Discover how Litmus Partnership helped Affinity Learning Partnership run a compliant tender process for their catering contract across all schools within the trust.
Financial Benchmarking & Market Appraisals
Litmus Partnership provides independent benchmarking for catering and cleaning services, giving organisations clear, evidence-based insight into performance, value and efficiency — helping you make confident, strategic decisions that deliver lasting impact.
Independant And Objective Measurement
Making confident, evidence-based decisions starts with understanding how your service performs.
At Litmus Partnership, our Financial Benchmarking service gives you a clear, objective view of how your catering or cleaning operations compare with others across your sector.
Using like-for-like data and best practice benchmarking, we highlight where your service represents strong value — and where there are opportunities to improve efficiency, quality or cost control. The result is actionable insight that supports better strategic decisions and lasting performance improvement.
Clarity through comparison
Financial benchmarking provides an independent and objective measure of performance, enabling organisations to understand whether their catering or cleaning services are truly delivering value.
We analyse your operational and financial data in detail, compare it against relevant peer groups and sector averages, and provide clear recommendations based on real-world performance indicators.
Our insight gives you confidence to challenge assumptions, review supplier performance and make informed decisions that improve outcomes and reduce costs.
This services works seamlessly with our other services.
Driving value through measurement
What’s involved?
Our benchmarking process transforms complex financial data into clear, actionable insights.
We review and analyse your current performance across both catering and cleaning services:
For catering, we assess:
- Annual catering costs and spend per student
- Free meal uptake and participation rates
- Gross profit margins
- Labour-to-sales ratios
For cleaning, we review:
- Annual cleaning costs and total expenditure
- The proportion of labour, sundry and management costs
- Comparisons against British Institute of Cleaning Sciences (BICSc) industry norms
Your results are then compared against a relevant peer group and wider industry averages to show precisely where your service stands.
We highlight areas of strong performance, pinpoint opportunities for improvement, and identify examples of best practice that can inform future decisions.
The benefits
Our Financial Benchmarking service helps clients gain clarity and control over performance, ensuring services deliver measurable value.
We help you:
- Assess whether your service provides genuine value for money
- Compare performance with similar organisations across the sector
- Identify opportunities to reduce costs or enhance efficiency
- Support transparent contract reviews and supplier discussions
- Strengthen future strategy and procurement decisions
The outcome is a clear, actionable report — giving you the evidence needed to make confident, informed choices that drive improvement and value.
Why choose the Litmus Partnership
With decades of experience across education, healthcare, business and the public sector, Litmus Partnership brings independent expertise and robust market insight.
Our benchmarking is based on verified, sector-specific data and a deep understanding of the operational realities behind it.
We go beyond numbers to interpret what they mean for your organisation — turning data into direction.
When you work with Litmus, you gain clarity, confidence and a trusted partner who helps you make decisions that matter.
Client Success Stories
Discover how we’ve helped organisations across education, healthcare, business and the public sector achieve measurable improvements in quality, efficiency and value.
Discover how Litmus Partnership helped Marlborough College approach a re-design of their historic dining space through consumer insights.
Discover how Litmus Partnership helped Marlborough College approach a re-design of their historic dining space through consumer insights.
Discover how Litmus Partnership helped Marlborough College approach a re-design of their historic dining space through consumer insights.
Discover how Litmus Partnership helped Marlborough College approach a re-design of their historic dining space through consumer insights.
Discover how Litmus Partnership helped Wellington College & Eagle House School successfully negotiate and improve their facilities services.
Insights And News
Stay informed with the latest industry insights, expert commentary and project updates from the Litmus Partnership team.
- EducationRead More
Benchmarking and performance – are you really in control of your school’s operational contracts?
- Consumer Insight | Education | Public SectorRead More
Coming Soon: A new Consumer Insight Programme for special schools
- Education | Public SectorRead More
Financial Awareness Day 2025: How schools can drive greater financial efficiency through smarter catering management
Book a free consultation
Take the next step
Whether you’re preparing for a contract review, assessing service performance, or planning your next procurement strategy, financial benchmarking provides the foundation for evidence-based decision-making.
Get in touch to discover how Litmus Partnership can help you evaluate performance, strengthen supplier relationships and deliver long-term value.
Contact Us
We love to connect with business leaders that want to make a change. Contact our friendly team to request a no obligation chat about your current challenges and goals.