Dual-site Merged College
Catering and Cleaning Services
Background
On 1 August 2017 two colleges merged. The new entity [the College] had a campus at each of the locations occupied by the previously separate organisations.
Cleaning
Campus A had a contract for an outsourced service due to expire in July 2018. Cleaning at Campus B was carried out in-house.
Catering
Campus A outsourced catering for the Refectory and shop to a contractor with a guaranteed annual return. This contract was due to expire July 2018. The Costa outlet is self-managed. A drink and snacks service in the sports centre is managed by the sports centre staff. The curriculum catering department has its own restaurant.
Brief
WLP were engaged by the College as independent consultants to review the current catering and cleaning operations services at both sites and propose, cost, and implement future practice. It was further agreed that should the decision be to outsource all or part of the services, WLP would use their specialised experience and specific client knowledge to manage the tender process on behalf of the College.
Catering
At both sites, to establish whether to outsource, bring in-house, or adopt a mixture of the two. At Cambridge this would exclude the in-house teaching restaurant.
Cleaning
Whether to outsource cleaning at both sites, bring in-house, or adopt a mixture of the two.
Method
In order to establish the outcomes toward which the project should be directed, a clear picture of the current position was required. Representatives from WLP therefore visited the two sites observing and analysing critical factors.
- Service demands
- Service levels
- Quality of food & food choice
- Customer satisfaction
- Design & layout throughout
- Financial performance
- Projected investment to improve service provision
Recommendations
The College supplied financial information regarding current services. Our experience with other colleges enabled us to benchmark financial expectations for the two sites. Current cleaning costs and standards were likewise benchmarked against similar colleges with outsourced contracts.
Catering
We prepared alternative proposals that presented all aspects of manage services in-house or contracting out. (A third option of letting the catering services as a concession was requested by the college, but rejected on our recommendation as the service only operates 195 trading days per year without consistent or guaranteed footfall, and entailed VAT complications.)
Cleaning
After investigating and assessing the College’s structure it was recommended that the bulk of the contracts be placed to tender as an Output Specification, but with the Day Time Janitors remaining employed by the College.
Outcomes
Both catering and cleaning services were put to a test of the market via a competitive tender exercise managed by WLP. The catering tender was operated using the CPC framework. The cleaning tender was a fully OJEU compliant exercise.
