Staff restaurants could be key to corporate success

Staff restaurants will shape the future of Britain's business success over the next 25 years, according to a leading academic.

Professor Richard Scase, author of Britain Towards 2010, a book examining the likely social, cultural and economic changes in Britain during the next decade, forecast that staff restaurants would be the scene of more critical decisions than the boardroom.

Scase, who is also visiting professor at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, told an Avenance breakfast briefing in London that the UK had to change its perspective if it was to compete against the USA and China. He said it could only compete through making the most of its creative talents, and office restaurants were the most likely place to breed this.

Scase said some companies and organisations were already taking the role of workplace restaurants more seriously. "Companies such as IBM and GlaxoSmithKline are already reaping the rewards of investing heavily in social areas. They have become less-traditional meeting areas to chat over business issues. Not only do these meetings lead to better ideas, but they save a company money and time.

"Facilities management used to be all about wiring and the nuts and bolts of the office building. Now it's about so much more and becoming pivotal to a company's success. We will see a time when all decision making will take place in the cafeteria, not the boardroom."