BET beats Chartwells to Humberside deal
by Nigel Bartlett
Humberside County Council last week awarded its 430-site school meals contract to BET Catering Services, despite a lower bid from Compass subsidiary Chartwells.
The contract is one of the largest in the country, with an annual value thought to be in the region of £12m-£15m.
BET will take over from the council's direct service organisation (DSO), County Catering, on 1 January for a four year term.
Maggie Smith, leader of the Labour-controlled council, said she was "desperately disappointed" that County Catering had not won the contract, but it could not match BET's bid.
It is believed four contract caterers were shortlisted in the tendering round, all of them putting in bids lower than that of the DSO.
Mrs Smith added that the council's directors of finance and education had advised against accepting the Chartwells bid on the grounds that the company was not offering comparable pensions and its projected staffing levels were too low to meet the contract specification.
Chartwells marketing manager Kieran Mallon was unwilling to comment further until the company had received its official debriefing from Humberside.
Chartwells is still awaiting the results of a notice served by the Department of the Environment (DoE) on Bedfordshire County Council, following its decision to award a school meals contract to its DSO, despite a lower bid from Chartwells.
The council was due to respond to the notice this week, but has been given a further month in which to come up with a justification for the decision.
In the Humberside case, however, Chartwells is unable to appeal against the decision, because the contract has transferred to the private sector and the council cannot be accused of anti-competitive behaviour.
The contract was awarded following an unsuccessful appeal by the council to the DoE to extend the existing contract by a further six months.
Mrs Smith said the appeal had been lodged because Humberside was likely to be replaced by four unitary authorities in April 1996 as part of a local government review.
"We wanted a six-month breathing space while those plans are finalised, but the secretary of state would not approve an extension," she said.
Belinda Coles, BET's marketing director, said her understanding from legal advisers was that Humberside's reorganisation would leave the contract unaffected during its lifetime, except that one of the four authorities would become a "lead client".
Some 72,000 meals a day are served under the contract, which also includes some meals on wheels. The DSO employs about 2,500 people, all of whom will be transferred to BET's employment under transfer of undertakings regulations.
