LACA Award winners 2010

15th July 2010, 8:50am

Local authority caterers across the UK celebrated the success of colleagues when the 2010 Awards were handed out at the LACA Gala Dinner.

In what proved the high point of the Local Authority Caterers' Association annual conference held at Hilton Birmingham Metropole some of the industry's best performers were recognised by their peers.

Catering Business of the Year
Winner: Bolton Environmental Services School Meals
Sponsor: Muller
Shortlisted Nominees: Eden Catering
Hertfordshire Catering
Judging Citation: Bolton is a town built on determination and ambition, aspiration and resilience – qualities which the submission proves are amply reflected in the Council's School Meals service.
Despite the challenging climate of efficiency, value for money, inspection and competition the meal uptake is significantly higher than the national average. The management team work closely with NHS Bolton, neighbouring councils and school improvement offices together more recently with the SfT and DCSF.
A value-for-money review in 2008 identified savings targets for the following three years and the school meals service delivered on year one and is on target for year two. Alongside this, the service had to reflect the robust pay review and the challenging Council efficiency target of improving financial performance.
Evidence of outcomes include an increase of 4.3% in meal uptake (NI 52) and an increase of 2.8% in take-up of free school meals.
The school meals team performs with pragmatism, enthusiasm and professionalism and adds significant value to the holistic framework of health improvement in Bolton.

Specialist Team of the Year
Winner: Nottingham County Council Staff Catering
Sponsor: Premier Foods
Judging Citation: Careful investment by Nottingham County Council in their people and premises has resulted in a hub of employee activity, a venue to be proud of and a focal point for both employees and the public alike.
Prior to investment the specialist catering service was running at a deficit of £60k per annum and the NCC realised that improvements were needed to tired and dated service and to regain the staff buy-in.
Following research of both the views of staff and the alternatives available in the nearby vicinity, a view was reached that there was an opportunity to continue to offer an service but in improved facilities and to develop a service which would significantly reduce the £60k deficit.
The council's own design and building division were commissioned to give the new service area a completely different look and feel and also the space would be used for meeting places or somewhere to relax and have a coffee.
The menu options were also changed to reflect some of the old favourites alongside new ideas including fusion dishes and ethnic cuisine. The new restaurant has proved popular with the existing customers but significantly has attracted a whole new market.
The catering is proving to be financially viable in line with the targets set - having repositioned itself as a corporate hub and hospitality venue.

Primary School Team of the Year
Winner: Norbury CE Primary School, Derbyshire
Sponsor: McCain
Shortlisted nominees:
Bolsover CE Primary School, Derbyshire
Newdigate Primary School, Warwickshire
Judging Citation: The catering team at Norbury don't solely see themselves as the provider of food for the children but have become an integral part of the school life by working closely with the Headteacher and staff to promote the five outcomes of every child matters. They engage with the children in a wide range of activities both in the dining room and the class room – including growing and recycling projects, cookery classes and dining room displays which have an impact on eating habits.
95% pupils have a school meal provided at 'restaurant' tables in the village hall adjoining the Victorian building of the school.
The team have proven over an over again their commitment to providing a first class service and their enthusiasm is endless

Secondary School Team of the Year
Winner: Solway Community Technology College
Sponsor: 3663 First for Foodservice
Shortlisted nominees:
St Benedict's Catholic School, Warwickshire
Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, Cardiff Catering
Judging Citation: 82% students at Solway College choose to eat a school meal... twice the national average.
Student involvement (in responding to consultation regarding school food) is active - enabling feedback to the catering team to continue to develop the service and following requests have produced a recipe book from which the money raised went to the school fund for developing school facilities.
The majority of food is grown locally and the school has become a flagship for the Food for Life Partnership enabling other schools in the vicinity to join then for the visit of the 'Food Bus'. Herbs are grown within the school site and the plans for a poly-tunnel are well advanced.
In financial terms the in-house service has moved to a balanced catering budget and through voluntary efforts of the team many of the school events are catered for - whilst support is also given to Food and Cake Clubs the Young Master Chef competition.

Education Marketing Award
Winner: SK Solutions Stockport
Sponsor: AVL Consultancy
Shortlisted nominees: Hertfordshire Catering; Shire Services, Shropshire: Manchester Fayre and Solutions SK, Stockport.
Judging Citation: The level of entries this year was again very high, although regretably we also had some other excellent entries that were not fully compliant with the criteria and the judges are very strict about this.
In making the award to Solutions SK the judges took into account how they clearly set out their objectives and ensured that they then matched their achievements to these.
They increased primary meal numbers by nearly 7% year on year despite the economic downturn. They adopted a whole school approach to the service and ensured that all staff have been re-trained to meet the new standards in both Primary and Secondary markets.
The cooks have received marketing training to promote the service including up-selling techniques. They were also given presentations regarding the website to raise awareness, so they could promote the site to pupils.
In Secondary schools they launched a new 'Go 4 Lunch' Promotion. Each time a child purchased a meal they were given a unique code to enter into a dedicated website to see if they had won a prize. Week one of the promotion saw a 31% increase across the sites.
They embraced various initiatives including the Meal Deal Pilot from the School Food Trust, their local Healthy Weight Strategy and NSMW. In the latter they worked with Stockport County FC and the SFT Scheme was launched by Ian Jones, double bronze medal winner at the Beijing Paralympics.
Overall the entry clearly exceeded the criteria for the Marketing Award.

