The big concern for us all at the moment is wondering what is to come due to the current conflict in the Middle East. Fuel and energy increases will impact all caterers in more ways than one as we can assume it will without doubt increase our food costs.
On a brighter note, I’ve attended two round tables this month, one focussing on school meal funding which was so well attended by all operators and suppliers. It included some guests from DfE who we hope will take back the proposed models for school funding to Government and see what comes back to us.
The second roundtable I picked up from where Jayne Jones had started at the end of December with the Scottish National Farmers Union on procurement. The group has written to the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity to highlight the focus to increase opportunities for more Scottish Growers producers and manufacturers to the public sector and believe that ministerial forum should be established.
A response was received and further work needs to be done on the proposal. It was very interesting to hear what happens across the border and I will stay on the group to see what as public sector we can contribute and also what we can learn.
I was invited along to a Love British Food webinar, which was so engaging and the passion on British food is obvious. Its Love British Food 25th anniversary year this year and there are lots of special anniversary events and milestone moments planned throughout the year, so keep checking online to see what’s happening and I can assure you it’s going to be a great celebration bringing everyone together to mark this amazing achievement.
I am continuing the plan to get our own All Party Parliamentary Group (AAPG) and have done some homework on the process, so again its moving on. On the note of APPG I’m sure you will all have heard that Sharon Hodgson MP, who is an amazing school meal supporter and has been at the forefront for many years, was recently appointed Minister for Public Health and Prevention at the Department for Health and Social Care.
All of us from the PSC Alliance would like to say many congratulations to Sharon on her new role, thank you for all of your support and wish you every success.
Thank you so much to all those folk who put in entries for the 2026 Public Sector Catering Awards. Wow there was so many in all categories which let me tell you was a task and a half to judge. It just shows that the public sector caterers have so much good work to shout about.
Many Congratulations to you all who have been shortlisted which is an amazing achievement in itself and I wish you all good luck at the Awards on the 9th April in London, which I’m sure as always will be a wonderful evening of recognition and celebration so get those tuxedos and posh frocks dusted down ready for the night and look forward to seeing you all there.
A huge positive this month is spring has finally sprung and those lovely light nights are creeping back in very nicely. The downside of course is your lawn mowers need to be dragged out too but it also means that some long bank holiday weekends are ahead in the coming months, the first being next month, so I would like to wish you all a very Happy Easter and have a lovely long weekend hopefully with sunny days and nights with your families have a ‘cracking’ break.
