Scolarest quits Wandsworth contract
Harrison Catering Services has picked up a £2.5m-a-year school meals contract in the borough of Wandsworth, London, after Scolarest walked away from the deal saying it was "no longer commercially viable".
Scolarest has pulled out of the seven-year deal by mutual agreement with the council after less than two years. The company will leave at half-term next week (13 February) and Harrison will take over the contract to provide hot meals at 66 schools in the borough.
Scolarest had won the contract with a bid of £1.40 per meal, down from £1.52, but was unable to make it pay and had suffered £8,000 of fines for poor performance.
A spokeswoman for the company said: "Specific monitoring procedures were not included in the original contract. Scolarest believed the council's procedures to be impracticable and too onerous for the individual schools involved."
Harrison has been chosen to run the catering until 31 March 2005, when the contract goes out to full tender again. "We're delighted to win the business," a spokeswoman said.
"Obviously we'd have liked a longer lead-in time, but we're confident we've got the resources in place. We've got a successful working model with our contract in Ealing."
Harrison won a similar school meals contract in Ealing last year after Scolarest had provided the service for nearly 20 years. The spokeswoman was confident Harrison could make the Wandsworth contract profitable. "We've renegotiated the contract on the terms that we require," she said, but would not give further details.
Under TUPE regulations, 250 catering staff will transfer to Harrison.
Essex County Council has postponed its decision to scrap a centralised hot school meals service after opposition from parents, teachers and governors. The council has extended its contract with Initial at primary schools in the south of the county until the summer, and is in talks with Scolarest to continue in the north. The contracts, which cover 356 primary schools, were originally due to end on 2 April.
