Background
Caterham High School first appointed the Litmus Partnership in 2002 to manage the tender process for the catering services on site. Litmus has provided a monitoring service since then and the breadth of service has been broadened to include the tendering and monitoring of the cleaning services on site.
Brief
The objective of Litmus’ engagement was:
- To work with the senior management team of the school by providing technical and operational support during the catering tender whilst meeting with OJEU procedures;
- To discuss the viability of each point of service;
- To evaluate the growth and improvement of the VI Form offer available to students;
- Provide a forum for raising issues and facilitate problem solving;
- Act as a consultative body and attend key user group discussion meetings;
- Ensure best value was achieved; and
- After the tender, provide ongoing dedicated monitoring of the contracted service to ensure compliance with the contract.
Approach
Peter Barber, the Litmus Partnership, said: “In 2002, 2009 and 2017 Litmus was contracted by the school to provide a review of the catering services offered. The Litmus Partnership supported the school with comprehensive specifications to assist with the preparation of the OJEU electronic tender process. Following the success of the catering tender process Litmus was contracted to support the tender for the school’s cleaning services contract in 2012 and 2017.”
Outcomes
The catering contract was successfully tendered, awarded and monitored on three occasions. During this period the standard and quality of the services has risen providing enhanced services to students, VI Form and staff.
