With 11,000 employees across 1,700 sites, Sodexo Government & Energy is a strategic partner to the public and private sector, providing facilities management and catering for hundreds of thousands across defence, justice, central government and remote locations. Across the UK & Ireland, Sodexo prioritises local impact through its Social Impact Pledge 2030, which includes spending over £1 billion with SMEs and donating £1.1 million to its Stop Hunger Foundation.

In November 2024, Sodexo Defence hosted The Lived Experience Forum, a symposium gathering currently serving and retired military personnel of all ranks, academics, industry experts, and the charitable sector, to discuss the issues impacting the lived experience of personnel living in Ministry of Defence facilities across the UK.

The discussion centred on three key questions defined at an earlier roundtable and captured in a subsequent white paper: The Future Lived Experience and the UK’s Armed Forces in the 2030s.

‍Tom Laskey, Marketing Director for Sodexo Government and Energy, brings over two decades of marketing and service development expertise to the team. Previously, Tom delivered significant growth in senior roles within Sodexo’s Schools & Universities portfolio. Tom holds an MSc in Marketing and Leadership and is an occasional guest lecturer at Cranfield University’s School of Management. When not at work, Tom advises several local charities and not-for-profits on their growth strategies.

Mark Baker, Chief Operating Officer for Sodexo’s Defence business, leads a 4,000-strong team delivering Facilities Management across 50 military sites serving over 50,000 military personnel & civil servants, bringing extensive leadership experience from a 30-year RAF career, command in Afghanistan and Iraq, and five years as a Defence board member with Serco before joining Sodexo in 2016.

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