Northern Star Academies Trust Framework Agreement Catering Tender

Northern Star Academies Trust wish to be at the forefront of School catering and as such require a modern, branded offer that reflects the leading trends in the industry. At this time, the Trust's wish is to commence a catering contract, with a partner who shares their vision for a customer-focused service that attracts the maximum number of students while driving for some radical environmental aspirations. The meals that are to be provided must be appealing to customers, imaginative, provide good value for money and comply with the national Standards for School Lunches. Beyond this however, the Trust are looking to provide a consistent Trust wide narrative to promote healthy and sustainable practices, while developing ways to engage stakeholders in the vision of greener attitudes, local provenance and food that looks fresh and has a story. The Trust has collaborated through a series of workshops, to create a Food and Catering Charter which collates the vision for catering within the Trust. Pupil and staff feedback has focused on speed of service, single use plastics and removing unhealthy options. For full feedback please see the included survey responses from Primary, Secondary and Staff stakeholders. Therefore, the aim of this tender is to find a commercially realistic partner, who is forward thinking and collaborative in their approach. The Trust have determined to utilise the charter below which incorporates this feedback, when measuring the prospective partners for this Contract. The Contractor shall acknowledge that TUPE will apply to this contract. It is requirement of the Contractor that an on-site area management support function is available from the start of the contract for a minimum of one month. The Contractor shall ensure that the current catering team's strengths and weaknesses are assessed immediately at the start of the contract and provide tailored training to address their development needs. The Contractor will provide regular management support on an on-going basis including training, marketing and HR for the duration of the contract. It is a requirement that the Contractor must provide an ABS pension for the contract, which will allow staff who TUPE to retain access to their LGPS pension. The Contractor must ensure that equality of service provision is provided through menu choice ensuring particular requirements are met for religious and dietary requirements e.g., Halal, vegetarian, vegan, medical diets. Skipton Girls, Harrogate High and New Park Schools have a requirement for an HFA Halal provision. They would not like HFA meat to be the basis of the menu, but simply an additional choice. Consideration of food separation and preparation will need to be shown. Eastwood and Holycroft Primaries both have a requirement for HMC Halal provision for the majority of pupils. The Contractor should ensure that their purchasing for all produce, which is to be used in Halal meals, conforms to the HMC requirements for these sites and that this can be easily and readily demonstrated to the students and their parents and guardians. Food preparation and delivery must also conform to Halal requirements. Where HMC cannot be provided at these Schools, the Trust will require some detail for alternative solutions.