‘We wanted to be a disruptor’: How Ed Walker is doing things differently with Fika 

Where did the name Fika come from?

Fika is a Swedish concept, it’s a time when the country comes to a halt mid-morning or mid-afternoon for a break, a coffee and a pastry. But it’s more than that, it’s about taking time to spend with one another.

How do you make sure Fika stands out in a competitive market?

As an owner-operator, we offer a very personal, bespoke service – we still do, even though we now employ more than 100 people. I’m responsible, I take account for every client and they all have my direct email and phone number.

How has the business evolved?

We have 20 B&I contracts in London with a mix of on- and off-site catering, and we’re now turning over £8m. We have two dark kitchens – one in in Tate Britain in Pimlico and the other in Canary Wharf – which allow us to attack the city from both sides, and we have a commercial café in Canary Wharf.

Our events team, which can create experiences for clients, such as an English garden party theme or Caribbean theme, has become an important part of the business. In the early days we were just going with the flow when a client asked if we could do something and we’d always say yes. Over the years we’ve built up a lot of props, from ice-cream bikes to chocolate fountains and doughnut walls, so we now have all this stuff at our disposal. We can work at scale and we’ve done events for 600 people, even Christmas lunch for 900 – it’s not always an office lunch for 30-50 people.

Talk to us about your delivered-in service.

Very early on, there was an opportunity do something a bit disruptive and partner with Just Eat for Business. Historically, established caterers would have seen Just Eat as a competitor, but we felt there was enough space in the market, particularly in London, for a different model. So rather than trying to reate a Mexican-style pop-up ourselves when we don’t have a Mexican chef, we tapped into authentic, local high-street vendors to bring that offer into client sites. Just Eat delivered the lunches through its platform for the client, while we managed the service and looked after the coffee bar, meeting rooms and hospitality. It has worked well because we have an on-site team day to day, but we can still bring in a wider range of food.

You’ve also recently won a contract to be the event partner for the Line in Blackfriars, how is that going?

We’re five months in and it was a big step as a commercial venture. It comes with its own risks, but it’s going really well and we’re finding our flow. We already did the catering in the café on the ground floor, so that helped us win the tender.

We’re not specifically looking to expand the events side of the business, because there are already lots of specialists who do that and do it well, but over the years we’ve found being nimble and open to anything is the best way to grow.

You launched Bloom Coffee Academy alongside Fika – had you always intended to have a social purpose alongside the catering offer?

Bloom Coffee Academy was set up to give the business a clear social purpose – I knew I didn’t want to get to retirement and think I hadn’t helped anyone throughout my lifetime. I’m pleased to say we’ve trained more than 120 disadvantaged people over the past five years and one result of that is we win a lot of business with companies that want to be part of our social enterprise.

We focus on training people who face barriers to work, including those affected by homelessness, or people with special educational needs or other disadvantages, and this training is delivered on a one-to-one basis because of the learners’ complex needs. Every person who has come through the Academy achieves a Specialty Coffee Association qualification. The academy is within the Salvation Army building on Oxford Street and it also doubles as a training base for our own baristas.

And the company is a B Corp too?

We never wanted to be a caterer that did stuff in order to tick boxes and on day one I set out to be B Corp. We’re a living wage and disability-confident employer and we make sure we challenge every decision we make, from the bank we choose to buying recycled cotton uniforms and the use of chemical-free disinfectants.

I’m lucky to be surrounded by a dedicated senior management team who were early adopters and small shareholders and they live and breathe the vision of Fika. We also took on two non-executive board members whose main role was to keep us on the straight and narrow when it came to sustainability decisions. They stop us from veering off towards cheaper alternatives or when we’re tempted to work with clients that don’t align with our values. That was important. We also took on an investor who is a social investor and that has kept us in good stead.

We didn’t want to be just another corporate caterer. We wanted to be a disruptor, with high social impact and a sustainable business. We knew from the start what we wanted and those people held us to account.

How are you finding the market?

It’s flipping tough because there’s so much going on in the background. As an industry we’re on low margins. We’ve always been brave, looked at solutions and cracked on without complaining too much, but the balance has gone too far and something needs to be done, whether it’s VAT or reversing the National Insurance hike. Fortunately, we’re still in growth mode and there are plenty of opportunities out there. We have two or three tenders on the go, with much of our business coming via word of mouth, but for anyone now who wants to start a new business, I don’t see that happening.

What’s been your proudest moment?

We’ve just hit our fifth anniversary. Although growing a small business is hard work, and we run things at a million miles an hour, it has been nice to stop and look back – not just at the numbers and the clients, but at our people, who we call Legends. We believe everyone, at any level of the business, can create a community of happiness in the workplace, so we’re having a big boat party for our Legends to say thank you and reflect where we’ve come from.

Any pinch-me moments?

There has been one. Coming from big corporates, I’m aware it’s very dog-eat-dog and everyone wants business, but I’ve always wanted to champion, partner with and support other companies as an industry, especially the smaller players. We’ve actually ended up winning business through other caterers who have sub-let work out to us for specialist areas. That was a pinch-me moment, when I had to raise an invoice to a competitor.

About Fika Catering 

Employees 100

Contracts 20 B&I contracts in London, including an events contract with the Line, London

Turnover £8m

fikacatering.com

Bloom Coffee Academy

Location 275 Oxford Street, London W1C 2DJ

Founded 2021

Trainees 120

bloom-coffee.org