Elior UK is a leading contract catering company that specializes in providing comprehensive catering and hospitality services across various sectors, including workplace, education, healthcare, defence, and sporting venues. With a workforce of over ten thousand employees, the company is committed to delivering exceptional customer experiences through quality food and dedicated service.
The company's extensive range of services includes not only catering but also wider facilities management, ensuring that clients receive a holistic approach to their hospitality needs. Elior UK partners with organizations to create tailored solutions that meet the specific demands of their environments, making it a trusted choice for clients seeking reliable and innovative catering services in the UK.
Elior UK faces significant criticism from consumers and employees alike, with an overwhelming majority of reviews rating the company poorly. Many people express dissatisfaction with the food quality, describing it as "poor" and "disgusting," with complaints about overpriced meals and questionable hygiene practices, such as serving food with bare hands.
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Staff experiences are equally troubling, with reports of bullying and mismanagement, leading to a toxic work environment. While a few reviewers mention positive aspects of the catering service and commend individual staff members, these sentiments are far outweighed by the negative feedback regarding food and workplace conditions. Overall, Elior UK struggles to meet expectations in both food quality and employee satisfaction, resulting in a predominantly negative sentiment.
Each source counts by its number of reviews. Only reviews written by people are scored.
Rating, volume, share of the score, six-month trend and fake-review risk for each source
Source
Rating
Reviews
Weight
6-mo
Fake risk
★
Trustpilot
Imported Trustpilot reviews
1.6
30
100%
● Low
1.6 / 5 overall
=
30 reviews across 1 scored source
How fake risk works ⓘ
Reputation trend
Monthly average rating from reviews written by people · latest review Jul 2025.
Last 3 months
1.0
12-month avg
1.0
All-time
1.6
Category avg
4.1
Monthly averageCategory average
Monthly average rating and review count
Month
Average
Reviews
Nov 24
1.0
1
Dec 24
—
0
Jan 25
1.0
1
Feb 25
1.0
2
Mar 25
1.0
1
Apr 25
1.0
3
May 25
—
0
Jun 25
1.0
1
Jul 25
1.0
2
What people praise & complain about
Share of positive (4–5★) and negative (1–2★) reviews mentioning each topic · based on the 30 most recent reviews.
Top complaintsof 26 negative reviews
Payment issues31%
8 mentions
Customer service23%
6 mentions
Pricing12%
3 mentions
Quality12%
3 mentions
“This used to be a great service with great staff”
On “Payment issues” · Jul 3, 2025
How it compares
Same method for every company: overall rating, legitimacy checks, the average rating of reviews mentioning each area and the 6-month trend · Catering Services.
Overall rating and review count for this company and similar companies
Went to 618 lounge at Leeds Bradford airport.
just want to say how bad the 618 lounge is shocking.apart from the lovely lady behind the bar who was brilliant the whole experience was a waste of money... See more
This used to be a great service with great staff. Now, what are you going to do about the disgraceful situation at Nightingale Lodge in Romsey? When are you going to act responsibly and when are you g... See more
Poor food terrible cooks. I don't eat at airbus anymore the food is disgusting really. And putting food on plates with bare hands is just wrong. They don't serve anything that id call food. I wish I c... See more
Worked with Elior for a few years. Basically worked three job roles to help where I could. To go on to maternity to have my baby, to have my job role taken away from me and be demoted. So if you want... See more
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Went to 618 lounge at Leeds Bradford airport.
just want to say how bad the 618 lounge is shocking.apart from the lovely lady behind the bar who was brilliant the whole experience was a waste of money. The staff are walking round in dirty trainers and the no customer service skills whatsoever. The food was all cold and when I asked for the sausage butty was told they are for Avro lounge next door. The guy I complained too then spent next twenty minutes with a food thermometer confirming the food was cold but never apologised just said I will check the temperature with the chef. Come on a child could tell the food was cold. They are preparing butties with no gloves on while wiping his hands on his backside. Not sure what food standard that would get pretty sure not what you were expecting. There were no tongs to pick up cheese as we had to settle for cheese and out of date biscuits to eat not very hygienic. As for the toilets I think someone had had an upset tummy as they were a disgrace I had to go back into the main area to use main toilets not the experience I was promised. I wanted to make a review but guessing the 404 error I was getting was to close down any further negative comments. I expect a full refund for my poor experience and an acknowledgment of my complaint but suspect you will do nothing like they did here today.
This used to be a great service with great staff. Now, what are you going to do about the disgraceful situation at Nightingale Lodge in Romsey? When are you going to act responsibly and when are you going to even start to resolve the problems? After three months, we still know nothing. We have no permanent chef, sometimes no chef at all, one inadequate server, revolting penny-pinching food, with which even a very good chef would struggle to make palatable.
There is a chef who would be happy to take on a full-time position but you can't decide on an acceptable pay rate, nor have you even started to advertise the vacancy yet, as is legally required... after three months?
