Catering A Networking Event In Derby

The constraint nobody plans for

At a networking event everybody is standing, holding a drink, and trying to talk to someone they have just met. That leaves one hand.

Almost every standard buffet ignores this. Anything needing a plate, a fork or two hands does not get eaten: it gets looked at, and then people leave hungry and go for a sandwich afterwards, which rather defeats the point of having laid on food.

What actually works

One-handed, one-bite, no cutlery. That is the whole specification.

• Canapés are the purpose-built answer, £9.80 a head for three or £14.30 for five. Designed to be eaten exactly like this.
• Savouries at £3.35 a head for three pieces, sausage rolls, pork pies, quiche, pinwheels. Less formal, does the same job.
• Sandwiches cut small, from £5.50 a head on Buffet 1. Reliable and universally eaten.
• A grazing table from £97.00 per crate if you want the room to look like something has been laid on. It also solves the queue, because people graze past it rather than joining a line.

What to avoid: anything saucy, anything needing cutting, anything that drips. A curry at a networking event is a well-intentioned mistake.

Timing it

Food out before the speaking, not after. People arrive hungry from work, and a room that has eaten listens better than a room that has not.

If the event runs long, split it: something substantial at the start, something sweet an hour later. It gives the second half of the evening a reason to keep going.

Breakfast networking

Derby has a lot of it, and it is the easier format to cater, everybody arrives at once and leaves at once. Breakfast catering starts at £3.35 a head, delivered between eight and nine, or earlier if you ask. Pastries and fruit sit happily for an hour; hot bacon and sausage baps are better received but want eating within about twenty minutes, so somebody has to call the room.

The practical bits

Delivery is free across Derby and there is a £20 minimum on the order value. Order by 4pm the day before. Disposable plates and napkins are included, and our driver collects the platters and cool boxes the next working day, which matters when your venue is a hired room you have to hand back.

Every buffet is 30% vegetarian as standard, with vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free and halal portions prepared separately and labelled at no charge.

If you run these regularly, set up an account and it goes on one invoice instead of somebody expensing it every month.

More on what we do locally on the Derby catering page.