Benchmarking & Monitoring

It is important to verify that a catering operation is running efficiently and delivering the very best available quality of service. Whilst tendering the service is the ultimate way of benchmarking this, it is not always the most appealing solution and a simpler benchmarking process may be more appropriate.

Benchmarking

Benchmarking and Monitoring are two services that are designed to deliver a step-change in performance, without investing the time and resource required to tender the catering service.

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Part 1 - Financial

We benchmark the financial performance of our client’s catering service against key industry data, cost ratios and nearly 30 years worth of knowledge from across the sector. The first step is to ensure the figures we are reviewing are completely transparent and costs are being fully and accurately located to any accounts being operated. Once this is complete, we will review and assess:

Unit sales - good based on comparable operations?
Food costs – reasonable for the quality of food being served?
Sundry costs – under control and in-line with comparable operations?
Labour costs – sufficient to attract the staff needed to deliver the quality of service required?
Contractor income – fair for the range of and standards of service being delivered on site and or across the contract? Fully transparent?

Part 2 - Qualitative

We believe it is essential to review quality of food and service when we are completing a financial benchmark in order to place costs into context. This can be a light touch or more detailed depending upon a client’s drivers and wishes. We would typically benchmark the following, comparing performance with the best available in the market and using photographic evidence to support our findings:

Menu range & quality – does it fit the market and our client’s corporate agenda?
Food quality & provenance – is the trend for using local food being reflected?
Effectiveness of marketing to maximise sales – is the caterer retail savvy?
Service – are staff being trained and motivated to offer a great service?
Corporate Social Responsibility – is the caterer playing an important role to minimise the impact of the catering operation on the environment, especially in terms of food waste and recycling?
Wellness agenda – how is the catering supporting our client in this increasingly important area?

Monitoring

We offer both a single audit and an ongoing monitoring programme, designed to measure and assess financial performance, the food quality and service standards being delivered on site. This includes:

Assess performance against budget, benchmarking when appropriate.
Review the standards of service currently being achieved across the catering operations in scope against the existing catering specification and comparable operations.
Produce a report including creating a Service Enhancement Plan, designed to highlight areas for both immediate and ongoing improvement over the term of the contract.
Work with your contractor for an agreed period of time to implement the Service Enhancement Plan and continue to monitor thereafter.

Both the Benchmarking and Monitoring services are highly bespoke and can be flexed to suit most budgets. All our reports are tailored to our client’s requirements - they can be as extensive or as brief as you’d like and written for any audience.