---
title: "Darlaston Cluster ~ Tender for Catering Services."
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-2c613264-b9f4-49f8-a515-f2f7f8ce2d1a"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-2c613264-b9f4-49f8-a515-f2f7f8ce2d1a"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-2c613264-b9f4-49f8-a515-f2f7f8ce2d1a.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-2c613264-b9f4-49f8-a515-f2f7f8ce2d1a.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "THE LITMUS PARTNERSHIP LTD"
published: "2017-08-14"
---

# Darlaston Cluster ~ Tender for Catering Services.

Buyer: THE LITMUS PARTNERSHIP LTD  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-2c613264-b9f4-49f8-a515-f2f7f8ce2d1a

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## Summary

The Litmus Partnership Ltd is managing a tender process for catering services across six schools in the Darlaston Cluster, located in the West Midlands. This procurement is classified under school catering services, with an estimated contract value of approximately £1,750,000 per annum. The tender phase is currently complete, having concluded on 21st April 2017. The contract is set to commence on 1st September 2017 and will be in effect until 31st August 2022. This tender was initiated to achieve best value principles after the catering services at these schools hadn't been market tested for some years.

This opportunity presents significant growth potential for catering businesses, particularly those experienced in school food service. Suppliers who can offer freshly prepared meals and creativity in menu design will be well-suited to compete. With the current annual turnover of catering across the six schools averaging £350,000, coupled with expectations for improved food choice and quality, businesses that can enhance service delivery stand to benefit. Adherence to TUPE regulations also indicates potential for existing catering staff integration, making this a compelling contract for interested parties in the competitive catering market.

## Notice

The Litmus Partnership have been commissioned by the Cluster to manage this project to ensure best value principles are achieved. The catering service provision at the above six schools has not been market tested in recent years and to ensure best value principles are applied the Headteachers and school sponsors / governors of each school have made a decision to tender their catering services. County Bridge Primary, Old Church and St Joseph's all have production kitchens on site. However, the other three schools will require a delivered-in food service and this should be taken into account when considering to tender for this project. It is expected all food served to pupils and staff will be freshly prepared on a daily basis including the delivered food option. All six schools are in a radius of three miles of each other, thus making the logistics of managing the contract straightforward. Current pupil roll numbers across all six sites is circa 1773: - County Bridge Primary School: 204 pupils and 39 staff; annual turnover circa 45 000 GBP; - Pool Hayes Primary School: 210 pupils and 38 staff; annual turnover circa 50 000 GBP; - Old Church CofE Primary School: 360 pupils and 50 staff; annual turnover circa 60 000 GBP per annum - Salisbury Primary School: 345 pupils and 40 staff; annual turnover circa 90 000 GBP per annum - Pinfold Street Primary School: 418 pupils and 50 staff; annual turnover circa 64 000 GBP; - St Joseph's Catholic Primary School: 236 pupils and 49 staff; annual turnover circa 40 000 GBP. Current turnover value across all six locations is circa 350 000 GBP per annum including Free School Meals. Current uptake levels across all sites average out at circa 60 % and the schools firmly believe 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). County Bridge Primary School have their own arrangement in place with a contractor and Old Church, Salisbury, Pinfold Street and St Joseph's use another contractor. Pool Hayes' catering provision is currently managed by Walsall DSO. 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 schools on contract performance. It is imperative that an open book policy is offered to ensure that each school has total clarity on financial performance. The Cluster schools are 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 their chosen contractor going forward. Further information is available in the procurement documents. Additional information: Interest in the selection 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 Selection Questionnaire and associated documents can be obtained at: https://www.litmuspartnership.co.uk/project/darlaston_cluster The closing date for receipt of the Selection Questionnaire is 21.4.2017 (12:00). Suppliers 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 Selection 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 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.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/46c28f6d-9351-409f-82ca-1111cc2b7159 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Restricted procedure |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 14 Aug 2017 |
| Submission deadline | 21 Apr 2017 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 13 Jul 2017 |
| Contract period | 31 Aug 2017 - 31 Aug 2022 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £1,750,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £1,925,500 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | THE LITMUS PARTNERSHIP LTD |
| Locality | DARLASTON, WEDNESBURY AND WILLEN |
| Post town | Walsall |
| Postcode | WS2 0DH |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLG West Midlands (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLG3 West Midlands |
| ITL 3 | TLG38 Walsall |
| Local authority | Walsall |
| Electoral ward | Bentley and Darlaston North |
| Westminster constituency | Wolverhampton South East |
| Delivery location | TLG West Midlands (England) |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 2 |
| Supplier names | ASPENS SERVICES; SHROPSHIRE COUNCIL: SHIRE SERVICES |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 55 - Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services

### Codes

- 55524000 - School catering services

## Release History

- 14 Aug 2017 at 13:48 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/46c28f6d-9351-409f-82ca-1111cc2b7159
- 17 Mar 2017 at 16:55 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/f091db65-eecb-43b5-9962-5aaf2430d80e

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/46c28f6d-9351-409f-82ca-1111cc2b7159
  14th August 2017 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/f091db65-eecb-43b5-9962-5aaf2430d80e
  17th March 2017 - Opportunity notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.litmuspartnership.co.uk/project/darlaston_cluster
  SQ Documentation ~ Darlaston Cluster

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-2c613264-b9f4-49f8-a515-f2f7f8ce2d1a. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-2c613264-b9f4-49f8-a515-f2f7f8ce2d1a.json.