Encore for students as catering company retains contract

Encore, the hospitality company spun out of Glasgow’s city council, has won a £21 million contract to provide catering at Glasgow Caledonian University.

The firm, which is part of arms-length company Cordia, will run all six canteens at the university’s city centre campus, which is used by some 16,000 students and 1,800 staff.

The contract will run for the next four years, with an option to extend it for a further three.

David Melvin, Cordia’s managing director, said: “Make no mistake about it, this is a significant contract on a UK scale that was firmly on the radar of the biggest catering companies in the business.

“These companies brought their considerable resources to bear in a bid to take this work, and it is an outstanding achievement to have won it against such competition.”

Glasgow city council’s direct and care services department held the catering contract for eight years, with Encore providing the service over the past two years.

Cordia has also formed a partnership with the university’s business school to help train students through site visits and guest lectures.