For schools and Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), time is a precious resource. Managing the day-to-day operations of a busy school can make it difficult to take a step back and review whether existing contracts are performing as well as they could be – or if costs are truly competitive. That’s where independent benchmarking and ongoing management of contract performance can make a real difference.
At Litmus, we’ve worked with hundreds of schools and Trusts across the UK, helping them manage costs, improve efficiency, and make sure their service providers are delivering real value – including the Lighthouse Schools Partnership (LSP), a large trust made up of 30 schools (26 primary and 4 secondary) located within the South West fringe of Bristol.
Achieve hundreds of thousands in savings
We conducted a benchmarking review on LSP’s catering provision. The review identified that the Trust could achieve greater commercial benefits by moving to one central catering contract for all of its schools, rather than each operating independently.
We managed the transition to a single contractor on behalf of the Trust, achieving savings of around £200,000. The move not only delivered significant cost efficiencies but also created consistency across all primary schools. The result? A more streamlined management process and a cohesive food offer for pupils across the Trust.
Ensuring service providers deliver what they’ve promised
While benchmarking provides a snapshot of where improvements can be made, ongoing management of contract performance ensures those improvements are maintained. It’s about checking that service providers are delivering what they’ve promised in their contracts – something that many schools simply don’t have the time or resources to do internally.
We’ve supported LSP with this, which has proven invaluable. We’ve ensured the Trust always receives its contracted hours and that any unused time is properly credited back. During the Covid-19 pandemic, our contract management uncovered around £100,000 worth of under-delivered hours across catering and cleaning, which were returned to the Trust.
Taking the pressure off schools
For busy schools, benchmarking and contract performance management provide reassurance that services are running efficiently, costs are fair, and contracts are performing as intended. Whether it’s catering, cleaning, or another facilities service, having a trusted partner to manage and verify these details allows school leaders to focus on what matters most – education and their pupils.
If you’d like to understand how your school or trust could benefit from our expertise in these areas, get in touch with us here
The Litmus team