The Two Counties Trust - Tender for Catering Services

The Two Counties Trust is a family of academies with a shared ethos, common values and collective goals. The Trust has a clear mission which is to transform the lives of children and young people and to release their potential through excellent education and the opportunity to acquire new skills. All schools within the Trust are united in their vision to rapidly improve the learning experience of their students and raise the aspirations of the local communities which they serve. The Two Counties Trust is a brand-new multi-academy Trust established on 1.4.2016. The founding members of The Two Counties Trust are Ashfield School, Selston High School and Swanwick Hall School. The Trust consist solely of like-minded schools that share a passion for working in partnership in order to improve the quality of provision and outcomes for all learners through focussing on school improvement. The successful Supplier will be required to provide catering services for The Two Counties Trust at three of their schools. Details of two of the schools are provided in the SQ document and further information relating to the third school will be provided in the tender documentation. The contract being tendered is for three years in duration from 1.4.2019 until 31.3.2022, with the option to extend the contract term for a further term of up to two years and will operate as a guaranteed performance contract, with the successful Supplier offering the schools a guaranteed return / cost per annum for the provision of catering services. Sovereignty of the cash tariff is to remain with the schools for the duration of this contract. The Trust is expected to grow in the number of schools becoming part of the Trust during this contract period and the provision of catering services within these schools, when they have joined the Trust, may fall under the scope of this contract. The successful Supplier would be expected to provide the catering service within the additional schools, using the same costing model, ratios, etc that they applied to their successful financial submission for the Trust, at the point of tender submission. The duration of contract for these schools will not be increased and they will join the contract for the remaining contract period that exists at the point of entry into the Trust. Whilst the Trust prioritises value for money as a key objective of the competitive tender process, they are not obliged to accept the lowest price. The tender project is seeking to appoint a Supplier whose initiative and innovation will be welcomed for the provision of service within the existing facilities for the teaching and support staff and students on roll, all of whom have a focus on the introduction of exciting new food concepts to satisfy a wide range of tastes and dietary requirements. The schools would wish the successful contractor to review the current range of services offered and make recommendations accordingly. Further information is provided in the SQ document.

Additional information: Interest in the selection process should be expressed via email only to [email protected] clearly stating within this email which contract / notice you are referring to. Please also provide, as a minimum, a contact name, full company postal address and telephone number.

The Selection Questionnaire and associated documents can be obtained at: http://www.litmuspartnership.co.uk/project/the_two_counties_trust

The closing date for receipt of the Selection Questionnaire is 24.8.2018 (12:00). Suppliers are required to ensure that documents are obtained and returned to The Litmus Partnership Limited, by email to [email protected] by the above closing date and time.

Documents in respect of economic / financial standing (where indicated in the Selection Questionnaire) shall be returned to The Litmus Partnership Limited, by email to [email protected] by the above closing date and time.

It will be the Supplier's responsibility to obtain any necessary documents in order to submit a response by the closing date and time.

The contracting authority reserves the right not to award any or part of the contract which is the subject of this Contract Notice and reserves the right to terminate the procurement process at any time.

The contracting authority will not be liable for any costs incurred by those expressing an interest in tendering for this contract opportunity.

The contracting authority will consider variant bids, evaluating them (so far as the variant or the evaluation of the variant is in the opinion of the contracting authority practicable) on the same basis as a conforming bid, but shall not be obliged to accept any such bid in preference to a conforming bid even if the variant bid scores more highly. No variant will be considered unless the bidder simultaneously submits a conforming bid.