At an investors day presentation at the Old Brewery site in London today (Sep 24th) he said: “Ninety percent of our turnover will still be food, even in 2020, and we will take a very selective approach to other, non-food business-to-business services.”
He also said the France-based company ‘is a little bit too French at the moment, which our 2020 vision will address’.
Outlining the strategy for the next five years, he said Elior would consolidate its position as the number one in the French, Italian and Spanish contract catering markets.
He also aimed to move from number five to third in the UK and expand in the US in carefully selected niches such as airport concessions, staff feeding and the healthcare market.
Addressing the UK specifically, he said: “We estimate the total outsourced and in-house market is worth €7bn (£5.17bn), and at the moment we’re number five in contract catering with revenue of about £300m.
“We’re number five and we should be number three, so our target is growth of at least 5% over the next five years through a mix of organic growth and acquisition.”
He pointed to Elior UK’s purchase of city caterer Lexington in 2014 as an example of the target of future activity.
“Mid-size catering companies turning over about £30m to £50m a year are ideal,” he said.
An increased focus on the consumer experience, especially exploiting digital technologies and social media to engage younger people, was also part of Elior’s business strategy, said Salle.
“Consumer habits are changing and we must interact with and embrace these changes or lose these customers in future.”
Elior UK chief executive Catherine Roe commented: “This is an exciting, new phase for Elior.”