client ecosystem, co-creating for innovation and making a better every day for everyone.
Our regional growth is powered by our network of supply partners – made up of large, SME and VCSE businesses – and we hugely appreciate their reliability, but also their innovation, creativity and collaboration. Our annual Partners with Purpose supplier conference takes place in May this year and I am looking forward to getting to know more of them personally.
The UK and Ireland continues to play a key role in Sodexo’s global performance, and I am optimistic about the future.
We have a business built around delivering exceptional sustainable food and valued experiences at every moment in life: learn, work, heal and play. We do that by living our values, being ambitious about the positive social impact we make, and nurturing and rewarding our 30,000 colleagues – among them our regional Spirit of Sodexo Awards winners who we will be celebrating at a special event in London next month.
