Public sector, MoD Army - civil servant
From the last century until now
The majority of time it has been self provided or a group subscription kitty
In one job when I transferred to the regional HQ on the first day their was a tea lady coming around with the tea trolley.
My first week was also her last week on retirement, so was replaced by a tea & milk kitty
In that HQ our floor had a fully fitted kitchen, so fridge/freezer, cooker, microwave & kettle plus assorted kettles in offices (and until times changed - smoking room & non smokers rest room which eventually became offices)
On building refurbishment the kitchen was refitted as a basic office kitchenette with instant boiler, fridge & microwave
Now I’m based at a national HQ, with open plan flootplates and kitchenettes of fridge, microwave, instant boiler and a cold drinking water tap
Each team either do it individually or run a kitty
Site contractors run a commercial cafe with Costa, not subsidised
As I’m now hybrid working, instead of being in a kitty I’ll typically have a costa coffee but do have tea bags & coffee sachets in my locker
As it’s an army site we have a Junior Ranks diner, officers mess and sergeants mess.
Part of the JR diner seating area is for soldiers only, but the rest can be used by anyone
I’m a member of the officers mess, so will typically eat there, but if I’m with non members then would eat at the JR diner
(Members can bring in a guest to the mess, but not if they are site staff who haven’t joined)
As the messes & diner are Army catering there’s an element of subsidy. Contractors provide a subsidised core menu priced to the daily PAYD (Pay as you dine) rate that soldiers are paid, plus other commercial options
JR diner core meal options include a free glass of squash or basic tea/coffee, or there is costa at a price
Strictly speaking the JR diner should charge entitled soldiers one price and a higher unsubsidised price to civilians - so the price can vary depending on who operates the till
In the officers mess we pay a monthly subscription into mess funds.
The menu serves the ‘core plus’ menu, which is an optional extra to the subsidy and also costs more than their daily PAYD payment - all members pay the same meal
price whether military or civilian
The mess subscription provides other services which include ‘free tea & coffee’ in ante rooms - originally provided at set times and the option to buy tea & coffee out of those times
(a morning session and lunch time)
A free coffee machine has been bought from members funds, which could be used at any time, but has been out of order whenever I’ve been in recently with coffee jugs provided as an alternative
For visitors generally the host may provide from their tea/coffee arrangements or use the coffee shop
If a more substantial event / meeting with ‘suitable’ external visitors then it may qualify for ‘official entertainment’ in which case there are government entitlements to a set number of drinks, biscuits per person and potentially sandwiches - provided via site contract caterers
In the old days the ‘meeting packs’ gave generous portions and only the crockery went back. I would pass the ‘entitled’ leftovers into the local tea/coffee syndicate on the basis that the syndicate would then provide tea/coffee to ‘non entitled’ visitors.
’Official entertainment’ for meetings still exists if the policy criteria is met, but is a dark art to get authorised and is more strictly measured than in the past
Branches doing this regularly will use the process, others won’t bother with the effort