Ian James Sarson (born 15 March 1963) is a British businessman, and the former Managing Director of Compass Group UK & Ireland.
He went to Crewe County Grammar School, two years below Mark Price the Managing Director of Waitrose, from 1974-79. From 1979-81 he did an OND in Hotel and Catering Management at South Cheshire College in Crewe.
He studied Hotel and Catering at Hollings College (now the Hollings Campus of Manchester Metropolitan University, off the A6010) in Manchester from 1981-84.
He worked at the French company Sodexo, a main competitor of Compass Group. He joined Compass in 2004. Compass Group is based next to Chertsey railway station, off the A317 road. He became Managing Director of the UK arm in April 2010. He was replaced in this role by Dennis Hogan.
He is now Compass's Director for Healthcare in Europe and Japan. Compass Group is the world's leading foodservice company.
He is married with two daughters. He lives in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire.