Have you ever had a subsidised canteen at work?

[Turquoisetamborine]

Was/is it nice? How cheap was it?
I’ve worked in the public sector most of my working life but when I was a teenager I worked at my stepdad’s company for a few months which was a massive chemical plant with loads of factory and office workers. I remember almost everyone going to the canteen for lunch everyday and it was almost unheard of to bring food from home.

My husband works for a big international company and they have a subsidised canteen. It’s almost not worth him bringing his own lunch as he can buy homemade soup and a bread bun for 75p.

Indulge a public servant who would love a subsidised canteen!

I worked for a global drinks company in central London. Not only did we have a fantastic subsidised bar which served lunches and snacks but at the head office we had a Fine Dining area with a butler who used to work for the queen mother and was a great source of gossip. Important clients were entertained there but staff were also allowed to celebrate special occasions (all gone now).

There was also a fabulous restaurant which served a fabulous selection of breakfasts and lunches. Great food and much better than anything you can get from Pret. We also got a drink allowance and could buy from the on-site shop - great for stocking up at Christmas. Remind me why I left again

Only in France where we had a canteen (more like a restaurant) where you got a 3 course lunch paid for by 'tickets restaurant ' aka luncheon vouchers given as an employee benefit. These vouchers were also accepted at most cafes and restaurants so I never paid for lunch in 3 years

Yes, city bank, years ago. Bloody dangerous. Fantastic food, incredibly cheap and I’d often have 2 lunches, at 12 then again at 2.30. Back in the day when I could eat like a pig and be a sylph 🙄

They did full tea too, Victoria sponge and chocolate cake 😱

Yes. FTSE100 HQ in Central London. Great quality full hot lunches for £4, breakfast muffins with eggs and smoked salmon for £1.20... I still miss it.

I interned for BP one summer as a student. All staff were given a £5 top up on their pass cards (that you also paid for stuff with:cash free site) for the canteen. This would get you a hot main and pudding and drink. Or, as I did, a bowl of porridge if breakfast and then a salad with drink for lunch. I only had to buy myself one meal a day!

I now work for an engineering company with a subsidised canteen: veggie meal £2.50, £3.00 with meat. It's a small site, so we usually get one choice of each, but the quality is pretty good and the portions are huge! Think things like spag bol, veggie curry, roast dinner on Wednesday...

Yes I work for one of the big gas and electric companies. Best thing about it is the subsidised canteen . Not as cheap as other people’s seem to be but you can still get a full roast dinner for around £4.

I get all my meals & drinks free. 👍

My last job, in a private mental hospital, had free meals for all staff. So I always got a free lunch - there were salads, bread to make your own sandwich with, a choice of 3 hot dishes and a pudding every day. The quality of the food wasn't great, but it saved me a fortune!

I’m so jealous of all of you! I really don’t need any encouragement to be fatter though 😝

I used to work for house of fraser and we had a canteen.

Not right now but the organisation I work for is on another public sector site that had a subsidised restaurant that closed down. It wasn't brilliant or cheap, but it was just across the road and now there's nothing closer than 10 mins drive so most people bring their lunch to work.

When I was a teenager I worked in a bakery that was part of Greggs, but another brand - we could buy anything we wanted for half price, and certain things were free on Saturdays. It was a lot cheaper then too. I could get a sausage roll and a jam tart for about 20 p. Healthy eating or what?

I've had the same job for decades but it involves visiting other companies so I've seen a lot of staff canteens. These have varied from the horrible and expensive - those run by external contractors like Eurest where you pay cafe prices for often nasty food to the nice and/or massively subsidised, like the big industrial site where the canteen is totally free and quite nice - many of their employees eat three meals a day there and only buy food for home when they're not at work.

Or the massive food manufacturer where their canteen was stocked by the products they made sold very very cheaply. Think soup or beans on toast for about 10 pence.

DP works in an industry where he gets catered food at work, and for his longer shifts, which are the norm, he gets 3 meals a day while at work. When he's off doing that, I usually have either cava and crisps, or what I can find at the M&S reduced counter for dinner.

I worked at a few places that had a subsidised canteen and years ago at the head office of a large multinational, there was also a bar. I bet there aren't many, if any, companies selling booze on site these days.