A Thrifty Bath Board: Feeding Ten Guests for £100 Without Skimping
£100 for ten people is £10 a head. That is not a deli-counter budget, and it is not the moment to build a tower of three artisan cheeses and a fan of imported cured meats. But it is plenty for a table that looks abundant, tastes varied and leaves people feeling fed rather than merely impressed. The trick is to spend where it shows — one or two local anchors, good bread, a generous pile of something bright — and save where it does not.
The £10-a-head framework
Think in thirds. Roughly a third of the budget goes on cheese and charcuterie, a third on bread, dips, fruit and veg, and a third on the extras that make it feel like a spread rather than a packed lunch. For £100 that means about £33, £33 and £34. The shopping list below lands at exactly £100 because I have rounded to the nearest 10p and allowed a small top-up for market finds. Prices are illustrative for November 2026; shop around and you will sometimes do better.
The full £100 shopping list
| Category | What to buy | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheese and dairy | Local mature cheddar 500g, own-label brie x2, feta 200g, mozzarella balls x2, Greek yoghurt 500g | Bath Farmers' Market and supermarket | £19.00 |
| Charcuterie and eggs | Salami 200g, cooked ham 200g, chorizo ring 225g, eggs x6 | Supermarket | £10.80 |
| Bread and crackers | Part-baked baguettes x2, market sourdough loaf, oatcakes x2 boxes, water biscuits x2 boxes | Bath Farmers' Market and supermarket | £11.50 |
| Dips, olives and pickles | Hummus x2, tzatziki, olives 300g, cornichons 200g, local chutney | Supermarket and local producer | £12.10 |
| Fruit and veg | Grapes 500g, apples x4, oranges x3, dried apricots 250g, carrots 1kg, cucumber, peppers x3, cherry tomatoes 300g, radishes | Supermarket and market | £14.60 |
| Nuts, seeds and sweet bits | Mixed nuts 400g, pumpkin seeds 100g, dark chocolate x2, shortbread 200g, honey | Supermarket | £12.30 |
| Top-up market finds | Extra local cheese, salami, fruit, nuts, chocolate and bread | Bath Farmers' Market or supermarket | £17.00 |
| Herbs and wrap | Parsley, rosemary, greaseproof paper | Supermarket | £2.70 |
| Total | £100.00 |
That is a lot of food. If it looks like too much, it is not: ten people grazing over two hours will get through it. The top-up row is deliberately loose. At Bath Farmers' Market on a Saturday at Green Park Station, I would spend it on an extra wedge of local cheddar, a punnet of something in season and a second bag of apples. At the supermarket, it becomes extra salami, another bag of nuts and one more bar of dark chocolate.
The smart swaps that save the most
Own-label brie and cheddar are the quiet heroes here. A supermarket brie at £2 a wedge will disappear just as fast as a named one at twice the price once it is out of its wrapper. Buy hummus and tzatziki rather than making them; the savings in time and tahini are real. Part-baked baguettes are better than a sad fresh loaf bought too early. Whole carrots, cucumbers and peppers are cheaper than prepared crudités, and they look better on the board anyway. Dried apricots do the work of expensive fresh berries in winter. Eggs, boiled and halved with a little paprika, add protein for very little money.
Styling tricks that cost nothing
Use what you already own: chopping boards, baking trays lined with greaseproof, small bowls, jam jars, a couple of cake stands. Put the tallest items at the back and leave gaps between the bowls; a grazing table should look like it has been arranged, not packed. Tuck rosemary sprigs around the cheese and use parsley as a garnish rather than a decoration. Write a few paper labels with a marker if you want people to know what they are eating. Do not buy a grazing table kit. A dark linen cloth or a bare wooden table will do more than plastic props.
A simple prep timeline
Two days before, buy nuts, chocolate, olives, crackers and anything long-life. The day before, wash and chop the vegetables and store them in lidded containers. On the morning, buy the bread and cheese. One hour before guests arrive, slice the cheese, arrange the boards and decant the dips into small bowls. Just before you eat, bake the part-baked baguettes and put them out warm. Keep cold items out for no more than two hours, and replenish in small batches rather than putting everything out at once.
What to leave off
Skip prosciutto and other expensive cured meats at this budget; salami and chorizo give you more slices for the money. Skip pre-cut fruit and vegetable trays. Skip a mountain of six different crackers — two good ones are enough. And skip the idea that a £100 table needs to look like a magazine shoot. It needs to look generous, and that is a different thing entirely.
The final word
A hundred pounds will feed ten people well in Bath if you shop with a plan. Buy one or two local things that you love, let the supermarket fill the gaps, and spend five minutes making the table look as if you meant it. That is the whole trick.
