Pricing Catering Labour and Travel (UK)
The two lines that decide whether an event makes money, and how to price both without losing bookings.
The short answer
Charge for every paid hour and every mile, either inside the per-head price or as separate lines. Count prep, loading, travel time, setup, service and clearing down, and cost travel as fuel plus vehicle running costs plus the driver's paid time. Absorbing either is the most common reason a fully booked caterer makes no money.
Step by step
- List every paid hour of the job. Prep the day before, loading the van, travel each way, setup, service, and clearing down. Most caterers count only the hours on site.
- Use your real staff rate. Include employer costs if you employ people, or the rate you actually pay freelance staff, not the minimum wage figure.
- Cost travel properly. Fuel plus wear on the vehicle, commonly 40p to 50p a mile for a loaded van, plus the driver's time both ways.
- Decide inside or outside the per-head price. Inside keeps the quote simple. Outside makes distance pricing easy to justify. Either is fine; leaving it out of both is not.
- Set a distance threshold. Beyond a certain radius, add a travel charge or decline. Long round trips can eat an entire event's margin.
What a 90 mile round trip actually costs
Two staff, a loaded van, and a venue 45 miles away.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Mileage, 90 at 45p | £40.50 |
| Driver time, 2 hours at £14 | £28.00 |
| Second staff travel time, 2 hours at £14 | £28.00 |
| Total travel | £96.50 |
| Spread across 100 guests | £0.97 per head |
| Spread across 40 guests | £2.41 per head |
On a small booking, travel alone can be over ten percent of a sensible per-head price. Quoting the same rate regardless of distance means the near jobs pay for the far ones.
Why it matters
Labour and travel are the lines clients never see and caterers routinely underestimate. Costing them explicitly, per event, is what turns a busy diary into a profitable one.