Merton Schools Back ISS Caterhouse
In their first award since recently joining
ISS, Caterhouse has announced that the London Borough of Merton has agreed to
award them the contract to provide school meals for Merton's primary and special
schools from September 2007.
The
Council’s press release confirmed that School meals have been on top of the
nation's agenda following Jamie Oliver's campaign to improve school dinners and
that Merton Council has made tremendous strides in refurbishing and extending
school kitchens to enable fresh cooking on site.
The
new contract
places a strong emphasis
on good quality, nutritious meals cooked from fresh ingredients on site. It is
therefore an important part of Merton's strategy to further improve school meals
following extensive consultation with the School Meals Development Group, which
includes representatives from Merton primary and special schools, the Primary
Care Trust and Merton Parents for Better Food in Schools
(MPFBFIS).
Councillor
Oonagh Moulton, Cabinet Member for School Standards and Youth
Engagement
said: "I am delighted to announce the award of this contract to Caterhouse which
will lead to further improvements in school meals. Merton Council has put
a lot of hard work into improving school meals by refurbishing kitchens and
providing better menus and an emphasis on using fresh ingredients. This is
the culmination of a partnership effort and we are very grateful for the input
from children, parents, head teachers, council officers and Merton Parents for
Better Food in Schools."
Tom
Seery, Managing Director of ISS Caterhouse
said: "We are very proud to be awarded this important contract. Our menus and
recipes are nutritionally analysed to meet the Caroline Walker Trust’s standards
through our NUTMEG Nutritional Analysis Computerised database programme. Our
proposed menus are verified via our Dietitian. We intend to consult and work
with the Council’s responsible officers, parents, head teachers and governors to
improve the quality of schools meals in Merton and look forward to an exciting
future."
Jackie
Schneider, Chair of Merton Parents for Better Food in School
said:
"We are delighted to welcome Caterhouse who are passionate about
preparing tasty and nutritious food for pupils, staff and visitors. We
appreciate that it is a tough job but their commitment to cooking from scratch
using fresh, good quality ingredients and their willingness to train and look
after their staff should mean a radically improved service. In September we will
be urging parents to make an appointment at their child's school to see and
hopefully taste the food for themselves."
