The rate for the job

Operating across an exceptionally broad range of industries, contract catering firms have been tossed and turned by the recent economic maelstrom. Managers within such organisations have borne the brunt of the difficulties, in many cases taking on responsibilities well beyond their original remit. But are they getting their due when it comes to remuneration? Martin Jones of specialist recruitment consultancy Hospitality & Leisure Recruitment provides a market snapshot plus the all important salary information.

As in all areas of hospitality, the contract catering sector has felt the effects of the recent recession. Some areas, however, have been more adversely affected than others. The business and industry sector, in particular, has felt the pinch with companies keen to make cost savings being quick to rein in their spending on catering and hospitality. As you would expect education, healthcare and defence businesses have been a little more resilient, particularly at the public sector end although, again, certain cost savings have had to be made.
Within the broader sectors in which contract caterers operate, the roles that have arguably suffered the most during the period of economic hardship have been at area/operations management level. We have often seen operational regions being revised so that they can be run using fewer staff. Similarly, at a single site level, there has been a trend whereby restaurant and hospitality managers have been replaced by supervisory staff and further responsibility for these operations passed onto a general manager.
These are, of course, measures that have been taken to ensure short-term profitability however, they are not sustainable in the longer term. The impact of such steps can hit standards, management morale and ultimately levels of retention; over time standards inevitably suffer if the appropriate staff are not used and those managers affected by a sudden, dramatic increase in workload are placed under enormous pressure – pressure they can be unable or unwilling to bear.
For a number of years British companies have been moving away from the management fee or cost-plus styles of catering contracts towards a nil-subsidy or commercial contract arrangement. This is becoming ever more prevalent, with companies increasingly reluctant to subsidise staff meals. Thus they have seized the opportunity to eliminate the catering costs from the business while still maintaining the service via commercial contract arrangements.
While such a development might not have been celebrated by staff at affected companies, the move towards more commercial-based contracts does however present many opportunities for hospitality candidates who are experienced in managing these types of contracts. In a similar vein, professionals who are interested in moving into the contract catering sector from other commercial catering environments could find themselves with a wider range of opportunities than had been the case in previous years.
From a recruitment perspective, the effects of the recession have been felt far and wide with 2009 seeing recruitment activity way down on normal levels. Contractors have slimmed down their workforces and thus shown reluctance to recruit – wanting instead to remain as lean as possible for as long as possible. Unsurprisingly, from an individual employee point of view, the sector’s normally quite transient management workforce has shown far greater inertia. Typically in contract catering management two to three years’ tenure in a given role would be about average but even the most career-minded professionals have tended to err on the side of caution and stayed put. As with almost every sector in the UK economy job security rather than career development became the primary driver during the recession – being the last person in and thus potentially the first one out is an understandable fear for many.
Some companies have put a freeze on recruitment activities during the recession and some have suspended salary increases along with bonus payments. As a result, those candidates who have been brave enough to move have been looking at a £2k - £3k salary increase at best as opposed to the £3k - £5k pay rise that many would have hoped to attain pre-recession.
The salary figures in the table overleaf derive from HLR’s extensive database of candidates (and its consultants’ considerable experience within the hospitality and leisure recruitment industry). As you can see immediately, there tends to be a fairly strong regional bias to the remuneration packages awarded in contract catering.
What with the number and variety of operators within the contract catering sector, any such poll cannot definitively account for variations within individual companies. However the data does provide a sound set of benchmarks for the primary management roles within contract catering. Looking forward, the outlook is reasonably positive. We are seeing a marked increase in the number of vacancies being advertised within the sector compared to this time last year, a decent barometer that things are starting to move once again.
Growth will continue to be steady but as the economy recovers and purse strings begin to loosen many of the roles that were jettisoned during the recession will again become integral to a successful business structure.