A review of Warwick Schools Foundation’s catering operation saves them both money and time
Overview
Since January 2023, when a procurement partnership was formed with Warwick Schools Foundation, allmanhall has continued to deliver award-winning procurement support to the Foundation’s independent schools.
In October 2024, the senior operational management team engaged allmanhall to explore how additional support through their expert consultancy could deliver a full review of catering operations across the Schools.
allmanhall identified potential savings of over £30,000 that could be achieved by moving one element of outsourced food preparation to in-house preparation. Further savings could be made by adopting recommendations which reduced labour requirements for administrative tasks.
“Chris truly understood why we required a full review of our catering operation, which is evident by the depth of information within the report we received. While Chris was onsite, he was respectful to the team which allowed for honest and open conversations. The recommendations we received have allowed us to create a short-, medium- and long-term plan to enable us to develop and increase savings throughout the catering department.”
Claire Yates, Foundation Director of Hospitality & Leisure.
Background
Warwick Schools Foundation consists of Warwick Preparatory School, King’s High School, Warwick Junior School, Warwick Senior School and The Kingsley School. The Schools are individual but benefit from the strength and support of the Foundation.
The Schools are located on two sites, with the main site being the 55-acre Warwick Campus in Warwick, home to some 2,600 pupils of Warwick School, Warwick Preparatory School and King’s High School. Royal Leamington Spa is home to The Kingsley School.
At the time of the review over 3000 meals were being served during each lunch service across the Foundation. In addition to this, over 80 students boarding at the Schools also required breakfast, dinner and additional boarding provisions.
What did the client need?
The Foundation required a competent catering consultant to deliver comprehensive insight as well as recommendations to create an action plan to develop the service whilst ensuring that the review would be undertaken sensitively to enable their catering teams to feel valued throughout the process. The Foundation wanted to identify potential improvements in the catering operation’s efficiency, as well as ensure best value for money being achieved across the Schools.
The Foundation was keen to ensure they had the correct management structure in place for the catering operation, so that the catering teams could reach their full potential, delivering the highest quality of service across the Schools.
The results
allmanhall’s Development and Consultancy Manager, Chris Webster, undertook the review in November 2024. Chris spent over 36 hours on site over 4 days to observe the catering teams during preparation, cooking and service. Consultation with the department’s key stakeholders was also undertaken in 15 separate one-to-one meetings.
allmanhall’s in-depth catering consultancy review report included an Executive Summary detailing key findings along with recommendations. The summary included enough detail to share with the Foundation’s senior stakeholders who wanted just the headlines.
allmanhall made 38 recommendations using our expert knowledge of the sector, which took into consideration Warwick Schools Foundation’s aims.
The Foundation was impressed with the level of detail and insight provided, and they felt confident to move forward with the recommendations made by allmanhall, knowing the expertise and skills set of their consultant and that their own service had been benchmarked against similar independent schools.