St George's C of E Academy Newtown - Tender for Catering Services

The successful tenderer will be required to provide catering services at St George's C of E Academy Newtown.

The catering contract being offered will commence on 1.8.2016 based on an initial 3-year contract term with the option to extend for a further 2 years depending on operational standards and Governors approval.

The catering service provision at St George's C of E Academy Newtown has not been market tested in recent years and to ensure Best Value principles are applied the Head Teacher and Academy Governors have made a decision to tender the catering service.

Current roll numbers are 240 pupils, plus 37 teaching and support staff who currently use the facility on an irregular basis.

Pupil roll numbers will increase by 60 (Reception and Year 1) in 2016-2017 and the Academy will expand by 30 pupils each year until it reaches its maximum capacity of 420.

Current turnover figures are circa 70 000 GBP per annum including Free School Meals. Universal Free School Meal uptake will increase next year due to the increase in numbers of Reception and Year 1 pupils.

Current uptake levels are above 70 % and the Academy firmly believes that with improved choice and quality there is a real opportunity to increase this level of uptake.

For the avoidance of doubt TUPE Regulations will apply to this contract and some of the current catering staff are in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).

The successful contractor will be expected to deliver a concise and detailed method of management reporting at the end of each month, thus updating the Client on contract performance. It is imperative that an open book policy is offered to ensure the Academy has total clarity on financial performance.

The Academy is seeking both innovation and the application of current food trends within the tender submissions and would expect as a result of this to be able to identify ‘Best Value’ and work in partnership with the chosen contractor going forward.

The contract will be Fixed Price during the contract term and if any improvements to financial surpluses are generated then the contractor shall share these on an agreed percentage return. Free School Meals and any ad hoc catering requirements will be invoiced on a monthly basis.

Additional information: Interest in the pre-qualification 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 pre-qualification questionnaire and associated documents can be obtained at: http://www.litmuspartnership.co.uk/project/st_georges_c_of_e_academy_newtown

The closing date for receipt of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire is 11.3.2016 (12:00). Tenderers 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 Pre-Qualification 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 Tenderer'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 OJEU 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.