SSP Group

SSP is a British multinational contract foodservice company, headquartered in London, England. It operates more than 2,800 branded catering and retail units at over 180 airports and 300 railway stations across 35 countries as a concessionaire. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

SSP Group plc
TypePublic
LSE: SSPG
FTSE 250 Component
IndustryFoodservice
Founded1961
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Vagn Sørensen, Chairman
Simon Smith, Chief Executive
ProductsRestaurants, Cafes, Bars, Fast Food
ServicesFoodservice
Revenue£2,794.6 million (2019)[1]
£221.1 million (2019)[1]
£153.5 million (2019)[1]
Number of employees
39,549 (2019)[1]
Websitewww.foodtravelexperts.com

History

The business was established as a division of Scandinavian airline SAS Group under the name of SAS Catering in 1961.[2] Its Select Service Partner (SSP) division was acquired by Compass Group in May 1993 for £72 million.[3] Compass then merged SSP with several other companies it owned, including Travellers Fare, British Rail's former catering division which had been privatised under a management buy-out in 1988 before being bought by Compass in 1992.[4] In 2006 the business was bought by EQT Partners for £1.822 billion.[3] The company was the subject of an initial public offering in 2014.[5]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, SSP announced it was cutting 5,000 UK jobs across its chains, including Upper Crust and Caffè Ritazza, as part of a restructuring aimed at keeping the company afloat.[6]

Operations
A Caffè Ritazza outlet at Hull Paragon Interchange

SSP operates a large portfolio of small brands, many of which are locally specific. Significant brands include:[7]

SSP also provides outsourced catering on board a number of train services, operating under the brand RG (previously Rail Gourmet). Clients have included Abellio Greater Anglia, Arriva Trains Wales, Chiltern Railways, DB Schenker, East Coast, East Midlands Trains, Eurostar, Great Western Railway, South Western Railway, Gatwick Express, Hull Trains, Iarnród Éireann, National Railway Company of Belgium, Norwegian State Railways, First ScotRail, Thalys and VR.[8]

SSP provides services at Ottawa International Airport.[9]

Criticism

In 2018, SSP brand Rail Gourmet was criticised for giving staff four days' notice that they were being made redundant on the Thameslink Railway routes.[10]

References
  1. "Annual report 2019" (PDF). SSP Group. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  2. "EQT to acquire Select Service Partner from Compass" (Press release). EQT. 9 April 2006. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  3. "Compass sells Moto service stations and Upper Crust food chain for £1.8bn". 10 April 2006. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  4. "Travellers Fare". Cinven. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  5. "Shares rise in SSP stock market debut". The Telegraph. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  6. Makortoff, Kalyeena (1 July 2020). "Upper Crust and Caffè Ritazza owner to cut 5,000 UK jobs". Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  7. "Brands". SSP Group. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  8. "SSP — RG". www.railgourmet.com. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  9. "Paradies Lagardère and SSP named new Ottawa Airport master concessionaires". DFNI Online. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  10. Neilan, Catherine (2015-07-22). "Thameslink slammed as staff sacked with four days' notice". Retrieved 2018-01-16.
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