School catering services

Tender description

The successful supplier will be required to provide catering services at High School for Girls, Gloucester. The school is located in Denmark Road, Gloucester, GL1 3JN and is an outstanding School as judged by Ofsted in 2006. In 2010 the school became a Foundation school and in April 2011 converted to an Academy. We take 150 girls into Year 7 who join us from Gloucester City, the county as well as beyond. Currently, we have 200 pupils in our mixed Sixth Form but we are expanding our provision, including an increased number of boys at this level. The catering service provided to sixth form students is a particular priority for the school as we seek to retain current and attract additional pupils at this level. Total numbers on pupil roll are currently circa 820. High School for Girls agrees that school food standards provide an important nutritional safety net, and agrees that all food and drink provided by or on behalf of the client shall comply with the school food standards legislation. Similarly compliance to new GDPR and allergen legislation are deemed critical to ensure the overall quality of the catering service is appropriate. The guaranteed performance contract will commence on 1.4.2019 for an initial period of 3 years, with the opportunity to extend for a further period of 2 years at the discretion of the school governing body. This is the first time the market has been tested for the catering service, having previously been managed in-house for a number of years. The client expects the successful supplier to enable the continued development of catering through the provision of an innovative, healthy food service, with fresh, seasonal, locally sourced ingredients being prepared in the well-appointed kitchen on-site. The client expects the successful supplier to evidence, through their bid, how they shall support and complement their stated target. The client requires Year 1 menus to be fully compliant with the food for life silver standard. The contract covers the scope for the provision of catering services, which currently includes: breakfast, morning break, lunch, 6th form tuck shop, snacks and drinks vending, all hospitality and free issue requirements. The client’s intention is to increase the volume of lettings and hospitality to external parties throughout the initial period of the contract, e.g. external courses with delegates from other schools. Meals shall be charged at 2,50 GBP on consumption for the first year of the contract, with Free School Meals, hospitality and free issues at net cost. There are no Free Staff Duty Meals. The client intends to focus heavily on healthy, fresh, seasonal, locally sourced produce and sees the catering service as an exciting opportunity to complement the overall pupil experience, through the regular introduction of new ingredients, themed and promotional events. The successful supplier will be required to play their part in acting as a catalyst for improvement of the pupil experience. The successful supplier will work closely with the client to manage the provision of catering and the overall meal experience. The annual turnover of the current catering service is circa 148 000 GBP. Suppliers’ thoughts regarding how to support the client’s catering improvement objectives within the term of the initial contract are welcome. The client invites suppliers to consider offers of appropriate capital investment and is considering the installation of a new, all day, differentiated service, 6th form and staff ‘food service point’ to further improve the current catering provision. The introduction of ‘contactless payment’ for 6th form and staff is being considered in order to retain pupils on site. The client is planning to select and introduce a ‘cashless catering system’ with the subsequent requirement for capital investment from the successful supplier.