The City of London is one of the largest financial center in the world. This reputation has been built up with the large banks and financial institutions. But you also have a huge number of small and medium businesses across the City.
These small and medium businesses are not big enough to have their own canteen, that’s why they usually use corporate catering companies for all their lunch requirements. You can find hundreds of corporate caterers in Google or the Yellow pages. They are all providing very different kind of products, but their kind of structure and organization is quite similar. They usually offer sandwich or baguette platters, finger food, mini bagels platters, hot and cold drinks. For desert, they can provide you fruit platters, fruit salads and mini cakes.
They always have vegetarian and vegan options in order to satisfy all the customers in the City. Some caterers tend to show their difference nowadays. Some will provide only organic food, or will supply mainly French or Italian office catering products. You can usually place your order the day before you require delivery. These companies will ask you all your specific requirements (vegetarian, no pork etc), time of delivery and the number of guests.
In the early morning, the manager will list all the order to be delivered on the day. All the staffs are preparing the sandwich platters, cakes, bagels between 8am and 10am. All the food must be ready between 10am and 11am. Then, the deliveries can start. All platters must be delivered for lunch time, usually between 12pm and 1pm. This kind of business is very touchy, as the customers have high expectations. It’s usually the office manager who deals with the orders. Their responsibility within the rest of the company is involved if they don’t select the right office catering company. That’s why only office catering businesses which always guarantee good time delivery can survive in this highly competitive market.
Nowadays, many local sandwich shops tend to provide corporate catering services. These services are quite successful, as most of the office managers prefer to be supplied by local businesses, usually within the same street. They like to have the opportunity to easily talk on face to face with their caterer. Also, they can expect a quicker delivery time, and they can build up a direct relationship with the manager, who will understand better the requirements of the company.