Westminster Schools’ Consortium ~ Catering Tender

The Requirement

Westminster Schools’ Consortium (The Consortium) currently comprises 16 Primary schools located in the London borough of Westminster and was formed in 2019 following the council’s decision to delegate the previous centrally managed school meal service to schools. Since 2019, the school meal service has been outsourced and The Consortium now wishes to participate in a tender process in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 for a further contract to supply its centrally managed outsourced school meals service.

Basis of Contract

•The contract will commence from the 1st September 2025 and will be for an initial period of 5 years.

•The contract may be extended by 2 further years making a total maximum fixed term of 7 years.

•London Living Wage is adopted at all participating schools

•The contract will be awarded to a single supplier.

•The estimated turnover is circa £9.2 million over the initial 5-year period.

Objectives

The appointed Supplier will have significant experience of delivering quality catering services within Primary schools and should have proven expertise of successfully increasing pupil meal uptake across group contracts together with a compelling attitude towards making the lunchtime service appealing, healthy and educational for children.

Coupled with the familiarity and practice of successfully managing a large workforce, the Supplier should ideally have a strong operational base in London and able to leverage sufficient resources to ensure the required level of service is constantly maintained. Within the Consortium there are 2 schools without kitchens (Dining Centres) that have their meals delivered. It will be imperative that bidders are able to provide a solution for these Dining Centres either direct or via the use of a nominated Production Kitchen/s within the Consortium.

Ultimately, it is important that the Supplier can demonstrate a proven ability to manage a well-organised and efficient catering service that continual strives to offer ‘best value’ to each participating school. Additional information: Please note, this is a contract award notice, this contract has already been awarded.