ARAMARK Limited have a passion for food that has resulted in success in numerous sectors, particularly the burgeoning offshore industry.
By Ian Armitage
As anybody who has ever watched a certain Mr. Ramsay on Channel 4’s “The F Word” will know, food service is an extremely passionate industry. Nobody can question that, in his case, passion has driven success. The same can be said for ARAMARK Limited, a firm that has been a food service partner to organisations across a range of sectors for three decades in the UK.
“ARAMARK is passionate about food,” says Keith Weston, Commercial Director (Offshore UK). “It is all about quality and freshness and how and where it is served.”
The offshore market is one full of potential for ARAMARK, a company Weston describes as “a professional services organisation dedicated to excellence”.
So why choose ARAMARK? “Well, our people make us different,” says Weston. “We pride ourselves on cultivating the right mix of individuals. We believe in developing people and working with teams to get the best possible results.
“We are also a large player in our chosen market; we are a niche product with clear goals. We do not choose to be in all markets; we prefer to be specialist, unlike our main competitors which are more generalist. This, in turn, ensures we provide a highly bespoke service to meet the specific needs of all our clients.
“We invest a tremendous amount of money and resource into constant innovation too, especially around the development of our food offers,” he adds.
ARAMARK’s key strengths, it seems, are delivering on promises made to the customer and its commitment to high health and safety standards. It prides itself on its recognition as a standard bearer within the industry, and external recognition from awards such as RoSPA and the National Business Awards in Scotland verify its “continued focus on health and safety performance”.
“This focus is embedded in all offshore business and is a cultural rather than systematic performance,” says Weston.
A CHANGING MARKET
The marketplace is definitely changing as oil prices increase, so it is important, according to Weston, ARAMARK remains at the top of its game. The increase in oil prices, he explains, leads everyone to think oil companies are profiting from the current economic situation, but the truth is that internal competition for assets and capital ensures competitive prices.
“Due to the inflation structure within the UK, business hasn’t boomed as much as we would expect as supply issues including wages and food inflation have taken precedent,” he adds. “As the UK market matures, other changes include a move from larger, international suppliers to smaller independents as they buy up less attractive areas of the portfolio in order to maximise the output from assets. In the industry as a whole, the face of clients is changing as larger companies diversify.”
In order to keep abreast of the marketplace, ARAMARK is constantly reviewing its cost and space, “proposing innovation to add value to the client”.
“For example,” says Weston, “the most expensive cost is staffing – the number of people required to attend offshore. Therefore, any innovations we can bring to reduce staff on site will significantly support the business. Of course, this reduction in personnel must not disrupt the business and any change within staffing must be made whilst ARAMARK maintains the full level of service required.”
Weston believes that in a mature market such as the UK, the major players divest their assets, while the smaller independent operators are able to come in to run the assets. “Independent companies are cost focused to ensure they maximise their ROI,” he says. “With the constant focus on fit for purpose services, we’re always comparing ourselves to the marketplace to ensure it provides a competitive service.
“International expansion is also a key area of growth. Many companies in Aberdeen, and indeed the UK as a whole, recognise that future growth will be overseas in the Middle East and Africa. The UK is a mature market and will not remain at this high level for ever; ARAMARK is aware of this and is expanding internationally as we speak.”
INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION
International expansion is certainly very appealing for ARAMARK. But it won’t be challenge free: “We must be careful to balance the portfolio and whilst looking forward, we must ensure we maintain our positioning within the current UK market,” says Weston. “We need to be less reliant on the UK Continental Shelf (CS) business and balance our portfolio with overseas endeavours, whilst bearing in mind that we need to maximise business within the core market we currently operate in.
“There is still a lot of opportunity within the UK CS, and we need to capitalise on this as well as keeping an eye on overseas markets.”
The main areas of development for ARAMARK, it appears, are in its “positioning as a leading player overseas” and in its “continued expansion of its range of services”: “Overall, our main area of development is to maximise investment in the UK and expand its services overseas.”
Every business wants to grow and ARAMARK Offshore is no exception.