Industry expert: B&I
Ronan Harte, chief executive of BaxterStorey, on what’s happening in the B&I market…

For the first half of this year, we were focused on building on the strong growth our sector experienced in 2023, while the second half has been marked by strategic consolidation. In 2023, we achieved a 40% increase in business compared to 2022. This year, growth has stabilised at a more sustainable 10% to 12%, more in line with pre-Covid levels.
The extraordinary growth last year led to a rapid expansion of the workforce, making the competition for top talent more of a key priority for many organisations. Now we’re witnessing a more sustainable growth trajectory, it allows organisations the time to focus even more on developing their teams, with many prioritising retention strategies as a key driver for progression.
For us, this has been a core focus. Enhanced recognition, benefits and incentives have led to a more engaged, satisfied and productive workforce. Our new brand identity supports this, and our ‘fuel your individuality’ mantra really empowers people to develop and grow.
Client side, we’re seeing a notable increase in contracts coming up for tender, particularly fixed-price and commercial agreements, with a growing emphasis on sales generation.
While business activity is recovering, Mondays and Fridays have become working from home days, so we have worked with clients to optimise time and labour. However, some clients are now enforcing a return for a greater number of days and we will continue to flex our offer to support our clients’ needs.
In the broader market, consultant activity has surged as some clients benchmark to ensure they are securing the best deals. Additionally, they are re-evaluating their space utilisation, becoming more discerning about their needs and exploring ways to add value to their services. What is clear is that food is now seen as a fundamental part of the workplace experience.
As far as the supply chain goes, although inflation has stabilised and we have adjusted, we remain vigilant about potential global disruptions that could reignite inflationary pressures.
Mergers and acquisitions remain a defining feature of the contract catering industry, and we expect to see more of them in the coming year. New start-ups are continuing to stimulate better competition and innovation, and we welcome these entrants to the marketplace.
It's worth noting that the recent budget will have added increased pressure to all businesses, large and small, so the sector will need to find ways to tackle this. For us, we are expanding internationally, targeting markets such as France, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway. This growth supports team development and opens new opportunities for all of us.
We also expect to see more organisations looking at their equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives. It’s a fundamental part of the people strategy in most organisations. We have been highly successful in driving increased engagement in our teams through a number of employee support groups we launched over the course of the last year. We expect to see more of these in companies across the sector in the coming years.
I’m a firm believer in the fact that, in our sector, our people are our most significant asset. This is what hospitality is built on, so it’s vital that we do what we can to keep them supported and engaged, and give them opportunities to grow and develop at every stage of their career.
Clearly, this cannot work in isolation with business growth. Sustainable growth of a business works in tandem with the sustainable growth of its people.