News and Trends

Compass, which has an annual turnover just shy of £2bn, is said to be putting the finishing touches to a deal worth north of £400m, according to Sky News. Contract caterer Compass Group has entered into a £475m takeover deal of a rival firm, which provides hospitality services for the likes of Kew Gardens and the Royal Opera House. In an announcement this morning th e FTSE 100-listed firm, which did catering for the London Olympics, said it would enter into the agreement to buy CH&CO.  It is Compass’s largest acquisition since 2019, when it picked up the Nordic caterer Fazer Food Services for €475m (£407m).  The firm has enjoyed good success since demand for socialising picked up after the pandemic, recently revealing an annual turnover just shy of £2bn.  Dominic Blakemore, group chief executive of Compass Group PLC, said: “CH&CO is a highly regarded food service business in our industry.  “This proposed acquisition combines the best of the two companies: our...

 Namnews,  21st November 2022 Compass delivered a big rise in profits during the past year as its recovery from the effects of the pandemic surpassed expectations. However, the catering giant is forecasting a 2023 margin below analysts’ estimates as inflation takes its toll. “We can restore the pre-pandemic margin, but the pace of that will really depend on the level of new business wins… and also when we see inflation start to come off a little,” said Chief Executive Dominic Blakemore in an interview with Reuters after the release of annual results. Like many firms, Compass has been grappling with higher costs of food and labour. It has been tackling soaring inflation by changing ingredients, such as switching from sunflower oil to rapeseed oil in the UK and reducing the number of menu options. The economic environment also means more companies are outsourcing their canteen needs, helping Compass gain new business and retain clients at a record rate. Compass, which serves off...

Compass Group has reported revenue of £17.9b over the last year, 10.2% down on 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic, however it had returned to 88% of pre-Covid revenue by the fourth quarter. In its financial results for the year ended 30 September 2021, the group said it was "extremely encouraged" by the recovery of its sports and leisure business, with growing crowds spending significantly more per person at their events than they did pre-pandemic. While the group made progress recovering revenue in the second half of the year, driven by strong net new business with record new business wins of £2.1b, including around half from first-time outsourcing and client retention of 95.4%, the pandemic continued to affect performance. Sectors including healthcare, senior living, defence, offshore and remote performed well above pre-pandemic revenues, and education and sports and leisure recovered strongly in the fourth quarter. However, business and industry revenues remained subdu...

  Namnews, 25th March 2021 Catering giant Compass is expecting to serve up better margins in its second quarter as it continues to trim costs to cope with the impact on revenues from the closure of schools, offices, and sporting venues. The British firm had a tough 2020 as the pandemic-related lockdowns around the world curtailed demand for its services. The group’s pre-tax profits plummeted 75.5% to £427m over the year to 30 September, with revenue down 18.5% to £20.2bn. To soften the blow, Compass has cut jobs and managed costs by reducing suppliers and the number of products it buys. The company said today: “We are controlling the controllable by managing our costs, adapting our operations and resizing our business.” In a trading update ahead of its half-year results due in May, the group revealed that margins in its second quarter to 31 March were on track to increase to around 4%, compared with 2.7% in the previous quarter. The revenue decline also eased slightly between the t...