- Just Eat for Business has selected Manchester for its expansion out of London, marking the first city outside of the capital for a major consumer delivery platform to offer workplace 'Group Ordering'.
- The move comes as Manchester's office scene goes from strength to strength with 7,000 new businesses opening every year and major media, tech and financial operations calling the city home.
- More than just a free lunch for employees, Group Ordering provides opportunities for colleagues to connect and restaurants to grow order volumes.
Just Eat for Business is expanding its workplace food service beyond London for the first time, selecting Manchester as its second city to launch Group Ordering. Group Ordering is provided as a perk from employers and allows employees to choose their own meals from a selection of local restaurants, while all orders are then consolidated and delivered to the office together.
This expansion builds on Just Eat for Business’ London operation, which already feeds 30,000 people at 600 companies across London each week. Manchester is the first city outside of the capital where the Group Ordering service will be available, with partners including Pizza Pilgrims, Honi Poke, itsu, Sushi Co and Inamo already available on the platform. Other restaurants including Eggslut will also be joining in the coming months as the service expands.
For restaurants, this new service creates access to larger orders that are scheduled ahead of time, providing many of them with an additional and predictable revenue stream to boost their consumer orders. Just Eat launched in Manchester 15 years ago and prides itself on working with a mix of big-name brands and independent operations.
Tom Smith, Operations Director for Pizza Pilgrims said: “Launching JEFB in Manchester has unlocked larger incremental catering orders for us and given us increased visibility to local businesses on where they can order our delicious pizzas. The process has been very smooth, with orders coming through and couriers turning up on time.”
The launch comes as employers increasingly use food and shared experiences to bring teams together, with 67%* of employees saying they feel more appreciated when meals are provided and 58% saying post-pandemic they prefer catching up with colleagues over lunch (rather than after work), with Gen Z the most likely to take their full lunch break.
The service aims to provide a wide range of cuisines including a major focus on healthy foods that fuel employees. American, Japanese and Italian currently top the list of favourite cuisines for workplace orders in London, with pickle, miso and protein the big food trends of 2026 so far.
Just Eat for Business selected Manchester to support the city's growing office economy. The city already houses major hub employers, and there are more than 7,000 new businesses registered annually in the region, meaning demand for office catering is continuously growing.
Tom Baxter, Director of Just Eat for Business said: “Having lunch provided is about more than just 'free food' for employees. It can help make the workplace somewhere people genuinely want to be, creating opportunities to sit down together, connect with colleagues and build stronger relationships, as we see in our own office.
“As the original corporate food delivery platform in the UK, we’ve always ensured that regional restaurants are offered the opportunity to grow and connect with new and existing customers. With Manchester's office scene thriving more than ever before, it’s the perfect time for us to reinforce why we are the delivery platform of the north, launching this service to support our restaurant partners, and ensure the workers in Manchester have access to the choice they deserve .”
*Data from Just Eat For Businesses ‘More than a meal’ report. The report is based on results from a comprehensive survey of 2,003 UK office workers across diverse demographics, industries, and regions.
- Just Eat for Business offers three services: office catering (your traditional "platters"/lunch spreads), Just Eat Pay (a digital card which allows employees to "spend" their lunch money in any food outlet that accepts Mastercard) and group ordering.
- With group orders, office managers can select multiple restaurant options, colleagues can pick from each day, giving a choice of cuisines.
- Colleagues then individually log into the platform and select their food.
- All of the orders arrive together (delivered by one or two couriers). This ensures those who want to can eat together and minimises the number of couriers making food drops at the office.
- Just Eat for Business was established in 2019 after the acquisition of City Pantry.
- It operates across Europe with Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Austria the biggest markets.
- The majority of orders utilise Just Eat Pay, which offers flexibility, customers can use the card at any food place that accepts Mastercard.
- Just Eat for Business continually adapts to the latest restaurant trends.