Background
The catering provision at Trinity was being managed by a contractor, who the school felt had become complacent after being in place for some time. They wanted to make sure that their catering partner was forward thinking, put the needs of their customers first and was cost effective.
Brief
The Litmus Partnership was commissioned to manage the catering tender process. The school were looking for a consultancy who:
- Were fully conversant with the requirements of the OJEU process;
- Who listened and were proactive in coming forward with suggestions and ideas;
- Who would work collaboratively;
- Who were responsive and reliable; and
- Who were innovative and forward thinking.
Approach
Diana Lishman, The Litmus Partnership, said: “We were bought on to manage the whole tender process and a large part of this was liaising with, and seeking, the client’s approval at every stage. We followed OJEU requirements and used our Litmus secure tender management portal to help it run smoothly.”
“We understand how important it is to get under the skin of the school and realise what they are looking for, so we invested quite a lot of time with the Business Manager to fully understand the school’s requirements and expectations.”
“Our aim was to provide knowledge, expertise and value for money whilst removing the hassle of this time-consuming process from the Business Manager so they could focus on the day-to-day needs of the school.”
Outcomes
As a result of the tender process, the contract was awarded on a three-year basis, with the option to extend for a further two years. The financial benefits were impressive – the school immediately saved £20k on their previous contract and as a result of a more modern approach to the service also benefited from a profit share and further savings in subsequent years.
