Sodexo wins £15.7m UCL catering and hospitality deal

Sodexo has won £15.7m catering and hospitality services contract at University College London (UCL).

The three-and-a-half year deal, worth £4.5m per annum, will see the caterer deliver diverse foodservices at UCL's Bloomsbury campus in the capital. The contract also has two one-year extension options.

Sodexo will provide retail catering, vending and hospitality services to 25,000 students and 9,000 university staff from 26 January.

Internationally inspired menus and eclectic, casual dining offers are being planned by a dedicated Sodexo culinary team. Independent pop-up and street food providers will also be introduced as guest vendors as part of an aim to provide a range of offers small to medium-sized food enterprises.

Sodexo's ethical coffee brand, Aspretto, which is triple certified (Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and organic) will be introduced across all outlets.

Jane Bristow, managing director of Sodexo Education, said the new contract win was testament to the company's "agility and expertise" in identifying ways to meet the complex and diverse needs of clients in the university sector.

"We are currently developing exciting, innovative, varied and sustainably-sourced, fresh food offers aimed at providing value and flexibility for students," she added.

"Key to this approach has been Sodexo's focus on researching student preferences through the Sodexo University Lifestyle Survey and delivering services through an operational team solely dedicated to the university sector."

The contract will see Sodexo provide a bursary fund to support work placements for UCL students. A range of carbon reduction schemes along with software that will measure the consumption of electricity in all catering outlets across the UCL estate will also be introduced.

Sodexo has operated in the university sector for more than 50 years. This latest contract win comes a year after Sodexo snapped up a five-year £25m catering and hospitality deal with Brunel University.