Sodexo adds another decade to contract with prestigious Wellington College

Independents by Sodexo has retained its contract with Wellington College in Berkshire for a further ten years with the new contract valued in the region of £80 million for the contract duration.

The contract includes the delivery of the catering, hospitality, retail and domestic services including cleaning, logistics and laundry at Wellington College as well as the hospitality and domestic services for Eagle House, the preparatory and pre-preparatory school for 360 pupils aged 3-13 located in nearby Sandhurst.

Founded in 1859, Wellington College is one of the world’s top co-educational day and boarding schools educating up 1,200 pupils aged 13 to 18. The Independents by Sodexo team has been the long-term partner at both schools, over 60 years at Wellington College and over 25 years at Eagle House.

At Wellington College Sodexo’s 160-strong catering team serves 1,000 pupils for breakfast and supper with a lunchtime service for pupils and staff of up to 1,700 covers. The main dining hall caters for around 1,000 pupils every lunchtime, offering a wide range of options from hot meals, salads, soups.

The newly revamped V&A Café serves up to 600 during the two-hour lunch service and offers a more grab and go offer which includes sandwiches and salads as well as more street food style dishes at its live cook station such as Crispy Prawn Taco’s; chicken Souvlaki; low & slow smoked pork shoulder and Mexican rice with smashed avocado, sweetcorn salsa.

The V&A Café has been designed to provide pupils and staff with a more relaxing space where they can take quick breaks and enjoy lunch away from the busy main dining hall. It is an all-day café-style destination where they can also watch the school’s sporting fixtures and other events which are broadcast on TV screens. 

Adding to the contemporary feel, the space is also used as a gallery to exhibit pupil’s artwork (including pottery, paintings etc.) and has a dedicated performance space, where live sessions by the school’s talented musicians, singers and actors are held.

Steve Hawkins, managing director, schools for Sodexo UK & Ireland said:

“Wellington College is a prestigious institution, and we are proud of our team there for delivering excellence every day and providing the client with the confidence to continue with us as their partner for a further ten years. We are exceptionally proud of the V&A Café, we worked closely with Sodexo’s projects team who have used their skills and expertise to create a vibrant high street feel within a school environment. Over the next few years we will continue to work closely with the College leadership team as it further enhances the student experience with the creation of a new sixth form centre.”

To help pupils understand and adopt a more sustainable diet Sodexo is using Klimato to provide carbon labelling on a number of the main meals and the kitchen teams are using Sodexo’s WasteWatch food waste reduction programme to capture food waste data which provides clear insights into what is being wasted and why.

The introduction of this technology will enable Sodexo and the school to bring in operational and behavioural changes to help end avoidable food and plate waste, whether generated in the kitchen or by the pupils and staff.

The extension also means that Sodexo will continue to oversee the Eagle House catering and domestic services contract, along with the 130-strong domestic services team for Wellington College. The cleaning services cover the entire estate from offices, classrooms, technical labs, theatre spaces, sports facilities, chapel through to the 17 boarding houses, ensuring all services within the contract operate smoothly and to the highest standards. Other services managed by the Independents by Sodexo team include laundry and logistics.

Stephen Crouch, Chief Operating Officer, Wellington College:

“We are delighted to renew our long relationship with Sodexo. The Sodexo team is part of the Wellington family and we look forward to continuing our partnership with them. We are especially grateful to Sodexo for the support and investment it has made in transforming the V&A Café which has become the beating heart of the College providing our pupils and staff alike with a food service mirroring that of the high street. Together with Sodexo’s talented team we are proud to continue to offer meal options in both the main dining hall and the V&C Café that are as tasty as they are nutritious, and as balanced as they are diverse.”