Takes Innovate’s contract renewal tally up to ten consecutive renewals since the start of 2012 -
Furze Platt Senior School in Maidenhead and The Misbourne Arts &
Technology College in Great Missenden have renewed their catering
contracts with Innovate Services, making it ten consecutive contract-wins for the catering operator since the start of the year.
Furze Platt, a co-educational mixed community school for 11 – 18 year
olds, renewed its contract following positive feedback from pupils,
staff and parents. “We like the food, the service, its value for money
and the fact that Innovate is always coming up with new ideas. For
example, the new Simply Fantastico range of pasta dishes that have been
designed by Gino D’Acampo are now available in the café and are very
popular,” commented Lesley Peat, Business Manager for Furze Platt Senior
School.
The Misbourne has been “extremely happy” with Innovate’s café-style
catering model that came on-board five years ago and so opted to renew
the contract, as well as introduce a biometric cashless system,
explained Debbie Grimsdale, School Business Manager at Misbourne School.
The school has signed up for an additional five years with Innovate as
a result.
Furze Platt uses Innovate’s biometric system, but some children still
bring in cash. Since Easter all cash is now entered onto the biometric
system in the morning. “We want to move across to entirely cashless,
but in the interim we are adopting this approach, so that parents know
money is being spent on school meals,” explained Lesley Peat.
Free School Meals are also administered via Innovate’s biometric system
at Furze Platt. Each eligible student is therefore able to select their
lunch and then check-out with all other students, making the process
seamless. To make this even easier, Innovate has created the ‘iClub,
which offers ‘meal deals’ on a range of foods and drinks for a set
price, which is the same as the Free School Meal allocation. “This works
extremely well as the students can’t be identified as someone redeeming
a Free School Meal, it’s easy for them to select the food they want
without exceeding the allocated meal cost, plus parents can track what
their children have been eating online,” Lesley Peat said.
The Misbourne School currently offers both a cashless and cash till in
the cafe. Parents can also send in a cheque or top up cards online. But
the school is looking to move to a totally cashless biometric system
from Innovate. “With a cashless system parents know that the money has
been spent on school meals, and not on the way to and from school.
Parents also like the fact that they can check on what their children
have eaten that day online,” Debbie Grimsdale said.
Children eligible for free school meals at The Misbourne are able to use
the cashless system to make their purchases in the school Café. “This
works extremely well as it avoids any social stigma, as the transaction
is managed via the cashless card and so are anonymous,” concludes Debbie
Grimsdale.
Adds Derick Martin, CEO and co-founder, Innovate Services: “To achieve
our tenth consecutive contract renewal is a fantastic achievement and I
am very proud of the team for working closely with all our schools,
academies and colleges to create a catering service that meets their
individual wants and needs. We don’t provide a one-size-fits-all
service but instead work with each school’s leadership team and students
to design a service that fits with their requirements, and will
ultimately be enjoyed by all those that use it.”
For further details visit http://www.furzeplatt.com/, http://www.misbourne.bucks.sch.uk/ and www.innovate-services.com.
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