As Multi-Academy Trusts continue to grow, so too does the complexity of managing contracts across multiple regions, sites and stakeholders.
For large trusts, catering provision is no longer a single contract decision – it’s a strategic operation that must balance consistency, cost control and quality across diverse locations.
Star Academies, a high-performing Trust with schools across Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and East London, recognised this challenge. With a large and geographically spread estate, ensuring their catering provision delivered both value and a high-quality service was a key priority.
Building a procurement model that reflects scale
In 2020, Star Academies decided to go ahead with a significant catering tender covering 25 schools. Given the scale and regional spread of the Trust, Star Academies appointed Litmus to help with the complex tender. The solution was to structure the tender into four regional Lots – allowing for both consistency at Trust level and flexibility at a local level.
Working closely with the Star Academies team, detailed tender documentation and bespoke specifications were developed for each Lot, ensuring that the needs of individual schools were fully reflected within a robust, compliant procurement process.
This was a highly collaborative approach from the outset. Star Academies is widely recognised for its commercial strength – being one of only a small number of MATs to achieve the CIPS Procurement Excellence Standard – and brought clear expectations around quality, transparency and outcomes.
Managing risk and maintaining continuity
As with many large-scale procurement projects, the process didn’t follow a completely straightforward path.
Following contract award, the supplier appointed to two of the Lots chose not to proceed. This could have created significant disruption across multiple schools.
Instead, by working closely with the Trust and maintaining open communication with all parties, a solution was implemented quickly. Responsibility for the affected regions was reassigned – ensuring continuity of service and minimising operational impact on schools.
From procurement to ongoing value
Since the contracts commenced, Star Academies has benefitted from support with ongoing contract performance management. This includes:
- Establishing clear reporting structures
- Monitoring performance against termly KPIs
- Supporting annual budget setting and reviews
- Advising on end-of-year profit share negotiations
This structured, data-led approach ensures that the contracts continue to deliver value – not just at the point of award, but year-after-year.
£700,000 in savings and counting
Over the first five years of the contract, this approach has delivered more than £600,000 in savings, while maintaining high standards of service across the Trust.
In 2025, Litmus was reappointed to manage the next catering tender, this time covering 30 schools under the Procurement Act 2023. Through a refined specification and careful evaluation process, the Trust achieved a further £100,000 in savings against the existing catering budget.
What can other MATs learn?
For Trusts operating at scale, this case highlights an important shift in thinking.
Procurement is not just about compliance or securing a competitive price at a single point in time. It’s about:
- Structuring contracts in a way that reflects organisational complexity
- Building strong, transparent supplier relationships
- Putting in place the right mechanisms to monitor and manage performance
- Taking a long-term view of value, not just short-term cost
As Star Academies reflected: “Diana and Jenny have been excellent to work with. They have really supported and sought to understand our Trust requirements and are flexible in their approach to ensure the best outcome whilst providing strong professional guidance. Their extensive market knowledge and contacts have been hugely helpful to our tender approach and its success. They are also a pleasure to work with and we would certainly use them again.”
Managing supplier complexity in your Trust? See how Star Academies approached it – read the full story here.
The Litmus team
