School catering services

Tender description

Ivydale Primary School became a split site school with the opening of its second site in September 2017. Now admitting 120 each year the school will reach its full capacity of 840 by 2022. The successful supplier will be required to provide catering services at the following locations: — Bellwood Building, Ivydale Road, Nunhead, SE15 3BU, — Inverton Building, Inverton Road, Nunhead, SE15 3DD. Currently there are approximately 300 pupils in the Bellwood Building and 240 pupils at Inverton. The school will increase by approximately 60 pupils each year until reaching full capacity of 840 by 2022. The Children’s Centre has its own provision and does not form part of this tender. As part of a directive by the London Borough of Southwark all pupils in the Borough are provided with a free lunch. Furthermore, all catering staff are paid the London Living Wage and certain members participate in the Local Government Pension Scheme. It will be a mandatory requirement for the successful contract to have experience of applying and administering a comparable pension scheme through Admitted Body Status (ABS). Basis of contract: Ivydale School wishes to participate in a tender process with the intention of appointing a supplier to deliver the catering services at both locations. The contract is estimated to commence in January 2019 and will be for an initial period of 3 years plus an option to extend for 2 further years. In order to deliver best value, the contract will be awarded on a ‘cost-plus’ with fixed guaranteed lines on food and labour costs. The contract value is estimated to be 1 000 000 GBP (over 3 years). Objectives: The catering service is currently operated in-house and therefore it is important that the appointed supplier has significant experience and expertise of successfully managing the TUPE process, particularly that associated with transitioning from an in-house operation. It is also likely that the successful supplier will be required to administer the LGPS for transferring staff and as such will need to have experience of or be willing to apply for Admitted Body Status (ABS). The supplier should have notable experience of delivering quality catering services within both primary and secondary schools, together with a strong operational base local to the London Borough of Southwark. Ultimately, it is important that the supplier can demonstrate an ability to deliver productivity and efficiencies through the application of best practice and innovation and as a result will be expected to deliver sustainable quality and ‘best value’ to the School.