What was your dream job at school?
When I was seven, I wanted to be a chef. Mum and dad worked, and because they didn’t get back home until 5–6pm, I had my own key to get in. I was hungry and there was a cookery book – Mrs Beaton’s, I think. The first thing I cooked was cheese straws, and they were pretty good.
What did you end up doing?
My first job was as a trainee chef for Midland Catering at Hallfield Independent School. I was paid £7 a week, and ran my own disco in the evenings making 10 times as much. Catering was my vocation and here I am, 38 years later, and still loving it.
How has your career been since then?
After working at Midland Catering, I was a second chef at Avery Scales, chef at British Leyland Cars and head chef at Chloride Alcad. I then moved into management and became the first craft-skilled trainee on GrandMet’s new scheme. I left there to open a pizza parlour, which I did along with some outside and contract catering for eight years before selling up and going back to work as catering manager at TSB’s headquarters in Birmingham. I was later given the opportunity to join the first Compass Catering sales trainee course. After joining Bromwich Catering and another short stint at Compass, I set up a catering consultancy, which I ran for three years. Spells with Sodexo then facilities management company Haden followed before I joined Alliance in Partnership (AiP) as sales director in 2004.
Why did you join a relatively small and specialised operator like AiP?
I like to do things independently. I flourish when I am left to get on with things. I know schools, how to grow a business, make a healthy profit and find doing it for a small company more satisfying.
What skills does a contractor need to succeed in the education sector?
A thick skin, patience, persistence, a small ego, the ability to think strategically and make decisions quickly, financial astuteness, motivation, effective communication skills. You also need good people around you and a business model based on risk and reward so you can deliver what you promise.
How has AiP built up that skill set?
Mark Green, who I have known and worked with on and off for 36 years, started the business in 1998, building on school contacts he had and contracts I sold when we worked with Bromwich Catering. The company flourished at first, but struggled when money became tight because margins were low. Former Bromwich Catering managing director Bill Webster was persuaded to invest in it and introduce improved financial control. He recruited me and Veronica Bowen as we had both worked successfully with him at Bromwich Catering. After 18 months, I took the reins as managing director. Since then, the company has tripled the number of contracts, turnover and profitability.
What are AiP’s strengths as a school meals provider?
We only concentrate on the education market; we produce 90% of our meals fresh on site daily; we hold Gold Food for Life accreditation; we provide a bespoke service to all education sites, no contract is ever the same; and we have a business model that takes the risk away from the schools, allowing them to accurately budget for school catering. We succeed where the big players don’t always because they have bigger overheads and the smaller margins available are not attractive to them.
Could the tender process work better?
We deal with an array of tender processes and contracts from consultant-led, council-managed to individual schools, and each has advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes, the client isn’t really sure what they really want and need, and often their expectations of the value of the catering contract are over-inflated. You will sometimes hear them say things like: “The catering turnover is £100,000 – it must be a goldmine”.
Having the correct information on staffing, turnover and client objectives are key, together with a contract document which is fair and reasonable to both sides. Do not have a 70-page contract, keep it simple. I think having separate presentations by caterers to students and clients is a good idea, and it’s paramount to sort out the pension situation at the outset or this will be a problem when the contract is awarded, especially if the contract is gained from a direct services organisation (DSO).
What are the main challenges facing school caterers?
Local government pension schemes can be a minefield, councils not allowing private contractors a level playing field when it comes to information on any funding deficit, and DSOs or councils using pensions to unfairly protect their business. Then there’s the need to keep current with new food initiatives and handling the business in the face of the financial pressures on families.
Will this change in the future?
I refuse to let the issues regarding pensions and having a level playing field beat us. The financial pressures on families won’t go away in a hurry, so we need to be inventive with things like budget-buster meals, such as soup and a roll for 80p or pasta and noodle pots for £1. You always need to update and refresh your offer.
There’s concern for the health of the nation. What can school caterers do?
Maintain nutritional standards, ensure junk food does not come back and educate our customers on the benefits of eating a healthy diet. We need to provide food that is priced reasonably and offers true value for money. We should also work with schools to promote food via the curriculum with ideas, such as cookery skills competitions. And parents need to be educated to understand the benefits of healthy eating through parent evenings, taster days and websites.
Are children’s eating habits changing for the better?
They certainly are within the school environment. There will always be food they can buy outside the school, but if the offer is right, they will stay and eat at school. Generally children are more adventurous with what they will eat and more aware of what they should eat, but we only feed them within a one to two-hour window for 190 days in every year. So although we can do our bit, parents, carers and the Government have to shoulder their responsibility.
