Olive Catering Services

What Olive Catering Services does

Olive Catering Services is a privately held, UK-based contract catering company founded in 2004 by Sally-Ann Bradley, Damon Brown, and Andrew Norrie. The business provides bespoke workplace dining solutions — including restaurants, hospitality, vending, grab-and-go, coffee, and live cooking stations — to business and industry clients across approximately 150 sites in the United Kingdom, employing roughly 850 team members. Its go-to-market is a direct enterprise field sales motion targeting head offices, distribution centres, call centres, and manufacturing plants, with named clients including Eaton, Samsung, Tate & Lyle, Capital One, Euro Car Parts, B&M Retail, Ideagen, and Veolia.

The company operates a multi-product platform centred on its core Workplace Dining service, augmented by The Van street food concept, a bespoke Click and Collect mobile app for pre-ordering, the Olive at Home meal kit service, and a dedicated Food Innovation Team that drives menu development. Underlying technology is modest and not deeply disclosed: a bespoke pre-order app and website serve as the primary digital surface, with no public APIs or developer-facing integrations. Revenue is generated primarily through long-term, bespoke B2B catering contracts using per-head and managed-services pricing, with quotes negotiated directly via the in-house sales team rather than publicly listed rates. The company is the only independent UK contract caterer to hold the Sustainable Restaurant Association's Three Star Food Made Good accreditation and ranks as the highest-ranking contract caterer in the Financial Times' UK Best Employers 2025 list.

Name

Olive Catering Services

Legal name

Olive Catering Services Limited

Website

https://olive-catering.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Olive Catering Services is an independent UK contract caterer founded in 2004, providing bespoke workplace dining to approximately 150 business and industry sites through roughly 850 team members, serving enterprise clients with restaurants, hospitality, street food, and sustainability-led catering services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Contract Catering Services

NAICS

Food Service Contractors (72231)

SIC

Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)

akta.pro primary industry

Contract Foodservice Management (Outsourced Catering) (THAFAIAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Corporate & Office Catering (THAFAIAA)

Keywords

• Contract catering services
• Workplace dining solutions
• Corporate food services
• Employee restaurant catering
• Business and industry catering

Headquarters

HQ city

Warwick

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Contract Catering Services: Olive generates revenue through long-term contract catering agreements with businesses across the UK. These contracts provide workplace dining services including restaurants, hospitality, vending, and food services. Revenue is generated through per-head pricing, transaction fees, and service agreements with corporate clients.
2. Workplace Dining Solutions: Comprehensive catering services including design and build support, restaurant and hospitality services, live cooking stations, grab-and-go options, and coffee services delivered to enterprise clients.
3. Food Innovation Services: Premium food concepts and culinary innovation delivered through The Van street food concept, signature sandwich ranges, and specialty menu offerings that differentiate the service offering.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Olive Catering Services is an independent contract catering company that delivers bespoke workplace dining solutions to UK businesses across 150 on-site contracts. It provides freshly prepared food, restaurant management, hospitality, vending, grab-and-go and coffee services, complemented by its Food Innovation Team for menu development and street food concepts such as The Van.

Product overview

Olive Catering Services is an independent contract catering company offering a unified workplace dining platform centred on bespoke catering solutions. The core offering comprises Workplace Dining services with 150 contracts throughout the UK, supported by the Food Innovation Team for menu development and culinary excellence. Additional products include The Van street food concept, the Olive at Home meal kit service, and a Click and Collect App for pre-ordering. The company's sustainability initiatives are unified under the Ethical Olive Framework, targeting Net Zero by 2035. The Complete Service Offering encompasses design, build, restaurant operations, hospitality, finance transparency, and communication support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Van: Street food concept bringing international flavours to workplace dining, featuring Mediterranean Fusion and Dirty Deli concepts
• Ethical Olive
• The Kerb

