The Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO), regarded as one of the country’s ‘Pro5′ buying organisations of a collaborative nature, has unveiled a new catering framework comprising various providers that can be approached by schools, colleges and other such public bodies, in respect to potential contracts.

As part of the new framework, ESPO, which covers the South, East and the Midlands, has implemented over-arching terms and conditions, making the platform a safe and trustworthy way for local authorities and other bodies within the public domain, to achieve the best value for money possible.

The launch of the new platform has been made possible through ESPO’s partnership with Intenda, a company that has designed the technology for the platform to run ‘mini-competitions’ in a user-friendly and legally compliant way, that ensures value for money, more so than the initial contracting element.

It is Intenda and ESPO’s efforts to automate as well as improve the mini-competition phase as part of the wider procurement process, that is said to make it so innovative, with the platform also extending its usability credentials to all parties involved in the procurement chain – in second stage selection as well as the framework contracts.

In other catering news, the wheels have been set in motion for this year’s Young Chef Young Waiter competition in September. Organised by The Restaurant Association, three new skill categories have been introduced this year, both for chefs and waiters. For the latter, these are Best Wine Knowledge, Best Cheese Knowledge and Best Barista, whilst for chefs, the new award categories are Best Kitchen Craft, Best Original Dish and Best Dessert.

Posted by Hayley on the 6th June 2011