Chartwells protests over Bedfordshire contract
COMPASS school meals subsidiary Chartwells has asked the Department of the Environment (DoE) to investigate the way Bedfordshire County Council's school meals contract was awarded.
The company has added its voice to that of another objector, believed to be a Bedfordshire councillor, who made a similar request in March.
The complaints follow Bedfordshire's decision to award the school meals and welfare catering contracts to its direct service organisation (DSO), County Commercial Services, despite the Chartwells bid being £800,000 lower.
Chartwells marketing manager Kieran Mallon told Caterer the company had taken legal advice and as a result had written asking the DoE to look into the case. It had taken some time to decide what to do because it wanted to consider all its options, he added.
He denied the Chartwells bid was intended as a "loss-leader" to enable it to gain a greater presence in the state school sector. "We are a commercial organisation and do not bid for work we can't make money from," he said.
"Our lower bid was a result of being part of one of the UK's largest contract catering groups, with all the purchasing power that brings," said Mr Mallon.
If the DoE finds the tender was handled incorrectly its options include ordering Bedfordshire to put the contract out to tender again and preventing the DSO from bidding.
A Bedfordshire spokesman said the council still believed it had made the right decision and was in the process of responding to a letter from the DoE.
He said the council felt Chartwells did not have the necessary track record to prove it could maintain the quality levels set by County Commercial Services.
Meanwhile, Avon County Council has awarded its two meals on wheels contracts to Compass Services. The contracts have been run by the council's DSO for the past four years.
Starting from August, Compass will supply 1.1 million meals a year for the next four years, at a cost of £1.13 per meal.
Under the Transfer of Undertakings regulations, the DSO staff will stay on in their present positions, reporting to a Compass operations manager.
The DSO still holds the county's contracts for school meals and catering in elderly peoples' homes, although competitive tendering starts this week for the next four-year schools contract.
