Lean and mean - well, it was only a little chateau

Just how far is new Compass Group boss Richard Cousins prepared to go in his efforts to make the contract caterer leaner and meaner?

He popped his head above the parapet last week for the first time since joining, and made some prudent financial noises that met with approving nods in the City. In preparation for the announcement, we hear he rallied his top-ranking troops last month at a Fontainebleau château, outside Paris. Ooh la la.

But before you start thinking the worst about untamed corporate largesse, we should point out that the château in question belongs to one of Compass’s clients, so there’s only a minimal whiff of extravagance.

We wonder if Cousins has had a quiet chat with chairman Sir Roy Gardner about cost-cutting yet. Gardner rolls up to Compass Group's Chertsey HQ every day in a Bentley. In this new era of parsimony, we can only presume that it’s his weekend run-around and not a company perk.