Panache are pleased to announce that in addition to offering a wide range of management support services relevant to your catering offer, we also specialise in other disciplines within the facilities management field.

Cleaning is a specialism we are particularly experienced in and there are many areas we can work within to improve the standard of your cleaning services.

Tendering Services

We assist in managing the tendering process, this may be a stand-alone cleaning contract or combined with a catering tender which can often result in financial economies. We undertake a series of procedures, starting with the compilation of a detailed specification of the service including cleaning methods, frequencies of clean and minimum standards. We then work with you throughout the whole of the tender process to ensure that you achieve the best possible outcome, culminating in a smooth handover and successful contract commencement. The process culminates with a due diligence auditable document for your retention.

Contract Monitoring

We provide a contract monitoring service to ensure contract compliance and consistently high standards. This can be as frequent or as spasmodic as you require and would involve monitoring standards, examining working methods and practices, monitoring user and customer satisfaction levels.

Contract Reviews

You may be experiencing problems with your existing cleaning service, be it in-house or contracted out, and feel you would benefit from an operational review. This review would identify where standards are failing and offer solutions. Equally, you may just want confirmation that you are receiving best value from your services.

Other areas where we can assist include:

 cleaning-relating advice and guidance where a new-build or significant refurbishment is taking place

 information on the best equipment for the job

 industry productivity and financial norms for cleaning operations

For more information about this article or Panache Consultancy Ltd, please contact Niccola Boyd-Stevenson on tel. 01285 771512.

Panache Consultancy Ltd. are delighted to welcome back Jon Rook who worked for us for several years and who we have kept in regular contact with since his departure.

Once on-board, John will be working on a part-time basis as a non-executive director and part of his remit will be to use his expertise and knowledge of our industry to assist in bringing in new business to Panache by opening up new markets and developing additional and different opportunities for our prospective, as well as existing, customer-base.

We all look forward to the new challenges that this will bring as we continue to extend our portfolio of expertise.

We are proud to announce that Sheila Parker, our Executive Consultant, successfully completed the Hotelympia 10K Run, which took place on the opening day of this years Hotelympia Exhibition at Excel.

Sheila finished the run in just over 47 minutes and was the 15th female and 122nd runner to complete the course out of a total of 532. She was also the first lady in her age group to cross the line.

Panache Consultancy Ltd have worked successfully recently with Cooks the Bakery, a small independent company who have dramatically and successfully changed the standard approach to School Catering.

They now operate in seven schools and their innovative approach is to offer a modern coffee shop outlet serving freshly made, healthy food and drinks. This has had the effect of doubling and sometimes even tripling the number of students that use the facilities.

The basic concept revolves around the fact that the main customer base are the students and that they will go elsewhere if they are not provided with an attractive food offer that is good value for money. This involves transforming the school canteen into exciting and vibrant coffee shops similar to smart coffee shops that are on every high street. The demands of the secondary school students are diverse and therefore the food offer needs to reflect this as well as being able to cope with serving very large numbers of people in a very short period of time. The coffee shops open all day which means that sixth formers and staff can eat when they choose, avoiding the two peak break periods as well as all students being able get breakfast in the morning, or enjoy a refueling snack at the end of the school day.

The extensive choice of food on offer all complies with the government standards for school food and OFSTED, after inspecting one of the schools that Cooks the Bakers operate in, said that their approach to school catering had given a real boost to healthy eating.

The food offer varies throughout the day and includes a deli bar with salads, sandwiches, wraps and rolls made to order or ready to grab ‘n go, hot meals such as lasagne, cottage pie, chicken curry, & cauliflower cheese, breakfast including cereals, fruit compote/yoghurt pots and hot breakfast wraps, a choice of panini ranging from cheese and ham through to spicy meatball, pizza baguettes, pasta and noodle pots and freshly made salads. In addition to all this, there is the heart of the offer, which is a quality real coffee offer including freshly made cappuccinos, lattes and mochas.

To successfully introduce such a radical approach demands a very close partnership between Cooks and the school, involving close dialogue, complete transparency and a sharing of problems and opportunities. It has to be a joint strategy, with the school educating its students about a healthy lifestyle and diet, and Cooks providing food and information that integrates with that.

If you would like any more information about Panache Consultancy or further information about this article, please contact Niccola Boyd-Stevenson on 01285 771512.

Panache Consultancy Ltd are proud to report that Niccola Boyd-Stevenson, Managing Director, has recently been elected and appointed onto the FCSI Executive Committee of the UK Branch.

The FCSI is a worldwide organisation that has a strict code of conduct for membership and its aim is to promote professionalism in foodservice and hospitality consulting. All FCSI members need to be qualified to an agreed standard of competency to join the society as well as operating in an ethical and professional manner.

Niccola will commence her formal duties on the Executive Committee as from January 2008.

Panache Consultancy Ltd are delighted to announce that they have just launched a new service that may be of interest to you whether your catering service is managed in-house, by a contractor or whether you are a contractor operating on behalf of a client.

We now offer a 'Mystery Customer Journey' which involves a senior member of the Panache team being a customer in your catering outlet or outlets, during which time we would look at a range of various areas plus anything specifically requested by yourself, typically contract specification adherence. Following on from this, based on our vast experience of being exposed to such environments within education, we would produce a detailed, totally independent report which could also include a strategic corrective action plan. We can even assist with implementation should you wish, as we would never recommend anything we did not believe could be actioned on a totally successful basis.

Initially, this service was set up to help contractors who were not achieving the 'wow' factor with their customer service which was impacting upon their success and ultimately their financial performance.

We now believe that the 'Mystery Customer Journey' as well as being a useful tool for contractors, can also be used successfully by those responsible for their catering to monitor the standards of the in-house team or the contractor, whichever is applicable. So, if you would like any further information on this service and how we can help you improve your catering offer, or for more information about Panache Consultancy please contact Niccola Boyd-Stevenson on 01285 771512.