Is your school's catering contract a 'prime cut' or a 'turkey twizzler'?

By working with catering providers, schools are often able to share in the financial and operational efficiencies that come from providing services of this nature at scale.

However, if the arrangements are not carefully thought through, you can find yourself locked into contracts which represent poor value, and which potentially expose you to significant risks. Based on our experience working with schools in setting up new contracts, as well as advising on disputes under existing contracts, we outline here some key themes that we see when contracting with catering providers.

Leaving it to the last minute

Your catering contract terms might feel like a 'necessary evil', which you only need to turn your attention to as the final piece of the jigsaw of procuring a new provider. But not engaging on contract terms at the outset will almost always result in a less satisfactory, higher risk outcome for your school.

Engaging on contract terms whilst there is competitive tension in the process can give you leverage in your negotiation with providers. Once you have selected your successful provider, and you are (at a practical level) committed to them, you will have lost most of your leverage to secure terms that work for you. Being presented with caterer standard terms for the first time, just before service commencement, will result in a contract which is very materially weighted in favour of the caterer, and which does not give your school the protections that it needs.

You should think about contract terms at the outset - possibly even inviting bidders to tender on the basis of terms which you set (with our support, or the support of your catering consultants) rather than on the basis of their standard terms.

Opaque cost and payment provisions

In our experience, caterers' standard contracts are very rarely clear as to the basis on which schools' payment obligations are calculated. In most cases, standard contracts are opaque in terms of cost calculation, and give schools very few levers to pull to ensure that costs are properly controlled.

You should ask yourself whether someone reading your contract for the first time would be clear as to what fee is payable in what circumstances. If they would not, you are storing up a future dispute if you don't clarify that mechanism at the outset. This should be a core area of focus in considering your contract terms.

Remedies for poor performance

Sometimes, your high expectations of what a provider will deliver are not met. This can be a result of the provider not performing as promised, but it can often be a result of the parties not being clear at the outset as to service delivery expectations.

Have you included measurable targets which you can assess the provider against? Are there objective deliverables which you could point to as having not been met, if the provider falls short of your expectations?

Ensuring that you and the provider are clear (and that the contract reflects) what is being delivered, and to what standards, is key.

Safeguarding

Caterer's standard contracts usually contain only limited safeguarding provision - often insufficient to ensure that the school is able to comply with its safeguarding obligations.

Your contract should require the provider to carry out appropriate checks before an individual can commence work at the school, and should provide mechanisms for ongoing safeguarding compliance. You should also ensure that the contract allows you to remove catering staff from the premises if they are deemed unsuitable to work in a school setting, and - ultimately - terminate the contract if there are shortcomings in safeguarding compliance.

We have advised on catering contracts with all of the leading catering service providers, and we are yet to review a standard contract which adequately addresses schools' safeguarding concerns. Addressing those concerns is rarely a problem for caterers when asked - but you need to ask, and be prepared to spell out what you need.

Catering provision is a crucial, and expensive, part of the 'shop window' of schools, and as such you will undertake a rigorous process to select the provider which best meets your needs. Your catering contract then underpins that relationship. Getting it right is critical in giving you the tools to make sure that all of the promises made by the caterer when bidding to work with you will be delivered in practice - and that if they aren't delivered, you can do something about it).

If you would like to discuss your school's catering contract, please contact Edward Rimmell in our Commercial team on 0117 314 5232, or complete the form below.