OCS CATERING WINS CONTRACT FOR CONTEMPORARY CUISINE WITH A CONSCIENCE

OCS Catering – part of the £600 million OCS property support services group – has won a contract for the provision of a comprehensive range of quality catering services to top UK defence aerospace and electronics company – Thales Research & Technology (UK) Ltd.

The contract includes the highly successful OCS foodhouse food service concept which embraces contemporary cuisine, flexibly provided, passionately prepared and ethically sourced whenever possible. The service includes main meals and desserts, hot and cold snacks, grab-and-go salads, sandwiches and premium coffee for around 250 Thales employees at the prestigious site. Quality catering services will also be provided for meetings at the site which welcomes visitors from around the world.
Employees will also benefit from a traditional trolley service bringing quality food direct to their offices as well as a continuous vending installation for confectionery and hot and cold drinks.

The OCS foodhouse concept is designed to provide a busy workforce with a tempting and nutritional range of dishes from light snacks to hearty meals, all cooked freshly on site and delivered in a warm and relaxing environment. The concept has proved a winning formula with blue chip businesses from breweries to car manufacturers and aims to encourage people to take a break from their workplace by providing the quality, style and enjoyment normally associated with eating on the high street.

Announcing the new contract, Graham Gilbert, managing director for OCS Catering said, “This contract combines a number of important elements including the flexible provision of high quality food. But it also focuses on our strong commitment to sustainable and ethical catering and our determination to minimise ‘food miles’ by reducing environmental impacts from farm gate to plate. We are also committed wherever possible to using degradable, compostible or recyclable packaging, promoting organic and Fair Trade products and a healthy, balanced range of food and drink.”

The contract was awarded through Faceo – the Thales facilities management company. It required a total transition from the previous supplier to the new foodhouse concept to be developed and installed in only two weeks, including signage, graphics and catering equipment. This task was achieved on time by the OCS Catering mobile Relief Team which is used to provide back-up support to OCS Catering operations across the region.

Mick Wray, fm manager for Faceo said, “This was a remarkable achievement given the very short timescales which we had to impose but which were outside our control. We had heard excellent reports of the OCS foodhouse formula from another Thales site in the UK but by any yardstick this was a tough challenge. The benefits in food style and quality as well as the improved standards of service were obvious and immediate.”

OCS Catering operates at sites across the UK from airports and corporate HQ’s to hospitals and clinics. The company has grown rapidly in recent years through its ability not only to interpret the client’s brief but also recognise the needs and values of those who use its facilities. Thales delivers high technology solutions in areas from flight simulation to integrated communications for military and civil applications. 70% of its 9,000 UK staff are in engineering and the business has 60 sites across the UK.

Chris Cracknell, chief executive of OCS, congratulated OCS Catering on their rapid response, “This is an excellent example of the way in which we can take up an extremely difficult challenge and create a tailored solution in a very short space of time. Working together in this way they certainly demonstrated the wider OCS values of service excellence and total commitment to our clients’ needs.”