Our path to success
Our strategy is focused on growing our market-leading positions in the food travel sector in international markets
Our strategy is to accelerate revenue growth, including like-for-like and new business growth, which we convert efficiently to drive profit, cash and economic returns.
We execute this through our three strategic pillars:
PRIORITISING HIGH GROWTH MARKETS
ENHANCING BUSINESS CAPABILITIES TO DRIVE GROWTH AND PERFORMANCE
DRIVING OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES
- Increase focus on air channel
- Accelerate growth in North America and targeted APAC & EEME
- Grow selectively in the UK & I and Continental Europe
- Develop great customer propositions
- Digitise the customer experience
- Support our people and culture
- Build a sustainable business
- Deliver our Value Creation Plan to drive productivity and efficiency
- Optimise commercial, purchasing and supply chain operations
- Use technology and automation to simplify tasks and enhance productivity
Our five competitive advantages
- Leading market positions
- Food travel expertise
- Long-term client relationships
- Skilled and engaged colleagues
- Local insight and international scale
Strategy in action
Expanding our Australian footprint with ARE acquisition
Consistent with our strategy of accelerating growth in Asia Pacific, in May 2024 we acquired Airport Retail Enterprises Pty Ltd (‘ARE’) in Australia. ARE’s portfolio of 62 outlets at the time, principally bars, casual dining restaurants and cafés across seven Australian airports, was highly complementary to SSP’s existing operations. As a result of the acquisition, we gained entry into four new airports: Canberra, Gold Coast, Townsville and Mount Isa. Following the acquisition, we had a team of c.2,400 colleagues operating c.100 units across 11 of the largest 19 airports in Australia. ARE ‘s proven capability in designing and operating large format bars and casual dining restaurants, its deep relationships with East Coast airports and iconic Australian brands, and the opportunity for combined efficiencies underpin the anticipated returns on this acquisition.
A recipe for net zero
The best lever we have for reducing food-related GHG emissions for our own brands is by adapting our recipes and menu offerings. To support this, we have partnered with Klimato to calculate, communicate and reduce the climate impact of our food offerings. Having piloted Klimato in the UK and UAE in 2023, we expanded it across both markets in 2024. This included integrating Klimato assessments into new product development processes and menu reviews, and using the insights to identify opportunities to adjust recipes or redesign menus to reduce emissions. For example in 2024, in the UK, we refined our Soul + Grain range using Klimato insights, achieving a c.15% reduction in the carbon footprint of food sold while maintaining profitability.
Implementing workforce management digital tools in the UK
As part of the upgrade of our internal systems, we launched our new workforce management system in the UK, the UKG Pro workforce management software. The new system is a forecasting and labour scheduling tool available to all managers to allocate shifts and plan for busy periods in their units. The tool is fully digital and includes automated scheduling which uses our colleague’s data and preferences to create the most optimised shifts. It enables managers to allocate staff according to the expected passenger levels and plan for small windows of increased demand instead of default fixed shifts. Additionally, the workforce management system enables flexibility in staffing. Rotas can be easily changed to adapt to last minute changes in colleague availability. This helps managers deal with absence and staff shortages. The system has helped drive efficiencies, ensuring we have resources available at the proper time for colleagues to meet peak trading numbers.