Shaw thing

By using a combination of vending and catering, Shaw Catering has found a way of providing traditional service, while saving at least 25% on labour and equipment.

The client, Booker Belmont Wholesale, is centralising distribution for its cash and carries into four regional centres: Livingston, West Lothian, and Haydock, Merseyside, both of which opened 12 months ago; one at Hatfield, which opened in September; and the fourth in Bristol, which opens this month. They are 24-hour, six-days-a-week, year-round operations that feed about 250 people, although this will rise to 400 by 2000.

Shaw Catering won the contract to provide meal services for staff at Livingston and Haydock last year, using vended meals supplied by its vending arm, Cygnet Foods. Cygnet is an independent firm, even though Shaw was taken over by Granada in December 1996.

Booker Belmont invited tenders on the Bristol and Hatfield distribution centres earlier this year, which Shaw also won. The whole deal is cost-plus, including a fixed management fee based on the value of the four jobs. Until the last two contracts are up and running, Shaw is loath to discuss take-up or budgets.

One thing is clear: the latest contracts need a change of service. Kim Pennington, Shaw's regional sales manager responsible for the four sites, explains: "The network project manager for our client carried out research and found that, instead of a set menu for a set price solely available from vending machines, employees wanted to choose items from a counter in a traditional way and be served by catering assistants."

Because of the cost implications, Shaw decided to provide the same menu choice at all four sites. But instead of using individually packaged vended meals at Hatfield and Bristol, it will use multi-portions, which allow the food to be displayed and served in a conventional manner.

"Although we needed a manager who could hold the whole service together, making sure the food was regenerated and presented properly, night and day," says Pennington, "there is little food preparation and no cooking required, so the general work skills are fewer than in a conventional operation. Therefore, the labour costs are lower."

Meals are provided by Cygnet's purpose-built central production unit in Nottingham, which produces 5,000 items a day. According to Pennington, Cygnet is one of the few food vending firms with the quality assurance certification ISO9002, which he says helps it win contracts.

Even so, gaining the Hatfield and Bristol distribution centres was not a foregone conclusion. "We had to work hard for the last two contracts. We won because our price was competitive and we were flexible. The client felt we could work together because of the success of the other two sites," explains Pennington.

All sites have chilled vended meals reheated in microwave ovens, plus a bar selling salads, pizzas, jacket potatoes and chips. Vending machines for meals, canned drinks, hot beverages and confectionery are in the dining room.

The multi-portion meals are served from the display counters at midday for administration and office staff, who have set lunch hours, and in the middle of the night for shift workers. The menu is the same for vending machines and counter display and operates on a four-week rota.

"Because there is no rush for vended meals, the constant flow is evenly paced and lends itself to the system," says Pennington. "It offers the client a guaranteed product, a greater range, with reduced labour and equipment costs, and good use of limited space. In traditional outlets, fewer staff can mean a limited menu, but if you can buy in a variety of food, you can increase the offer without increasing labour costs. Despite the different service offered on the new sites, we will be employing the same number of catering staff [10] as Livingston and Haydock."