Shifting Approaches To Fuel Workplace Comfort
Hospitality plays a central role in inspiring culture change and creating fun, dynamic social environments for people to thrive in at work. The office space has evolved massively in recent years, transforming into a professional playground and at BaxterStorey, we are ready to play. We believe the workplace should be fuelled by craft, creativity, and community. Wellbeing and collaboration are the focus, and clients can utilise their hospitality offer to create environments that are bursting with nutritious, healthy, and delicious food, in inspiring spaces.
We see the workplace as an opportunity to innovate and engage through great food. From new trends in food and drink, to a bigger focus on wellbeing and diversity, with more of the workforce now back in the office, we are working closer than ever with clients to create social workspaces that are exceeding customer expectations.
Be Space Strategic
The traditional use of the lunchtime canteen is now old news, and restaurant spaces must work harder to cater for all, at any time of day from morning, noon, to night.
We’re seeing a shift from the traditional ‘all day’ Board meeting. Offices are now used for individual concentration, or as opportunity for more face‑to‑face interaction, and our restaurant spaces are at the centre of this. From barista masterclasses and baking workshops, to coffee meetings or working lunches, we’ve seen an upward trend for employee engagement centred on foodie experiences.
We’re shaking things up by empowering our chefs to push boundaries when it comes to their food offer, focused on delighting the customer with a memorable experience. For example, one floor may offer traditional hearty meals, salad bars or street food pop ups; with another having a coffee bar with premium coffee served by trained baristas. All of which are intended to create an all‑day package of delicious and exciting dining experiences within the workplace. It’s initiatives like this that have brought more people back into the office, bringing the excitement of the high street into the workplace and giving less reason for customers to venture out for food or drink.
The ability to flex and adapt is especially prevalent when looking at regional offerings. In London we have seen a thirst for cocktails and afterwork drinks, so we brought the bars into the office and have an army of skilled mixologists to give a bespoke cocktail experience with theatre and flair. Outside of London, we’re seeing a demand for premium coffee made by expert baristas, that people simply can’t create at home. We partnered with Extract Coffee to meet this demand by serving consistent quality coffee with purpose, across the country, as well as utilising their roasteries as training hubs for our teams. Bringing in industry experts, such as 2 x World Champion in Coffee and Good Spirits, Dan Fellows, to share their experiences and re‑energise our teams to get obsessed about coffee has had a big impact; and we’re on a mission to train everyone in our business to be able to make a perfect flat white!
We’re seeing a revolution in the world of street food where people want authentic experiences which ignite all their senses, taste smells and visuals that look great on social media! Working with Fuel Experiences, our street food agency, has enabled us to turn obscure spaces like courtyards, car parks or unused areas of the office environment, into energetic food festivals. From DJ’s and musicians and street food vendors who are well‑loved and known in the local community, bringing their craft and creativity into the office has had a lasting impact on employee culture.
Contribute To Workforce Wellbeing
Building an environment that nurtures good health and mental wellbeing goes hand in hand with serving nutritious, delicious food. The right food holds immense power over your health, mood and performance. As hospitality experts, we take the responsibility of being educators, supporting our customers and clients on how to eat a balanced and nutritious diet, that is packed with nutrition and flavour to help fuel their day.
A way we are doing this is through personalised nutrition, giving customers the power to be flexible to their own needs. We’ve been working to adapt our menus to cater to different dietary requirements and provide customers with more options to make informed choices about their food. This aligned with the needs of a growing generation of customers that are interested in mindful, low carbon, and zero waste menus, who want greater choice and transparency on the health and sustainability benefits of their food.
We work with suppliers that recognise and support our values anchored in fresh, seasonal produce. Bringing these partnerships into our client locations is always popular, with customers benefiting from educational workshops on the nutritional value of eating well, and how to prepare balanced meals. We also run wellbeing events from yoga mornings on our rooftop terraces with freshly prepared juices and yoghurts with healthy toppings; to lunchtime drop‑in sessions with our chefs where we talk about how to eat 30 plants a week.
Empowering Highly Trained Teams
To make these plans and ambitions a reality, we begin with the teams who create these dishes and beverages. We invest heavily in training and development, offering teams extensive training such as our renowned Chef Academy, which empowers chefs, sparks inspiration, and provides a ‘hands in the flour’ approach to developing skills. From getting back to basics with baking incredible fresh artisan bread, to transforming the way the business prepares menus with a focus on sustainability and nutrition, making plant‑based protein the star on the plate.
By recognising our chefs as experts in food innovation, we are encouraging them to be entrepreneurial and creative to continue challenging the norm and pushing us to keep improving and elevating our service. Community is such a big part of our business and creating an environment where our chefs have the freedom to create their recipes and are connected to their peers across the regions to share ideas and be inspired.
We are a ‘be yourself’ business and as caterers we see the future of the workspace as innovative, diverse, and fuelled by great food, beverage, and service. If our floor isn’t obsessed about what they do, then our customers won’t be either.
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