Growth of the UK's contract catering sector is expected to be steady throughout the next four years, according to the latest research.
Manchester-based consultancy, Market and Business Development (MBD), forsees year-on-year sales growth of 3-4 per cent in the period, following expected growth of three per cent in 2003.
While increases have stumbled since the 14 per cent upturn that boosted the tire sector in 1999, it appears the brakes have been put on any fear of long-term decline. MBD predicts sales to have risen by 15 per cent by 2008. Steady rather than exponential growth will be the order of the day, after increases of eight per cent in 2000 and 2001 and the initial decrease to a three per cent rise in 2002.
The contract catering market in 2003 was valued at an estimated £3.73 billion, and MBD sees no reason for anything other than continued growth unless ”something dramatic happens”.
The report expects food provision for small and medium-sized firms and science and business parks to be a particular growth area.
The education sector is forecast to grow by 15 per cent by 2008, and fruit and vegetables, as part of government initiatives to improve the diet of the nation's children, stand to benefit as much as any sector from this.
Healthcare, another huge volume buyer from the fresh produce industry, could grow by 14 per cent in the same period ñ with another 30 hospitals being built, offering more long-term contract potential to catering suppliers.
The ageing population and a decreasing public spending power will lead to more private-public partnerships, say analysts. And despite government cutbacks, other areas of the public sector have significant potential.
The report also predicts additional opportunities at transport terminals, shopping centres and special events in the UK, a sector it believes will grow by 11 per cent by 2008.
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