We changed our catering company to Taylor Shaw two years ago and have not looked back since.
Being a large sixth form college with over 1800 students located in a semi rural area, the provision of good quality food at an affordable price is essential. What Taylor Shaw has provided has met our expectations from day 1. Students show a high level of satisfaction with the menus offered and have found the caterers willing to listen to the student voice. The catering at our college has a turnover of about £.5 million so is a major department within the college and with few other food outlets or shops in the surrounding area it must cater for different demands throughout the day.
Students and staff were involved in the original tendering process before we awarded the contract and have continued to be involved with the caterers to maintain the high standards that we started with.
As the Senior manager with responsibility for catering in the college I have been pleased with the operation of the contract and the ease with which the provision is managed. Taylor Shaw are a friendly company with a local feel. They are easy to talk to and they do listen! They use fresh local produce and have reasonable pricing structures which results in a well used facility and happy customers.
One of our biggest worries was how they would handle staff in the change over from our last supplier but again this exceeded our expectations. As a college we had to do very little and faced no disruption what so ever. Existing catering staff were treated with sensitivity which resulted in all existing staff wanting to stay with the new catering company.
In their first complete year of operation they exceeded their financial predictions and managed to grow the provision to the satisfaction of students and the college alike.
George Hollowell
Head of Support Services
Winstanley College
January 2008
Case Studies