(Bloomberg) --

London’s employers are using the lure of subsidized food to coax workers back into the office, according to the chief executive officer of catering company Compass Group Plc. 

“There’s a lot of comfort food” alongside a focus on health and wellness, Dominic Blakemore, CEO of Compass, said in an interview this week. “We still have fish and chips on Fridays and chicken katsu curry is becoming one of the most popular items on the menus.”

Compass -- one of the world’s biggest caterers that operates at thousands of client locations around the world -- has seen an uptick in employers offering subsidized meals as “one of the levers to bring people back to the office,” Blakemore said, while noting his firm’s customers are embracing a shift towards cheaper food items. 

“It can be chicken for pork, it can be alternatives based on what is spotting at the highest price,” he said. “We can swap trout for salmon, swap seafood for white meat, then we can give ourselves a cost advantage which benefits the client.”

Soaring Inflation

Cheap meals at work can be a way for office employees to offset costs as soaring inflation and higher interest rates put a dent in their wallets. UK mortgage costs jumped to their highest since 2008 in October and borrowing costs are set to stay close to 5% until at least the first quarter of 2028, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. 

Fears about job security is also encouraging the return as the economy slows. While some offices were effectively closed during the early days of the pandemic amid government guidance to work from home, Blakemore said the average occupancy in the office for Compass’s clients is now above three days. It was around four days pre-pandemic.

Recent research by LinkedIn found that remote working may have peaked in the UK, while some companies are already curtailing flexible work for existing employees.

“Every month we’re seeing it tick up,” Blakemore said of office attendance. “I suspect in a difficult economic environment, we may see a bit more presenteeism.”

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