Comprehensive Guide to Planning an Office Catering Event

<Collaborative Post> Office catering events are the perfect way to provide fantastic food to your staff as well as increase staff morale, and retention and lets you throw events for stakeholders or clients. It also takes the stress out of having to arrange for a complex event, cater to people’s dietary requirements and ensure that the event is successful. This article provides you with a comprehensive guide to planning the perfect office catering event for your business. We cover:

• Planning your event and ensuring that you have considered all of the relevant aspects before moving to the organisation stage. Such as agreeing on the budget that you have available, the dietary considerations for the event and the guest count. You will also want to consider the theme of the event as this will dictate the next stage of planning.
  
  
• Ensuring that your office has the correct facilities to host the event or if you require food to be delivered directly to your office. This can be prepared off-site and then delivered to a kitchen area or delivered ready to eat once arriving at your office.
  
  
• Working with a professional catering company once you have planned all of the relevant details for your event. Planning as much as possible allows caterers to then design and execute your event, leaving you to entertain guests or complete your event without having to worry about catering and beverages.

This article is written by Love Food, the leading independent provider of office catering in London.

Ensure That You Invest Time into the Initial Planning Stage

Working with professional caterers is the best way to ensure that your event goes smoothly and that you don’t have to worry about the complexities of organising a catering event. It’s important however to invest time in the planning stage to ensure that you have prepared all of the relevant details which will help with the organisation of your event. It’s important to:

• Determine the time of your event and whether your office is suitable for the event that you are trying to achieve. If your office doesn’t have appropriate catering facilities for example then you may need to organise an event in a different location.
  
  
• Collect the attendance list and more importantly – the dietary requirements of those who are attending. It’s highly important that these needs are catered for and that careful preparation and catering delivery are organised to eliminate the risk of cross-contamination.
  
  
• Decide on the budget and the types of food that you will be providing. Will you be providing alcoholic beverages and what time of day will the event be organised? How long will the event take? These will all determine the amount that you may need to spend on the event.
  
  
• Ensure that you have the relevant equipment available and that this is organised if you need it. Many event organisers and catering providers can provide equipment on the day but this will need to be factored into the budget.
  
  
• Decide on the theme of the event and the types of food that need to be available. Will you be providing a full buffet or selected foods and beverages during the event?

Working With Professional Caterers to Organise Your Event

Once you have all of these details prepared, you can work with a professional catering company to organise the logistics for your event. Your food will be prepared by trained chefs which ensures standards control as well as the proper handling of food and temperatures before catering takes place. Working with professionals eliminates all of the stress of organising the catering for your event which is often the most time-consuming and stressful process. You are able to enjoy a perfectly executed event without having to worry about catering and beverages.

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