Manchester Fayre scoops top catering award

Manchester Fayre is celebrating the sweet taste of success – again.

For the second year running, Manchester City Council's catering arm has been awarded "Best Performer" for education catering at the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) annual performance networks awards ceremony.

The event, hosted by TV presenter Diane Louise Jordan, was attended by more than 450 local authority representatives and was the climax of a major two-day conference. Entitled "Benchmarking; The X factor", the conference explored ways in which councils can better use performance information to improve services and learn from best practice authorities.

Manchester Fayre provides school meals to more than 150 primary and secondary schools in Manchester and has a dedicated team that work hard to promote the uptake of healthy meal choices to pupils across the City.

The City Council's executive member for school meals, Councillor Bernard Priest, said: "This is great news for Manchester and really showcases the excellent school meals service that is provided by the team for pupils citywide."

The service's operations manager, Ian Seddon, said: "To win the award for the second year running is fantastic. As a school meals provider it's an increasing challenge to provide meals that are both healthy and appealing to young people. This award reflects the continued hard work of our team and the important role the team play in providing pupils with a balanced and nutritious meal each day and promoting the benefits of healthy eating."

Speaking at the awards ceremony, APSE Assistant Chief Executive, Mark Bramah, said: "Government has set an improvement agenda in the transformation of the UK's public services. Councils are leading the way. What better message can we convey to the public than that which says councils care and are determined to carry on improving the services that they provide within local communities."

Media contact:

Rebecca Kennedy, tel 0161 234 3332