As of yesterday, catering and support services provider Gardner Merchant is to change its name to that of its parent company Sodexho. Gardner Merchant became part of the Sodexho Alliance group of companies in 1995 and the name change is central to the UK corporate strategy of expansion beyond catering.

According to David Ford, Sodexho UK's Chief Executive: "Now is the right time for us to reposition the company. The Gardner Merchant name is known primarily for catering whereas Sodexho is an internationally recognised brand with a strong reputation for both catering and support services. The multi-service approach is already proving highly successful and providing growth opportunities. Increasing client demand suggests this is set to continue.

"At this stage we are primarily targeting people-based support services such as cleaning, security, helpdesks, mailroom and reprographics. Our repositioning is primarily in response to clients who wish to sub-contract a range of services so that they can concentrate on their core business."

Earlier this year Sodexho secured a multi-million pound contract to provide meals to 250 primary schools across Gloucestershire, the company's largest single group educational contract under the control of the newly-enhanced educational division.

Sodexho also announced that a new wholly-owned subsidiary, Laptop Dining Ltd, would be offering high quality meals to business travellers on low-cost airlines, intitally KLM's Buzz flying from Stansted -see www.laptopdining.com

The Sodexho Alliance operates in 66 countries worldwide and employs over 270,000 people globally. Sodexho in the UK employs over 50,000 people and provides the second largest contribution to the groupÕs revenue after North America. International contracts operated by Sodexho in different countries include IBM, Unilever, BP Amoco, Shell and HSBC.

Richard Byatt