The Authority is seeking to appoint a new contract for catering services.

The Trust intends to award a contract for an initial period of 3 years with the option to extend for a further year, subject to contract reviews. The preferred suppliers will be appointed in March 2019 to begin their contract from April 2019.

The winning Bidder will be expected to provide Catering Services for the Authority as described in the specification. The Authority wishes to achieve the following objectives following this tender process:

— appoint provider(s) of catering services for all academies — Work with the winning Bidder to introduce innovative ideas to further improve the catering,

— improve the nutritional balance of meals on offer,

— ensure the school meals are provided 100 % of the time,

— ensure staff are managed efficiently and given opportunities to develop their training and careers,

— introduce eco-friendly food packaging to reduce non-recyclable waste,

— work with the Winning Bidder and the Authority’s waste provider to improve how the authority recycles its waste from the kitchen,

— ensure, in general, Catering is carried out efficiently and to best in class standard.