It's all in the mix...

As the first in a series to help you understand and maximise your catering contract, fmME outlines the staple ingredients to enter the tender process correctly and with confidence. Look out for next month’s installment on management...

Why provide a catering service at all?

This is the most crucial question a facilities manager can ask. In order to get the best value from your catering service – and therefore your contractor – your organisation must be clear as to why it is providing catering to its staff. As with nearly all aspects of running a business, if there is a clear policy, the lesser decisions further down the process are made easier.

The reasons for providing catering are many and varied. For example, some companies provide a main meal at no cost to their employees as part of their remuneration package.

In this case it may be that the provision of a catering service is seen as being of greater value than the cash alternative. Another company may provide a service because it is located in an isolated area and does not wish staff to leave the premises. Also, some companies use dining as a business-development tool and maintain dining rooms to a very high standard.

The recruitment and retention of quality staff is at the forefront of most companies’ thoughts, but there are other benefits:

• Employee motivation
• Improving health and wellbeing, reducing stress
• Enabling staff to remain on-site throughout their working day

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Dietary requirements

Where there are other dietary requirements reflecting the needs of a specific workforce, the caterer should respond to these to whatever level of detail is appropriate.

As an example, if a factory canteen is provided in an area where there is a large number of Muslim personnel, then the menu choice should reflect their requirements – with halal meat being served. Equally, if the catering contractor is offering a hospitality service in a Japanese bank, then it may be appropriate to employ a suitably qualified chef to ensure an authentic offering.

Bundling services

There may be merit in bundling services such as reception or meeting-room bookings with catering services, which could obtain better value for money.

Which service do you choose?

The premises and working patterns of the employees will determine which service best suits a particular client.

• A call centre with personnel working shift patterns 24/7 may have a staff restaurant or café bar open throughout the day and a vending service to cover evenings and weekends
• A lawyer’s office working Sunday to Thursday may simply have a staff restaurant that also offers a hospitality and beverage vending service
• A distribution centre operating 24/7 may opt for a full staff restaurant with services in operation throughout the day and night, seven days a week

How to source services

The recommended approach to sourcing catering services is to put them out to competitive tender. This allows you to examine your investment and review catering trends and their relevance to your particular organisational requirements.

The tender process
1 Specification of services
2 Prepare tender document
3 Pre-qualification process
4 Contractors’ site surveys
5 Visits to contractors’ sites
6 Evaluate written documents
7 Presentations
8 Negotiate contract