School catering services

Tender description

Hanson is a coeducational (11-18) maintained school in the City of Bradford with c. 1 800 pupils on roll, of which approximately 300 are sixth form students. A professional catering organisation is required to provide innovative and sector-leading services for pupils, staff and visitors to include daily breakfast, mid-morning break, lunch and a high-quality hospitality offer. The new contract will operate on a guaranteed performance basis with an initial 3-year term to commence 4 April 2020. There will be an option to extend the contract (subject to agreement by both parties) for two further periods of 1-year following the initial term. Management of the services is currently outsourced and after a long and positive partnership the incumbent caterer has chosen to pursue new opportunities and is not seeking to renew the agreement on this occasion. The school benefits from excellent kitchen and dining facilities, a cashless payment system and accepts online payments only. Hanson Academy was comprehensively rebuilt in 2011 with completely new kitchen, servery and dining facilities installed at that time. All are housed within a central Atrium, providing a seated capacity for c. 400 customers. The school operates a staggered breaks system. Whereas it is not assumed that further significant investment will be required to deliver services, tenderers will be invited to visit kitchen and dining facilities and put forward any proposals for further development within their tender response. All food will be freshly prepared and served on site and actively promoting a fresh food ethos with an interesting and age-appropriate food and drink offer at breakfast, break and lunch is a vital requirement, as is compliance with the cultural needs of all students and school food regulations. The tender criteria will focus primarily on the supplier’s genuine ability to support the catering team to further develop services with already high levels of uptake. The supplier will be required to agree with the School a mechanism for annual tariff/free meal value review that will ensure that excellent value for money for students and parents is maintained. A maximum allocation of GBP 2.30 per free school meal (available to use at lunch only) is currently in place. Tenderers should be aware that the provisions of TUPE may apply and that in the event of a transfer of affected staff there would be a requirement for the successful tenderer to complete an admission agreement with the School and the West Yorkshire Pension Fund to ensure continuity of comparable pension terms for all staff that are currently fund members. The School will commission an assessment via the fund actuary and aim to issue the employer supplement with the tender pack. Interested organisations should please register their details via email only to the stated contact point in I.3) (Wilkinson ICA Ltd). A selection questionnaire will be issued to those expressing interest. The school reserves the right not to award a contract, either wholly or in part and reserves the right to cease the procurement process at any time.