School catering services

Description

The successful supplier will be required to provide catering services at the following eleven locations: — Kidsgrove High School, Gloucester Road, Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent, ST7 4DL, — Kidsgrove Primary School, Gloucester Road, Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent, ST7 4DJ, — Saxon Hill Academy (SEN), Kings Hill Road, Lichfield, WS14 9DE, — Blackfriars Academy (SEN), Priory Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5 2TF, — Coppice Academy (SEN), Abbots Way, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5 2EY, — Walton Hall Academy (SEN), Stafford Road, Eccleshall, ST21 6JR, — Newfriars College (FE — SEN), Castle Grove, Bucknall, Stoke-on-Trent, ST2 8BH, — Wolstanton High School, Milehouse Lane, Wolstanton, ST5 9JU, — Madeley School, Newcastle Road, Madeley, Crewe, CW3 9JJ, — Great Barr Academy, Aldridge Road, Great Barr, Birmingham, B44 8NU, — Tottington High School, Laurel Street, Tottington, Bury, BL8 3LY. The catering services provision at all the project schools have not been market tested since the ongoing expansion of the Trust and to ensure best value principles are applied Shaw Education Trust, along with the individual schools, have made a decision to tender their catering services. All schools have their own kitchen facilities and it is expected all food served to students will be freshly prepared and produced on site. Current student roll numbers across all sites is circa 5 204. Current annual turnover value of all eleven locations is circa 850 000 GBP per annum including cash sales, free school meals and hospitality. Current uptake levels vary across all locations and the Trust firmly believe that with improved choice and quality there is a real opportunity to increase levels of uptake at certain schools. Due to the expansion of the Trust over the past 2 years, there is a mix of catering contractors currently in place across the Trust estate. One of the key objectives of carrying out the tender exercise is to reduce the number of contractors making it more manageable for the Trust to manage/monitor and to drive out economies of scale. On this basis the TUPE information that will be made available during the tender process will be supplied from several sources. For the avoidance of doubt TUPE Regulations including pension rights will apply to this contract where applicable. The successful supplier will be expected to deliver a concise and detailed method of management reporting at the end of each month, thus updating the clients on contract performance. It is imperative that an open book policy is offered to ensure that each clients have total clarity on financial performance. It should be noted that some of the schools within the Trust are high dependency schools with students requiring special educational support throughout the school day. The successful supplier must have the ability and resource to take this into account. The Trust are seeking both innovation and the application of current food trends within the tender submissions and would expect as a result of this to be able to identify ‘Best Value’ and work in partnership with the chosen supplier going forward. The following key objectives which should be focused upon throughout the tender process: — all children enjoy a healthy, well balanced meal at lunchtimes, ensuring meals fully comply with school meal nutritional standards, — the service provision must be based on best value principles and economy of scale due to the number of schools involved in the project, — wherever possible, cost savings are to be made during the contract term, — to maximise the use of fresh food produce and minimise the use of convenience food products, — meet the cultural needs of all students and staff across the Trust, — provide an appetising range of food for the children to choose from, — the successful supplier must fully understand and implement safeguarding principles whilst carrying out the service provision specific objectives from each client will be included within the tender specification to ensure their individual needs are fully understood and catered for. The contract term will be for an initial period of 3 years, with the option to extend for a further 2 years, and will commence on 1.9.2019. The basis of the contract will be fixed price during the contract term and if any improvements to financial surpluses are generated then the supplier shall share these on an agreed percentage return. Free school meals uptake and any ad-hoc catering requirements will be invoiced on a monthly basis and detailed backup will be part of the accounting system.