How to appoint a new catering company

To start the process of appointing a new catering company, it is advisable to review your current agreement with your catering service provider to understand the notice period that applies to ending the contract.

If your school’s governance requires that you run a tender or quote process for contracting with a new catering supplier, you will need to run a process which ensures you award a catering service contract that will deliver healthy and nutritious food to the children under your care. To assist you with administering this process, on our Tendering Resources page you can find a template tender document for School Catering Services and also a guidance document which details how you can tailor the tender template to the specific requirements of your school. You will then be ready to run a straightforward tender process, in-house, without the cost of outsourcing, and appoint a new catering supplier to your school. This template has been designed for use by you, to save your school the costs associated with outsourcing your tender process.

If your school’s governance means that you are unable to run an in-house tender process, or the value of your school catering service contract means that you need to run a procurement procedure that is compliant with the Public Contract Regulations, the YPO (Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation) has a framework available which you can use to appoint a school catering provider. Their Building in Use Support Services (DPS) framework provides schools with a route to market for engaging with catering providers under Lot 1 Catering Services. You can find more information and contact details here: https://www.ypo.co.uk/frameworks-home/900275#details