DSO swept aside as CCG scoops Sussex

CCG Services has scooped a four-year school meals contract with East Sussex County Council worth £8m a year in turnover, even though BET Catering Services put in a lower bid.

The contract, which begins in January, was previously held by direct service organisation (DSO) East Sussex County Catering. It had originally been due to run until next summer but was put out to tender early because the council was under pressure to make cash savings.

A council statement read: "Both CCG and East Sussex County Catering submitted bids offering more than £1m of savings but the CCG bid was cheaper by £193,000 a year.

"A third company [BET] submitted the lowest bid but was not awarded the contract because of concerns arising from their proposals that the quality of school meals might suffer," it added.

Although all 1,450 staff at the DSO will transfer to CCG under transfer of undertakings regulations (Tupe), the future of Pat Fellows, the DSO's general manager, is uncertain as she is not covered under Tupe.

Mrs Fellows, who is also national chairman of the Local Authority Caterers Association, told Caterer she was "broken-hearted" the DSO had not won the contract.

"I have been in charge for 13 years and many of us have worked together for a quarter of a century. I am disappointed we haven't won," she said. "The Government's rules are strict and the council…applied them to the letter, but it's hard as we only lost by about 2%."

Mrs Fellows said she was working with CCG to ensure a smooth transfer of the contract.