ISS chalks up £18m schools consortium contract

Contract caterer ISS has won the catering services contract for the Lambeth Schools Consortium (LSC), a group of 38 primary schools and nurseries in south London.

Commencing at the start of the 2020 academic year, the partnership will run for an initial five-year term and is valued at £18m. It will see the creation of 150 new jobs and investment in its dining experiences and food education opportunities for children and families in the borough.

From September 2020, ISS will introduce its primary school concept, ‘Feeding Excellence Every Day’ (FEED), to the 9,000 pupils across the consortium. A new executive chef will partner with each school to develop menus, which will be prepared from scratch each day using sustainable and locally sourced ingredients.

The target is to achieve the ‘food for life served here’ silver accreditation and Marine Stewardship Council’s chain of custody for the schools, as well as arrange food promotions and events.

Andrew Chaplin of the Lambeth Consortium Steering Group, said: “We were really impressed with what we observed from ISS and feel that it offers some exciting changes for the children within all of our schools. We were particularly impressed with the quality of food on offer to the children, the innovative ways they encourage children to make healthy food choices, and the overall high-quality dining experience the children were offered – something that all of us in the consortium strongly believe the children have a right to.

"These views were also supported by several of our pupils, who also had the opportunity to visit the ISS operations. We value the emphasis that ISS places on staff wellbeing as we want our excellent kitchen staff to be well looked after."

Dawn Harvey, regional operations director at ISS, said: “We’re so excited to have this opportunity to partner with the Lambeth Schools Consortium. Lambeth is a fantastic borough – a place where you get a real passion for great food around every corner – and we’re delighted to have the chance to help nurture that passion in the pupils and wider community through great school food.”