Catering articles
If you can’t stand the heat...
There are both risks and opportunities when choosing to outsource your catering provision. Andrew Wilson runs through the key processes to follow and highlights the checks to use to assess your prospective partner
According to the British Hospitality Association, the hospitality sector is the UK’s fourth largest industry, worth in excess of £100 billion per year. This highly competitive and diverse marketplace is packed full of players, ranging from the large multinationals that dominate the sector to smaller, niche caterers. Choice and diversity are fundamental necessities to ensure a competitive market, but when it comes to outsourcing a catering service for your school, where do you start?
The counter culture
The importance of effective and transparent procurement is now at the top of many governing body agendas, as schools, more than ever, ensure that they are achieving best value from their suppliers. Shabaz Mohamed reports
To get the best prices from your suppliers, it is important to implement the following five-stage strategy
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At the source
Talk of sustainability and buying food locally is on everybody’s lips, not least within independent schools. But these are complex topics. In practice, how does this work and what does it actually mean, asks Simona Hardy. Plus a case study by Andrew Wilson
Local purchasing means different things to different people, depending on where they live, what products
they are looking for and how close their suppliers are to them.
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In or out?
Deciding whether to operate your catering services inhouse or to outsource is a major decision. But setting the strategic vision for the service should precede the choice of who is best to deliver it, writes Margaret Young
The catering team is part of your school’s business, whether the function is outsourced or inhouse: controlling costs without sacrificing quality is vital. However, your customers’ perception of value will be driven by the quality of the food they eat and the way in which it is presented. In other words, work out what you want the service to be before deciding who will do it and what you can afford to spend making it happen.
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Ready to serve
When investing in new kitchen facilities, evaluating the environmental cost also makes sound financial sense. Carla McKenzie reviews how to get best value over the lifetime of the design before committing funds to the project
Project teams consist of professionals, each with a different emphasis of priorities. The bursar will consider the whole-project value, costs and the impact on the community; the architect will focus on structure, design and functionality; and the estates manager will want a safe environment with low utility and maintenance costs. All are right to push their agenda, but the defining project objective should be the best possible food, delivered by the most sustainable means.
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Food for thought
First-class catering services reflect a culture of excellence throughout an independent school. Promoting these services widely can bring added benefits both to the community itself and beyond, writes Hannah Stratford
You have just invested significant time, money and energy turning around your catering services. Pupils are thrilled, parents delighted and the bursar left counting the cost of change. If more pupils are now signed up for lunch or sales income has increased, your operational subsidy may have come down and your head is grateful that more children are fed in school. But how do you sustain this success and ensure your school continues to benefit from the change?
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