The staff member who came yesterday was completely incompetent. She lied many times in the name of ELIOR and, when caught out 10 minutes into the meeting, she stormed off. She had the wrong personality for the role, shouting over people, then shouting loudly in the kitchen after she stormed off, before driving away without a word. It is absurd to be telling residents all about bizarre future summer menus, refusing to answer more relevant questions, when there is no chef and no other staff in the kitchen. Two candidates for dining room staff have been messed about; one interview never took place and the other very nice young man was given confusing information, no time, a vague place, he had taken time off from college twice and paid bus fares, all for nothing, though he should be respected for his determination. I wouldn't even want to work for a company who behaved in such an unprofessional way.
The bottom line is that we want to know what ELIOR is planning to actually DO? We are in despair. I have personally had to see my GP twice due to weight loss. How do we explain that the catering company in a retirement development is failing to meet even the basic terms of their contract?
Poor food terrible cooks. I don't eat at airbus anymore the food is disgusting really. And putting food on plates with bare hands is just wrong. They don't serve anything that id call food. I wish I could add pictures of it. Absolutely shocking.
Worked with Elior for a few years. Basically worked three job roles to help where I could. To go on to maternity to have my baby, to have my job role taken away from me and be demoted. So if you want to have a baby and work at Elior, don’t. They also do not pay hard working staff when promised, this issue can take weeks to sort out. They act like no one else has bills to pay. Absolutely unfair. They act clueless. Do not bother, the company does not know its finger from its ass.
I live in an Anchor apartment, who have the misfortune of having elior as our caterers. The residents are disgusted by the questionable cook they placed here months ago. I have spoke to Russel about the cook being dirty and not able to make the simplest of food the teacloth left on the counter one day was disgustingly dirty. Russell's reply was they were going to buy the cook a new uniform. This is not the answer as the residents refuse to eat there, we were promised hot food on signing up. The people who live here are not in the best of health so need healthy nourishing food daily. Also the kitchen is open just 2.5 hours Mon to Fri. We have a 5 star food hiegene sticker on the front door. I wonder if environment health would even be kind enough to give it a 1rating. What is wrong with you elior? If you cannot produce a decent cook and food then it's time for you to leave here. All that matters to elior is profit. The residents pay for the café and any food consumed so elior it's time to put this right before further action is taken
Since Eliot has taken over the catering the meals are over priced and seem poor quality ingredients at St James’s university hospital. Real shame as this was once a treat to brighten the endless oncology appointments!
Worked for a year for this company as a kitchen assistant for hillcrest academy in leeds . I was bullied to the point I asked to be moved as managers and above did nothing . I was moved to Richmond hill primary school in leeds and my wages was constantly down every single month ( this is at an employment tribunal) as again management have done nothing. What I will say is anyone looking to employ these please check out the company they serve dry jacket potatoes to kids with nothing on no butter no nothing if the kids do not have enough money on their account. At a time when child poverty is already high and in a school of all places this is completely unacceptable. And these poor kids are not old enough to understand it’s heartbreaking to see I can’t imagine for one minute the parents know about this as I certainly would not be happy .The food they serve is very poor and not enough to fill them it’s absolutely shocking. I would honestly strongly suggest to do your research and parents please please see exactly what you are paying for . And anyone looking to employ these please do the same
The food is vastly overpriced even at staff rates and of poor quality. £6.50 for a meal deal restricted to sandwiches (no wraps or rolls etc), a zero calorie drink (no fruit juices) and a packet of walkers crisps is excessive. Tesco's half a mile away sells a better quality range of sandwiches, wraps, rolls, salads etc with a choice of at least 20 different drinks and juices for almost half the price. Even M&S and Waitrose are massively cheaper.
As others have said 1 star is too much for this absolute shambles of a company. Pay not been right for 7 months endless of calls to management who can’t be bothered to get back to you to resolve. Employment tribunal it is now as not one person can sort my wages . Avoid at all costs bad company to work for 😡 Don’t think the company’s who employ these know half of what goes on .
Worst company I've ever worked for. Decreased my pay without explanation, and when asked, area manager claimed I was never supposed to be paid more than minimum wage. After almost 3 years of working in the bistro, training new staff, coming in to work at the last minute, and helping out during emergencies. I was told that if I didn't like it, I should get a different job. To quote the area manager: "my hands are tied", she refused to restore my pay, refused to discuss a new contract, refused any and all compromises. All this company cares about is cutting costs. There's absolutely no benefits when working for them.
