BHCC - HZP - Nursery Meals

Brighton & Hove City Council are seeking expressions of interest from suitable providers for the provision of the Nursery Meals Service. Please note the requirements and procedure for submitting expressions of interest via email, further in this notice.

Brighton & Hove City Council has five internally run nurseries that have hot meals provided for lunch, and a mix of hot and cold teas in the afternoon at the following nurseries:

Acorn Nursery: The Rise, Mile Oak Road, Portslade BN41 2PY

Cherry Tree Nursery: Hollingdean Children's Centre, Brentwood Road, Brighton BN1 7DY

Jumpstart Nursery: Moulsecoomb Children's Centre, Hodshrove Lane, Brighton BN2 4SE

Roundabout Nursery: 178 Whitehawk Road, Brighton BN2 5FL

Brightstart Nursey: 1 Barrack Yard, Brighton, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN1 1WR

The nurseries are normally open between Monday and Friday throughout the year except for one week at Christmas, on bank holidays, and for up to three (3) days training during the year. The exception is Jump Start Nursery, they are normally open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday morning, and Thursday. They are closed on Fridays and in the three school half-term weeks, in addition to the closure days described above.

The Council currently has one contract for the provision of nursery meals to all five nurseries. The estimated weekly average of meals to be provided is around 650 - 800 meals across the 5 locations.

There are no facilities on site for heating food in large quantities. Therefore, meals need to be transported to the settings and a safe temperature must be maintained until the end of the meal service, as set out in the regulations stated in the additional text below.

Contract Period

An initial term of two (2) years from 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2026, with an optional extension period of a further two (2) years, subject to performance.

How to apply:

Interested and appropriately skilled, experienced, and qualified providers must submit an expression of interest via email to [email protected] by 12:00 on 10th July 2023.

Their expression of interest should include a summary of (maximum 750 words):

A short introduction to their company and ethos.

Their experience and track record of delivering comparable services to those required.

The number of meals currently provided each week to the comparable services currently in contract with.

Their operational resources to provide the required services.

Interested providers should also include an example week menu with recipes. (The information provided in the example menu will not be subject to the word limit.)

The menu should include a provision for children requiring special diets for ethnic, cultural, or religious reasons, and for those with special dietary needs. Typical diets to be catered for include:

No dairy ingredients or dairy containing ingredients used,

No gluten containing ingredients used,

Exclusion diets (e.g., vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian).

Additional information: The Council may award this contract without further publication. In the event of expressions of interest from multiple suitable providers, the Council will undertake a competitive process to award the contract. These services are listed under Schedule 3 of the Public Contract Regulations 2015. Whilst the estimated contract value falls below the relevant threshold, any subsequent competition will be undertaken in accordance with the principles of the "Light Touch Regime".

Quality Standards and essential requirements of Service Provider:

The Contractor must comply with Food Safety Standards as required by the Local Authority Environmental Health Team and OFSTED requirements for nursery food provision and liaise with these bodies and teams as required. The relevant regulations are:

• The Food Safety Act 1990
• Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013
• Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004

The Contractor must:

• Wherever possible, use fresh and high-quality ingredients with limited use of frozen goods,
• Seek to use food that is grown locally and that is in season subject to availability and affordability,
• Meet nutritional standards and actively demonstrate flair, imagination, and technical capability in catering for young children, including those with specific dietary requirements.

The Council will require that contractors demonstrate a commitment to sustainability issues. Food supplied should be healthy and produced in ways that respect the environment, animals, and people, and prioritise local, seasonal produce where available, appropriate, and affordable.