If your company has 100–500 staff, you're in the band where most catering options don't quite work. A staffed canteen needs more daily covers than you can guarantee, especially with hybrid attendance. A delivery allowance is expensive per head and pulls people out of the building. A snack shelf doesn't cover lunch. Here's what mid-size UK offices are doing in 2026.
Why this size is awkward
100–500 staff hybrid usually means 60–250 people on-site on a Wednesday and 20–80 on a Friday. Operators won't quote a viable canteen at those numbers. The companies that try anyway often end up with a part-time café that loses money quietly and gets quietly closed.
On the other side, snack shelves and Friday lunches don't carry the daily lunch demand at this size. Everyone ends up leaving the building for lunch, which costs the company time and the staff money.
What works: workplace food infrastructure
A managed smart fridge sited in the kitchen or breakout area, stocked with chef-made meals delivered to site multiple times a week. A designated on-site contact (usually facilities or office management) loads the meals as deliveries land. Compound loads snacks and drinks directly. All purchases run through an app — there's no card reader on the door.
Available all day, every day, the fridge serves whoever's in: 60 people on a Friday, 250 on a Wednesday. Stocking adjusts to usage within the first few weeks.
How to fund it at this size
Three patterns dominate. (1) Retail — staff pay full price, employer pays a small management fee. Good starting point. (2) Partial subsidy — employer covers 30–50% per item, staff pay the difference in-app. The sweet spot for benefit and engagement at 100–500 staff. (3) Anchor-day subsidy — higher subsidy on the days you're trying to lift attendance.
All three are achievable with the same hardware — the commercial model lives in the app, not the fridge.
What it replaces
It replaces the daily walk-out, the £14 delivery sandwich, the unused fruit bowl, the abandoned Friday lunch order, and the awkward conversation about why this size of office has 'no food'.
Getting started
Compound runs free scoping calls — typically we look at headcount across the week, current food options on the doorstep, and what your team would actually use. From conversation to install is usually 2–4 weeks.
Want this in your workplace?
Office food solutions for small and mid-size offices in 2026
Most UK offices under 500 staff can't justify a canteen and resent paying £14 for delivery. Here's the workplace food infrastructure pattern that actually works in 2026.
Smart fridges in the workplace: how Compound actually works
A practical explainer on Compound's workplace food service — how the app and fridge work together, how stocking is handled on site, and how staff use it day to day.