Provision of School Catering Services.

Descriptions

The successful tenderer will be required to provide catering services at Aldridge School.The catering service provision at Aldridge School has not been market tested in recent years and to ensure ‘best value' principles are applied the Head Teacher and School Governors have made a decision to tender the catering service.The School is located within walking distance of Aldridge Village and although it has a closed gate policy, 6th formers are allowed out during break times. There are currently 1471 students on role, including 188 6th formers, with 170 teaching and support staff. Over 70 % of the student population are White British with the remaining 30 % made up of White and Black Caribbean, Asian and Pakistani. This should be taken into consideration when planning menus, the daily food offer and themed days.The School has applied for DFE funding to refurbish the kitchen and dining hall and the outcome of this application will be confirmed by early May 2014. The School is looking to work with the successful contractor to ensure the redesign and fit out meets service delivery of the new catering provision. At this stage the School may require inward investment from the successful contractor to help fund the capital project.Ten staff are currently employed by the incumbent contractor to manage and oversee the lunchtime service and therefore TUPE Regulations will apply to this contract. Current uptake levels are circa 48% with an annual turnover figure of 170 000 GBP. The School firmly believes that with improved choice and quality there is a real opportunity to increase this level of uptake.The successful contractor will be expected to deliver a concise and detailed method of management reporting at the end of each month, thus updating the senior management team within the School on contract performance. It is imperative that an Open Book Policy is offered to ensure the School has total clarity on financial performance.We are seeking both innovation and the application of current food technology 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 contractor in reducing the current costs associated with the current catering operation.The contract being tendered is for 3 years in duration from 1.9.2014 until 31.8.2017.The contract will be fixed price, with the contractor invoicing the client for one-twelfth of the annual cost on a monthly basis. Free School Meals and any ad hoc catering requirements will be invoiced in addition to this.Whilst the monthly charge will represent one-twelfth of the contract cost, a reconciliation will take place monthly to reconcile the actual operating financial result.