Nan Berger Award
Winner: Carmarthenshire County Catering Service
Sponsor: Brakes
Shortlisted nominee: Let's Cook Together Team, Telford & Wrekin Council
Judging Citation: Carmarthenshire Catering Service are committed to delivering the highest standards of quality and service. Working in partnership with health experts to plan their menus, the service offers good quality appealing food produced using as much fresh products as possible.
The most recent achievement was the Platinum Corporate Health Standard (October 2009) and the catering service's case study on the local sustainable food strategy... the first time a local authority had achieved the award.
The service has received praise for HRH prince Charles and was mentioned as an exemplar of good practice on BBC's Question Time by Professor Kevin Morgan.

Roger Davies Outstanding Achievement Award
Winner: Sue Eakers, Cardiff Council
Sponsor: Moffat
Shortlisted nominees:
Steve Southern, Manchester Fayre
Richard Ware, Cambridgeshire Catering & Cleaning Services
Judging Citation: Since Fair funding, Sue has developed strategies for business retention and expansion and has secured 100% of the secondary schools until
2014.
As a direct result of her improvements the growth in secondary schools has risen from £2.1 million to over £4 million whilst in the primary sector continued growth has been maintained despite falling rolls with take-up of FSM reaching 98%.
Proactive in the sourcing of local suppliers and produce, Sue has formed positive relationships with farmers and other representative groups and works with both the Welsh Farmer Union and the Muslim Council of Wales.
She has also sourced bio-degradable food packaging which echo the council's values whilst introducing fair trade products when appropriate.
Sue is a great leader and pivotal in driving the service to maintain and excel in the standards delivered.
She has displayed outstanding levels of commitment and strong ethics whilst making enormous contributions to local authority catering.

Supplier of the Year
Winner: McCain Foods (GB) Ltd
Sponsor: LACA
Juding Citation: McCain's Foods (GB) Ltd have always played an active role within the school meals sector and have been supportive both in financial and resource terms over many years.
The changes in regulations posted particular challenges for retention of business in our industry and it is heartening to see how the company has responded to producing products which help meet compliance.
New products have been developed and the company has continued to have personal involved through its sales teams with customers.
Recently the forums offered by McCain have been particularly useful to all concerned in understanding each other's business and needs.

Change4Life Award
Winner: Manchester Fayre
Highly Commended: Suffolk County Council
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council
Judging Citation: A new award marking LACA's new status as a Change4Life Partner. Change4Life is a Department of Health sponsored initiative which encourages the general public to adopt healthier lifestyles by eating better and taking more exercise. It is a far-reaching, national movement to help families eat well, move more and live longer. One of the key Campaign messages is about eating 'one regular meal' every day. Eating school lunch is an easy way for children and young people to have a regular, nutritious meal which can also contribute at least two of the recommended Five-A-Day fruit and vegetable portions. The award was made by LACA chair Beverley Baker.

Chairman's Award
Winner: Neil Porter
Sponsor: LACA Chair Beverley Baker
Judging Citation: The Chairman's award this year is awarded to Neil Porter for his outstanding contribution to LACA over many years but particularly over the last three whilst he has been Vice, Chair and Immediate Past Chair.
Neil has been an active member of the SW region for many years. He has held the national positions of Vice Chair and Chair over two separate terms of office. Intense media scrutiny commenced during his first period as Vice, continuing into his period as Chair. His second period saw the run up to the launch of the secondary food standards and Neil was rarely 'off the sofa'. This would have been enough for most volunteers but Neil has taken on the duties of immediate past Chair with utmost commitment to the Chair and the Board. His wise counsel has contributed to the direction of LACA and he is always willing to contribute in any way necessary.
But he is to be particularly commended for his vision in establishing a pilot for the middle management training course at Kendal College this year. In partnership with the College, the SFT and Institute of Hospitality, 14 graduates of this programme have set the bar for future students.
Initiatives such as these are visionary, show partnership working at a significant level and fully impact on the 'front line' in a positive way.
LACA Ltd would not have developed in the way it has done if Neil had not been a member of the Board for that period and he is appreciated for his commitment.

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