From Catering to Custody: When a Services Giant Runs Prisons

Sodexo began by serving lunch and now it runs prisons where people have died in their cells. Founded in Marseille in 1966 as a modest catering business, the company has expanded into a global services empire, managing everything from hospital meals to justice and probation services. But behind the glossy rhetoric of “quality of life” and “rehabilitation through care,” serious concerns are mounting.

At HMP Bronzefield, a women’s prison in Surrey, multiple deaths in custody have revealed shocking neglect. A teenage mother gave birth alone in her cell; another prisoner died after staff failed to monitor her properly. Similar tragedies have struck other Sodexo-run prisons, including three deaths by hanging at HMP Lowdham Grange in 2023, just weeks after Sodexo assumed control.

Critics argue that the company’s business model built on winning vast, long-term contracts — prioritises cost-saving over care. Reports of cold “meals on wheels,” poor prison conditions, and failures in healthcare expose a troubling pattern: the bigger the contract, the weaker the accountability. As one analyst put it, “Size can often dilute, rather than enhance.”

Sodexo’s role in running public institutions raises a pressing question: should private corporations driven by profit be entrusted with human welfare? When “operational efficiency” meets human vulnerability, the consequences can be fatal. This isn’t just poor service, it’s a matter of human rights.

In the end, Sodexo’s evolution from catering to custody may reflect a wider moral crisis: what happens when the state’s duty of care is outsourced to the highest bidder.

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