The 7 concerns school leaders have about taking catering in house and why you should consider a management support service.

At CMC we know that making the decision to take your school’s catering service in house can seem daunting. What we hear most from schools is that you’re educationalists and not caterers; you’re worried about the safety aspects, whether it’ll just be something else to manage each day and what if it fails to live up to expectations?

After listening to potential clients, we’ve answered the 7 top concerns that school leaders have when considering in-house catering

1 – We don’t know anything about catering!

This is the concern we hear the most. We appreciate that teachers and business managers aren’t caterers, that’s why at CMC we offer schools a full, catering management service. We listen to what you want the catering service to be, advise you on whether your ideas can work and what would need to be done to bring them about and then work with your catering team to make your vision a reality. For any day to day catering issues your Catering Manager would speak to their CMC Consultant for help and advice.

2 – What about the legal requirements of running a catering service?

There are a number of legal requirements when the catering moves in house. The school will need to register as a food business and ensure that a food safety system with risk assessments is in place and followed. Current food hygiene, allergen and health and safety legislation will need to be adhered to and staff trained to follow it.

At CMC we have our own on-line systems for Food Safety, Allergens, Risk & COSHH, specially designed for schools but flexible enough to meet the needs of individual schools.

Our on-line systems are continuously updated as legislation and working practices change and your Catering Manager will be kept informed of any changes and your Catering Team trained to safely follow the systems.

We train all your staff to Level 2 Food safety in catering accredited by HABC and provide in-house training for Allergens, Health & Safety and Customer care.

CMC has a Food Safety system that operates under a Primary Authority Partnership with Wolverhampton City Council, which provides assured advice on food safety compliance across all sites. This ensures a consistent and legally supported approach to food hygiene, allergen management, and regulatory inspections. The Primary Authority framework reduces the risk of inconsistent enforcement and supports the continuous improvement of our Food Safety Management System.

3 – What does it cost?

Before commencing our work with your school, we will develop and agree an annual catering budget with you. This becomes your first-year in-house catering budget and is carefully phased and monitored each month using our CMC Tracker system.

Your dedicated CMC Consultant will oversee kitchen performance against the agreed budget and provide monthly reports to the school’s nominated representative, ensuring you’re kept fully informed of catering performance and financial progress. As the School Manager, you will also have direct access to the online CMC Tracker, giving you complete transparency over catering costs and expenditure at all times.

Our only charge is a fixed annual management fee agreed in advance — any surplus generated from catering remains with the school.

4 – Who employs the catering staff?

When a school brings its catering service in-house, existing catering staff transfer to the school’s payroll under TUPE regulations and become fully integrated members of the school team. This gives the school greater control over kitchen operations, and for the catering staff, it often acts as a powerful motivational incentive. Being directly employed by the school helps them feel more valued, involved in decision-making, and connected to the wider school community.

CMC will support you throughout the TUPE process, should you require assistance. We will also assess staff competencies and training needs on your behalf, and deliver tailored training to ensure your team is well-prepared and fully aligned with the school’s standards and expectations.

5 – What about menus?

One of the key advantages of bringing your school’s catering in-house is the increased autonomy you gain over the menu offer. While we will support you in meeting the requirements of the Government’s School Food Standards, your school retains full control over what food is served to pupils.

At CMC, we provide access to our own recipe book featuring over 400 recipes designed to help meet the standards. We’ll also work closely with you to ensure the menu is practical for your Catering Team to deliver and remains within your agreed budget.

6 – What about suppliers?

Through our CMC Tracker, your Catering manager will have access to a wealth of audited suppliers and they will have greater choice and freedom when ordering provisions. Your CMC Consultant will work with them to ensure that their product choice is suitable to meet the budget whilst providing the best quality meals for your pupils.
We help to set up supplier accounts in your schools name and also ask you to pay your own invoices, that way you have control of the purse strings and have complete transparency of costs.

7 – We want our pupils to have a great lunch

At the heart of everything we do is one simple belief: it’s all about a child’s lunch. We understand that, for many pupils, their school dinner may be the only hot meal they receive that day. That’s why we allocate a higher plate cost than many other caterers—because we believe that high-quality ingredients, thoughtful menus, and food cooked by a dedicated in-house school catering team are the essential ingredients for a truly great lunch.

Want to know about how we can support you with your in-house catering service? Give us a call on 01254 351887 or drop us a line enquiries@cmcschoolfood.co.uk we’re always here to help.