Not all outsourcing companies are created equal. Sodexo, the world’s second largest catering company, on Tuesday reported annual net profits up 4.5 per cent to €393m. But when chief executive Michel Landel warned of flat growth during 2010, investors ran for the doors; the shares fell 5.2 per cent.

Flat growth is one thing, but there are other problems. Mr Landel wants to lift his wafer-thin operating margins from their current 5.1 per cent to 6 per cent. Compass, Sodexo’s main rival, which runs at 6.5 per cent, shows that is possible, but from where Mr Landel will unearth the €60m of cost savings he predicts for 2010 is a mystery. His French-based company is held back by higher fixed costs and more rigid labour policies than UK-based Compass.