Restaurants at School wins first contract

The company will manage all catering facilities and services at Sheen Mount Primary School in East Sheen, including sourcing, producing and serving all meals. The contract for Epsom-based Restaurants at School was put in place in January, following the school's refurbishment of its kitchen facilities. A team of four staff, headed by a chef manager, produce a daily menu from locally sourced food and the changes have already led to a surge in the number of pupils requesting the service. Stephen Pilkington, business development director of Restaurants at Work, said: "It has been part of our business strategy for some time to move into the schools market and we are delighted to have secured our first contract. "Sheen Mount Primary School had not had a hot meal service for some time prior to the refurbishment of its kitchens and since we have begun working with them the take up has been far better than expected. "Children are no different to our adult customers in wanting a high level of professional service and good quality fresh food and we achieve that by producing a choice of daily menu and healthy incentives such as freely available vegetable crudités and fruit. "This contract gives us a great platform for growth and, now we are established in the school catering sector, we can work towards marketing our services even further." Bright Futures Group, which owns Restaurants at Work, was listed on the PLUS Market late last year. The company provides high-quality on-site catering for clients including Hewitt Associates, the NSPCC, Wyeth, the Bank of Nova Scotia and Dairy Crest. Restaurants at Work, which employs around 200 staff, was established in 1995 and was bought by a management team including Tjalke Boersma, a founder of Wilson Storey Halliday, in 2005.