UK's Compass plans to increase India staff as GCCs continue driving growth

The caterer is focusing on global capability centres (GCCs), which were over half its new clients last year, as multinationals expand in India for finance, tech, and R&D talent

Compass Group, the world's largest caterer, plans to boost its India workforce by up to 75 per cent over the next three years as it adds more clients, including global capability centres, an executive told Reuters.

UK-based Compass Group, which employs about 40,000 people in India across functions including food catering and facilities services, aims to double its India revenue every three years, its India CEO Vikas Chawla said.

The caterer is sharpening focus on global capability centres (GCCs), which made up over half its new clients last year, as multinationals expand in India to tap talent for finance, tech, research and development.

Clients include SAP and Alphabet's Google.

"GCCs will help us power ahead in a big way," Chawla said.

Its India business, which ranks third by meals served after the U.S. and UK and also handles clients in the manufacturing and education sectors, helped drive overall organic revenue growth by 11 per cent last year, when it posted revenue of $42.2 billion.

One of its India entities last reported annual revenue of nearly 15 billion Indian rupees ($172.31 million), up about 34 per cent from a year earlier, according to Tofler data.