Wouldnt even give one star. Worst company I've ever worked for. I worked in the canteen at Wincanton/purina hamshall elior had the canteen contract. First 2 weeks in I was unfairly dismissed contacted high end of HR had to offer me my job back. Then further on we had a new ops manager who was a nasty vile man also I had a grievance in against him for touching me a few times. Investigation was pathetic took 8 weeks to complete and I also had cctv evidence off this and they purposely left it til last minute to ask for it knowing it was going to have disappeared after 28 days I had 5 witnesses that seen it also only spoke to 2 witnesses and then ended my investigation on not enough witness evidence hahaha pathetic so appealed and because I was no longer an employee because the ops manager I had my investigation against was allowed to end my probation in middle of investigation. He also then didn't put my full month of hours through went through HR after HR no help and useless they basically told me because I was on probation i can be treated how they want to treat me and nothing I can do about it basically. I've so many emails witness evidence etc on my case so I've had to involve police on sexyal assault and also going through acas I have far to much evidence they I will take em to the cleaners. Do not ever work elior nobody cares. And they treat you like a piece of s**t and all that for penny's not worth it. Worst company in all my working life I have ever worked for and the ones that run Wincanton hams Hall canteen are the nastiest of all do not work there in that canteen for elior
I was working for Lexington, which is a caterer brand owned by Elior. I have more than a decade of experience in hospitality and have never seen worse management than Lexington's. The General Manager of my site was disrespectful, unsupportive and unable to manage a team. They were never there for one reason or another, most of the time nowhere to be seen! Either holidays (clearly more than 28 days per year excluding bank holidays) or they were sick, or their child's sick, or the train strike, and so on. Statistically, I'd say 3 out of 5 working days there was an excuse to stay home / not work at all. When they're there (usually late and NEVER for a full shift) they brought darkness and negativity, so eventually I've started to appreciate being left alone without help or support. This is a pattern you can see often in Lexington. My team and I didn't have even one performance review or 1-2-1 in more than 2 years (until I resigned, otherwise it would be longer), that means they won't give you a chance to shine or to grow or to develop your skills, no matter how hard you work or how well you performed. It's disheartening to work hard just to not receive anything, not even a bonus, because in Lexington you're not entitled to one. Exactly, no bonus, no reward and no development. What should motivate you to go to work for them? Unless the one and only reason is money, or you're happy to work as a robot with no will and no gratification. This situation became quite frustrating, especially when my manager employed their partner and quickly promoted them to a prominent role within our team, even though they were clearly not ready and there was much needed training to do. This includes health and safety, or food safety training. I am not saying that person didn't deserve it, they weren't ready just yet, but they had the opportunity just because of their private relationship. What about everyone else? What about people that spent a long time in the company or the ones actually bringing amazing results? And I don't even want to start talking about the drama my team and I had to witness, because imagine a married couple living and working together? I truly learnt the meaning of unhealthy and toxic work environments. There were many other things happening, I just wanted to share some bits about my experience. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to speak freely of what I was feeling, and what was happening, to anyone, and never really contacted HR because I was scared it'd backfire and create more issues for me (quick note about them: the previous HR manager was a shark, I remember that during a training session she was telling a story about a guy they screwed really hard by mistake and he ended up resigning, she was giggling remembering about it). It's easy to understand that Lexington won't do anything for you or for your well-being, that's why they have a huge staff turnover, and have never seen anything like this before. The general manager is aware of this, and their response is: everyone's replaceable🤡 (which is 90% true, but you don't say that to your hard-working team, especially if you are so unprofessional and absent. Basic good manners should teach you that) Is this the person you'd like to work for? I recommend this company only if you're desperate for money or if you don't have any plan for your own development.
There are also some pros:
- They operate as catering services for corporate clients so you get to enjoy the Mon to Fri week, and all weekends and bank holidays off.
- Sometimes you get to negotiate a decent salary, and focus on the word negotiate. They need you more than you will ever need them.
4 times now their vending machine at my work has charged me and then just timed out without giving my the food. I work 12 hour night shifts so there is no other alternative for obtaining lunch if I have to leave for work in a hurry. They don't seem to care as it's free money for them.
Very expensive sandwiches the most basic almost £3 that cost pence to make , sausage bap over £3 with not even 2 sausage. In a hospital as well Nottingham QMC . Disgraceful and a rip off.
Started with the company training and someone who had been with the company longer than me accused me of something which cost me my job I got told them that I wanted a investigation because I didn’t do it to be told that if I did it would not go my way anyway cause I had only been in the company a short while and I would be dismissed this really upset me that anyone could be treated this way and then every mistake which I made while training and I apologised for like putting the tins in the wrong place was used against me as well I couldn’t believe it. If I make mistakes I own up to it but but to be told after being accused of something I didn’t do and be made to feel guilty without being given the opportunity to prove that it because I wasn’t there long it didn’t happen cause it didn’t I feel sorry for anyone who works for this company and it happens to them.
Elior is the contracted caterer at a extra care facility. While the actual chef is great, the mismanagement and lack of communication is terrible. Really really poor service from management. The residents deserve much better
Elior UK is a leading contract catering company that specializes in providing comprehensive catering and hospitality services across various sectors, including workplace, education, healthcare, defence, and sporting venues. With a workforce of over ten thousand employees, the company is committed to delivering exceptional customer experiences through quality food and dedicated service.
The company's extensive range of services includes not only catering but also wider facilities management, ensuring that clients receive a holistic approach to their hospitality needs. Elior UK partners with organizations to create tailored solutions that meet the specific demands of their environments, making it a trusted choice for clients seeking reliable and innovative catering services in the UK.
