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NEWydd’s great start and new look

Published: 21/03/2018

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet was pleased to take note a report detailing success of NEWydd Catering and Cleaning Limited as it nears the end of its first year of trading. The former Council Catering and Cleaning Service which transitioned over to a Local Authority Trading Company last year has shown it is going from strength to strength. Members also approved the NEWydd Business Plan for financial year 2018/19. NEWydd’s Managing Director, Steve Jones, who presented the report to Cabinet, said: “Our first year of business was all about retaining the business we had. A big part of this was to retain all Flintshire schools currently signed up to our school meals service and I’m pleased to report that 100% of schools did so. I can also report that one school which hadn’t had school meals from the in-house provider for many years, signed a contract with us starting last December. We were also success in the tender for the Community Café at Holywell Leisure Centre where we began trading last July. “We have also increased overall uptake of school meals in both primary and secondary schools significantly. Primary schools now stand at 53%, up from 43% and secondary schools are now at 51% up from 41%. “NEWydd has made good progress in its first year of operation, retaining services and jobs and creating new lines of business and, in doing so, creating new employment opportunities. Substantial efficiencies of £637,000 have been achieved between financial years 2014/15 and 2016/17 whilst maintaining and improving service delivery.” Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Youth, Councillor Ian Roberts, said: “Retaining and increasing take-up of school meals at such a high level is a really commendable achievement. We want parents and guardians to have confidence in what their children eat at school and this demonstrates our commitment to the benefits of a balanced diet to childrens behaviour and learning abilities during the school day. As with any new venture, the cultural change amongst the workforce can be challenging but a new Team Manager recruited last year is proving to have a positive impact on the workforce and the company where it thinks and acts more commercially in what is a competitive trading environment. New uniforms and a new head office at Deeside Leisure Centre have also helped to overcome the cultural change. The uniforms have been designed and selected by the frontline staff and will be launched after the Easter break.