The number of employees in the UK contract catering market (calculated as full-time equivalents) dropped by 0.6% to 114,565 in 2008, down from 115,255 the previous year.
The decline is marginal when compared to the number of outlets, which fell by 3.5% to 16,983 in 2008, according to the latest survey into the market by the British Hospitality Association.
The trend to use part-time staff at the expense of full-time staff continued. The number of full-timers in the sector dropped by 0.8% to 80,660 (2007: 81,310) while the number of part-timers fell marginally by 0.1% to 67,810, down from 67,891 in 2007.
Although wage costs grew by 0.5%, labour costs as a percentage of turnover declined by 1.2 percentage points to 43.8%.
The total number of staff (counting full- and part-time workers separately) dropped by 0.5% to 148,470, down from 149,201 in 2007.
These facts and figures are reported in the Food and Service Management Survey 2009, published by the British Hospitality Association. The report is available for £50 as a hard copy or for £35 as a PDF file.
More facts and figures from the Food and Service Management Survey
UK contract catering turnover >>
Number of meals served by UK contract caterers >>
Key ratios in contract catering >>
Types of catering contract >>
Structure of the UK contract catering market >>
Number of staff employed in the UK food and service management market
| |
Full-time |
Part-time |
Casual* |
Total number of staff |
Number of full-time equivalent staff** |
Number of FT-equivalent staff per outlet |
| 2008 |
80,660 |
67,810 |
- |
148,470 |
114,565 |
6.7 |
| 2007 |
81,310 |
67,891 |
100,000 |
149,201 |
115,255 |
6.5 |
| 2006 |
82,186 |
64,121 |
100,000 |
146,307 |
114,246 |
6.6 |
| 2005^ |
83,304 |
67,183 |
100,000 |
150,487 |
116,895 |
6.9 |
| 2004 |
90,251 |
66,021 |
100,000 |
256,272 |
123,261 |
6.7 |
| 2003 |
91,444 |
68,967 |
100,000 |
260,411 |
125,927 |
6.7 |
| 2002 |
93,250 |
68,391 |
100,000 |
261,641 |
127,445 |
6.6 |
| 2001 |
90,645 |
66,547 |
100,000 |
257,192 |
123,918 |
|
| 2000 |
95,893 |
56,513 |
100,000 |
252,406 |
124,149 |
|
| 1999 |
95,000 |
54,936 |
100,000 |
249,936 |
122,468 |
|
| 1993 |
92,455 |
25,293 |
100,000 |
217,748 |
108,874 |
8.1 |
* Estimated
** Full-time equivalents are calculated by counting two part-time employees as the equivalent of two full-time employees
^ The figures have been adjusted to take account of Compass's sale of Select Service Partners in 2006.