Background
Caldicot School was seeking to put the catering services out to tender, to ensure that best value was being achieved from the catering resources, in both fiscal and qualitative terms, within the new school.
It was expected that the successful provider would have experience in ensuring that Healthy Eating in Schools (Nutritional Standards & Requirements) (Wales) Regulations 2013 are implemented within the school’s catering provision.
Brief
The brief to Litmus was to:
- Source the total catering solution for the school which provided a daily service to students and staff alike including breakfast, morning break service and lunchtime provisions;
- Maximise the service opportunities to provide the highest quality service at the best price for both students and staff;
- Ensure the catering service was innovative and flexible;
- Ensure there was scope to develop a personalised service, including the capacity to provide internal catering hospitality for events, visits and interviews;
- Provide all menus, signage etc. in both English and Welsh; and
- Give consideration to the importance of health issues, such as obesity, and raise the national profile for healthy schools and lifestyles.
Approach
Mike Neales, the Litmus Partnership, said: “The school was seeking a provider who would be a real partner; one they could work together with to develop an efficient school meal service that meets the challenges of a busy new school.
“At the start, we spent a lot of time with Caldicot School so we fully understood their aims. The quality of food provision was critical to this tender and the school was keen that the successful provider must be flexible enough to source bakery, meat, fruit and vegetables and dairy products through local Welsh suppliers, based no more than 20 miles from the school.
“We then incorporated their requirements into a bespoke specification, and led the tender which was fully compliant with the OJEU process.”
Outcomes
Following the tender being successfully rewarded, Caldicot School can look forward to:
- A five figure guaranteed fiscal return for each year of the contract tenure;
- All free school meals, free issues and hospitality are being recharged to the school at “net” food cost only;
- Receiving inward investment allowing for an additional catering outlet to be created within the school;
- All single use plastics bring removed from the catering provision; and
- Local Welsh suppliers being used for all fresh produce.
