News

Leading school meals provider Chartwells has secured a four-year contract extension with East Sussex County Council worth a massive £28.4 million.

Chartwells, part of Compass Group UK & Ireland, will continue to deliver a range of food services to East Sussex County Council schools across 172 primary, secondary, academy and special schools.  

Under the deal, 587 Chartwells employees will continue to serve up breakfast club meals, mid-morning break snacks and school meals to over 63,000 students, plus hospitality services for schools. The school meals specialist has successfully delivered food services to East Sussex pupils since 2007, with uptake of school meals rising by 8% in primary schools and over 15% in secondary schools during this time.

In time for the next academic year, Chartwells will introduce a new-look food offer which has received the bronze award under the Food For Life Catering Mark scheme. It is also investing in refreshed presentation equipment for schools to enhance the dining experience for children, and supporting the local community with work experience placements.

Chartwells’ business director John Carlin commented: “We’ve forged a strong relationship with East Sussex County Council over the past six years and we are really proud of some of the great results we’ve had – our chef Alison Gann, who was crowned LACA’s National Chef of the Year last year is a prime example of this. We’re delighted to continue this partnership and look forward to building on this further over the next four years.”

Brendan Griffin-Ryan, contract manager for East Sussex County Council, added: “We are pleased to have secured such a high quality school meals contract with Chartwells and we are looking forward to continuing to work in partnership with them to deliver nutritious and healthy meals to pupils in East Sussex.”