Products and services

• Workplace Dining Bespoke workplace catering service providing freshly prepared food on-site for UK businesses including head offices, distribution centres, call centres and manufacturing plants, operating across 150 contracts.
• The Van Street Food Concept Mobile street food concept bringing international flavours to workplace dining, featuring Mediterranean Fusion, Dirty Deli loaded sandwiches, Caribbean, Vietnamese and Latin American cuisines.
• Olive at Home Meal Kits Meal kit service providing easy-to-follow recipes with pre-measured ingredients for employees to cook evening meals at home, distributed through Olive's workplace restaurants.
• Click and Collect Mobile App Bespoke mobile application enabling employees at client workplaces to pre-order food at the start of the day ahead of breaktimes, so meals are ready for collection without queues.
• Complete Service Offering Comprehensive workplace catering package including design and build support, restaurant setup, menu development, hospitality services, financial transparency and client communication support for enterprise clients.
• Ethical Olive Sustainability Programme Sustainability programme structured around three pillars (Human, Environmental, Economic) that underpins Olive's Net Zero 2035 goal and includes ethical sourcing, waste reduction, plant-based cleaning products and 100% EV/hybrid car fleet.

Quantifiable outcome

• 25% increase in canteen usage within 3 weeks of Olive taking over a distribution client site
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Birtwistle's ButcherscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 August 2025Four-generation family butcher business with over 100 years of experience in the meat and farming industry. Northern support team visited Birtwistle's for training. Partnership includes training days, chef training modules on speciality cuts, 'Meat the butcher experiences', and farm visits featuring sausage making demonstrations.
• Love Joe'sminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 August 2025Chicken supplier partner. Midlands team spent a day learning about chicken with Love Joe's who believe sustainability is about people and communities they serve. Partnership supports sustainable future within the poultry sector.
• Vegetarian ExpressminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 August 2025Plant-based specialist supplier on a mission to fill plates with plant-based goodness. Southern team experienced live cooking demonstration with vegetarian specialist supplier's Chef and were presented with newly sourced ingredients for Olive's new menus.
• 200 DegreescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 February 2024Olive partnered with UK coffee roasters 200 Degrees to take workplace food and drink to the next level. 200 Degrees, founded in Nottingham in 2012, provides premium sustainable coffee with taste notes of chocolate, hazelnut and caramel. Their sustainability ethos aligns with Olive's Ethical Olive framework, working with trusted importers supporting small farmers. The partnership brings the Brazilian Love Affair signature blend to Olive sites.
• Tough To TalkcoreOthers · 30 May 2023Olive partnered with men's mental health charity Tough To Talk following the tragic loss of a male team member to suicide. Together they plan to raise awareness and funds to reduce the chances of such tragedies happening again. The partnership aims to support men's mental health within the workplace.
• VeoliaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 August 2020UK's leading provider of environmental solutions served as first trial partner for Olive's bespoke mobile app designed to help workplaces manage mealtimes with pre-ordering capabilities.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Elior UK: Subsidiary of French contract caterer Elior Group operating B&I, education and healthcare catering across the UK. Direct competitor for many of Olive's workplace contracts.
• Baxter Storey: UK independent-style contract caterer serving B&I, financial services and premium workplace clients with bespoke menus. Closest comparable to Olive in scale, positioning and bespoke service model.
• Wilson Vale: UK independent contract caterer focused on workplace and hospitality dining with similar bespoke positioning to Olive. Direct competitor for independent B&I pitches.
• CH&CO: Independent UK contract caterer focused on workplace, hospitality and venue catering. Comparable to Olive in bespoke B&I proposition and UK contract portfolio.
• Lexington Catering: London-focused independent contract caterer serving corporate workplace clients with bespoke fresh-food offerings. Comparable independent B&I proposition at city-head office end of the market.
• Gather & Gather: UK workplace catering brand (part of CH&CO) competing head-on with Olive in B&I food services with comparable workplace restaurant propositions.

Regional players

• Caterlink: Independent UK contract caterer with strong education sector presence but also competing in workplace dining. Comparable in independence and bespoke model, with adjacent vertical exposure.

Broad incumbents

• Sodexo UK & Ireland: Global contract catering and facilities services major with significant UK B&I presence. Competes for larger national workplace contracts that Olive targets at the upper end.
• Compass Group UK & Ireland: World's largest contract caterer operating through brands such as Chartwells and Eurest in the UK. Dominant incumbent in B&I and workplace dining against whom Olive competes on bespoke service.
• Atalian Servest (Food Services): UK facilities management group including food service contracts for workplace clients. Broader incumbent offering bundled FM and catering services that compete for B&I tenders.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/eskesen-advisory

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Olive Catering Services