Background
After many years of outsourcing catering and cleaning services, most recently with one contractor, the school wished to consider its options for future delivery of the services to ensure both received the dedicated attention they required. Litmus has supported the school since 2013, tendering and then monitoring contractor performance, and was therefore commissioned to conduct an options appraisal. The review concluded that the school should take cleaning services in-house but continue to outsource the catering services, and Litmus were engaged to manage this process.
Brief
Following a change in leadership at the school, Litmus was asked to find a contractor that would focus on delivering a fresh food offer using quality, local ingredients, and would develop the catering team in a supportive way. Profile of food at the school needed to rise, in terms of its importance for physical and mental well-being and as a special social (and fun) moment in the school day. Environmental impact and Social Value were also high on the school’s agenda, together with improving the nutritional value of the food. Bidders were therefore briefed to propose menus that featured more plant-based alternatives alongside conventional favourites, and to increase the nutritional integrity of the offers across the day, especially at morning break. Plans were also being developed for refurbishment of the servery spaces, and therefore this represented an ideal opportunity to re-energise the services and teams delivering them.
Approach
Whilst Litmus is very familiar with the school, we began the project by re-engaging with staff and pupils through one-to-one interview and focus groups. Litmus had previously conducted a Consumer Insight survey at the prep and senior schools, and we were therefore able to see how opinions had shifted since. Key messages remained – ensuring value for money, improved range of non-meat options and quality of the food.
We created a specification to capture all the requirements and then engaged with select contractors, who attended a school engagement day. During this visit, potential bidders had the opportunity to see the services and meet with the Head Mistress to understand better what the school was looking for in its catering partner. A shortlist was drawn up and the tender launched via the Litmus tender management portal. Following receipt of bids, our team of financial analysts prepared reports comparing bids and our consultant created a narrative summary of strengths and weaknesses, scoring the submissions against pre-agreed criteria. All three bidders were then invited to present to a panel comprising management staff and governors, reference sites visited, and the contract awarded.
Outcomes
Since appointment, the new contractor has designed and overseen the launch of the new servery space, which has signifi cantly improved the pupil experience. Uptake of services has also increased by over a third of pretender sales. A contractor funded biodigester has also been installed and other tender commitments are tracked through the Contract Development Plan. Litmus has been retained, supporting mobilisation discussions, and ongoing monthly fi nancial monitoring of the cost-plus arrangement and operational reviewing of performance.