Beaufort Primary School and Derwent Community School - Catering Services

The successful tenderer will be required to provide catering services at Beaufort Primary & Derwent Community Schools.

The catering contract being offered will commence on Monday, 31.10.2016 for an initial period of 3 years, concluding on Friday, 1.11.2019, and will be offered on a guaranteed performance basis, with a service on each of the 190 full academic days.

Both schools are currently served by the same catering contractor. School dinners offer a nutritionally balanced menu & include a salad bar. The latest menu is on a 3-weekly cycle & includes a roast dinner twice a week. Children are offered milk every lunchtime. We have been awarded the Healthy Schools Award & participate in the Free Fruit for Schools Scheme. Children in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 are encouraged to have a piece of fruit each day. Other children may purchase a healthy snack at playtime or bring a piece of fruit or cereal bar to eat during playtime. All children have access to drinking water each day. Cold water dispensers are provided in school & bottles may be purchased from the office or brought in from home.

The schools are located within 0.6 miles of each other.

The successful contractor is expected to have a strong local presence, as specialist caterers in the Primary School sector.

The contract covers the scope for the provision of catering services within the schools, which currently includes lunch, all hospitality and free issue requirements. Free school meals & hospitality will be charged based on consumption. Each school currently manages its own breakfast club & intends to continue to do so. Neither school has a morning break.

The schools expect the successful contractor to enable the continued development of catering through the provision of an innovative, healthy food service, prepared on-site, in the well-designed & equipped kitchens.

Both schools intend to focus heavily on healthy, fresh, seasonal, locally sourced produce & see the catering service as an exciting opportunity to complement the overall uptake, student & parent experience, through the regular introduction of new ingredients, themed & promotional events. The successful contractor will be required to play their part in acting as a catalyst for improvement of the pupil experience.

The Senior Leadership Team and Governors have identified improved ‘Value for Money’ as a priority to parents and this is perceived as key to encourage an increased uptake of the overall catering service provided. The successful contractor will work closely with the schools to manage the provision of catering & the overall ‘meal experience’, with pupil education on making healthy dietary choices being an important part of their educational experience.

The vision of Senior Leadership and Governors at both schools is that all children choose to eat and enjoy a healthy school dinner with 100 % uptake of free school meals.

For further information please see the PQQ Documentation.

Additional information: Interest in the pre-qualification process should be expressed via email only to pqq@litmuspartnership.co.uk 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/beaufort_primary__derwent_community_schools

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 pqq@litmuspartnership.co.uk 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 pqq@litmuspartnership.co.uk 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.