Food service briefing

ESS wins first MoD activity contract
Compass Group defence support services division ESS has won its first Ministry of Defence multi-activity contract at the 2nd Division of the British Army in Scotland. The seven-year deal will turn over £7.5m per year and covers 10 sites. ESS will employ 380 workers to provide catering, cleaning, retail and facilities management services for up to 3,250 military and civilian staff.

CVC win colleges and Cambridge Corn Exchange contract
Crown Venue Catering (CVC) has won a five-year catering and hospitality contract at St William’s college in York. The deal, which will turn over £1m per year, starts on 1 March and will see 35 CVC staff cater for an 80-seat restaurant and a conference venue with a capacity of 250. It was previously run by Compass Group leisure division Milburns.

CVC has won a five-year catering deal at the Corn Exchange in Cambridge. The deal, which will turn over £600,000 per year, sees about 30 CVC staff cater for 1,200. It was previously run by Compass Group leisure division Leith’s.

Aramark secures £5m PricewaterhouseCoopers deal
Aramark has won a five-year contract to provide catering and facilities management services at PricewaterhouseCoopers. The deal, which will turn over £5m per year, will see 120 Aramark staff work at five sites in London and three regional offices. The deal was previously run between Compass and Sodexho.  

Scolarest adds three schools to its books
Compass Group education division Scolarest has won a 10-year contract at Willenhall School Sports College, near Walsall, West Midlands. The deal, which will turn over £274,000 per year, will see 14 Scolarest staff cater for up to 1,500 pupils. The contract was previously run in-house.

Scolarest has also won a four-year deal to provide catering services at two schools in Farnborough. The contract will turn over £142,500 per year and is for Wavell School and Samuel Cody school, which are located on the same site and share a kitchen. Eight Scolarest staff will work on the contract, which was previously run by Pabulum.

Wood Hall Catering to continue services at TV company
Wood Hall Catering has extended its studio and location catering contract with TalkbackThames for three years. The deal will turn over £1m per year and cover the restaurant at Deer Park Road studios in Merton, London, and location catering for The Bill. About 24 Wood Hall staff will work on the contract.

Gloustershire County Cricket signs Foster
Independent event caterer Fosters has won the contract for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. The four-year deal will turn over £800,000 per year and see six staff work on site, rising to 120 on match days. The deal was previously held by Lindleys.

Wilson Vales wins three-year contract at the Cotswold Conference Centre
Independent caterer Wilson Vale has won a three-year contract to provide catering services at the Cotswold Conference Centre in Worcestershire. The deal, which will turn over £400,000 per year, will see eight Wilson Vale staff cater for up to 120. The contract was previously run by Avenance.

Sodexho's Lynn Abernethy to manage Scottish Parliament contract
Lynn Abernethy has been appointed by Sodexho to manage the catering contract at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Inverness-born Abernethy was formerly manager at the Edinburgh Caledonian hotel. She moves from Edinburgh-based hospitality recruitment company Solutions, where she was a partner.

By Tom Bill

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