How do you drive meal uptake?
Through communication on websites, on school media, parents evenings, new intake days, taster days for pupils and parents, competitions, food theatre, discount vouchers, meal deals, student forums, ‘buy four get one free’ promotions, vouchers linked to school student performance, discounts for paying a term in advance, exciting marketing, special days, variety, value for money, providing the latest food trends, supplier days, free food tasters, in-house brands… Oh, and the passion and commitment to make it happen.
How do you ensure free school meals uptake is as high as possible?
Cashless payment systems provide confidentiality and ensure students can buy the same food so there is no discrimination. We also provide the school with take-up numbers so they are aware of any students not using their entitlement. It’s also about encouraging purchase through perceived value and talking to parents so they are aware of what is on offer.
Do you use cashless payment systems?
We have 25 sites using cashless systems and have seen this grow dramatically over the last few years. It helps reduce queues, increases spend per head by 20–25%, ensures that those entitled to free school meals can purchase their meals without stigma, together with increasing uptake of free school meals. It also provides helpful statistics on eating patterns, can be linked to our Saffron nutritional software, assists the school in administration, provides increased cash flow and, when linked to on-line payment systems, such as ParentPay, provides greater flexibility for parents to make sure pupils have money to buy lunch. Perhaps most importantly, pupils spend on healthy nutritious school food and not in shops on the way to school.
What do you think of Jamie Oliver’s views on school feeding?
I think he has raised the profile of school catering and food standards we have today. However, I don’t think he understands some of the limitations involved and perhaps is too eager to seek the sound bites from his involvement. He cares deeply about the food our school children eat, but he needs to get a broader viewpoint. He comes at it from a cost angle, because in a restaurant, you compile the dish and then put a price on it. When it comes to school catering, you are confined to a cost, usually the free school meal price. He has done great work raising the profile of school catering which he has benefitted from substantially, but I feel he needs to understand the issues more and talk to people who are in the business.
Is he right to demand that academies comply with school food standards?
There should be an adherence to food standards, but with more flexibility, although no one wants to go back to the junk-food days. It is a good bandwagon to jump on to make headlines, but does he really think these academies will introduce food that is unhealthy. Maybe one or two bad apples will, but the majority will stick with the food standards. As the director of an education catering company, I will not let this happen and I cannot think of many that would. And what about the independent school sector? They do not have to adhere to standards, but are the majority of independent schools serving unhealthy food? No, they are not.
Are public-sector spending cuts having an impact on your business?
Yes, a dramatic effect as schools seek to get the best, most cost-effective quality service. The majority of our business is gained by the references clients give to potential new customers. Local authorities have massive overheads, which cannot be sustained, and a number are cutting drastically. When that happens, the service suffers and clients seek alternatives. We offer what they need, and guarantee costs without lowering the quality of food and service. We have gained £2.5m of sustainable, profitable business this year and have never been busier.
Food prices have risen sharply recently. How much of an issue is this?
At catering college, they always used to say: “Buy quality produce as you will always get more portions and customers will buy it”. Buying on price is a false economy. We constantly have a battle to keep food costs under control, but we do this by working with suppliers in a partnership, not as some contractors do by holding a supplier to ransom to keep prices the same or lose the business. We have excellent business managers, we are good at what we do, we know the market and we are able to keep costs under control.
What’s your forecast for the UK economy?
We will come out of the double-dip recession, it will still be a difficult period financially, but things will improve steadily. We need the politicians to keep a steady hand on the tiller – we cannot afford a ‘spend, spend’ mentality. If you have not got the money, don’t go into debt. But let’s all be optimistic instead of negative.
Are you optimistic about the future? If so, why?
Absolutely. We have a great profitable business; we only cater for a very small percentage of the education marketplace, so the sky is the limit.
What’s your dream three-course meal?
Gravlax of organic smoked Scottish salmon, Herefordshire fillet rossini, medium rare, followed by crème brulee with fresh English organic strawberries.
Anything to wash it down with?
A chilled Chablis Premier Cru.
If you hadn’t had your career, what would you have liked to do?
To have been a world-champion boxer, obviously not a heavyweight! [Editor notes: David is not the tallest At The Table With …’ interviewee].
Got any tickets for the Olympics?
Unfortunately not, but I am open to some hospitality if you are offering!