Catering Direct in survival battle

CATERING Direct, Strathclyde Regional Council's direct service organisation (DSO), has 10 weeks to persuade local government officials that it should continue in its present form beyond the break-up of the region in 1996.

The survival of Catering Direct has been in doubt since it was announced that Strathclyde would be broken up into 12 unitary authorities from April 1996 as part of a reorganisation of local government in Scotland.

Elections for those authorities take place in April 1995 and councillors will sit in tandem with those from the current region and 19 districts for 12 months.

Managers at Catering Direct lobbied hard for the DSO to be allowed to continue beyond the reorganisation.

They have now been given the opportunity to persuade councillors of the advantages of a single catering organisation.

According to Catering Direct's human resources manager, Margaret Lang, lobbying will centre on the DSO's record on innovation and its buying strength.

Ms Lang claims that breaking up the DSO and putting the catering in the hands of the 12 unitary authoritieswill mean the loss of around £4m a year in purchasing power.

Catering Direct, which describes itself as the UK's fifth largest contract caterer, has also achieved recognition within the industry for developments in training, brands and health education.

It spent £250,000 on developing five brands which were introduced in the summer (News, 4 August).

And on 31 January it is launching a food and health policy programme, with the aid of a £135,000 grant from the European Union, aimed at improving the diets of schoolchildren in Strathclyde.

It is understood that Catering Direct is the only regional body within Strathclyde being given the opportunity to continue beyond the reorganisation of local government.