Quadrant renews contract with Royal Mail

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2 ... -mail.html

6 February 2008 16:47)

Contract caterer Quadrant, a joint venture between Compass Group and Royal Mail, has renewed its contract to feed postal staff in a deal worth £65m in annual turnover.

Under the five-year extension, Quadrant will continue to feed 185,000 Royal Mail employees at 1,150 sites across the UK.

A 1,800 strong Quadrant team will run 325 restaurants and look after 4,300 vending machines as part of the deal.

Compass entered into a joint venture partnership with the Royal Mail in 1998, with the latter retaining a 51% holding in Quadrant.

Stephen Cole, head of business services Royal Mail procurement group, said: “Royal Mail is determined to provide its people with all possible support to help them deliver excellent service to customers. That includes ensuring they can get the benefit of a top-quality, nutritious and value-for-money catering service.â€

[dvbuk55]

Well that's the worst news I could hear. Apart from the p*ss poor service when the machines break down - usually about twenty minutes after the numpty who fills them up jams the machine - the machines we have are so old Noah had one in the Ark.

This morning the mocca coffee had run out again so I says to numpty boy - take one of the coffee/sugars and fill it with mocca - we aren't allowed he says - why not I says - because we aren't allowed says he.

We'd have been better catering for ourselves like we do at christmas.

[somerset]

So let me get something right here.Have heard that if you work in a MC you get cheap meals? But if you work in a DO all you get is a machine churning out p**s water as coffee and tea for 30 pence?

[dvbuk55]

So let me get something right here.Have heard that if you work in a MC you get cheap meals? But if you work in a DO all you get is a machine churning out p**s water as coffee and tea for 30 pence?

You have the scenario off pat - I did mention to the Area Manager once about this discrepancy to which he replied "You wouldn't want to eat that food" - my reply was "Give me the option" - he walked off.

[somerset]

So come on then any MC workers on here? What do you pay for a breakfast in your quadrant canteen? Compared to the fact i have to go to local shop and pay £ 1-50p for a pastie?

[edy]

Well that's the worst news I could hear. Apart from the p*ss poor service when the machines break down - usually about twenty minutes after the numpty who fills them up jams the machine - the machines we have are so old Noah had one in the Ark.

This morning the mocca coffee had run out again so I says to numpty boy - take one of the coffee/sugars and fill it with mocca - we aren't allowed he says - why not I says - because we aren't allowed says he.

too true,our machines are crap,never give change

[DGP1]

We have a Tesco with a restaurant 500m away from the office so I'd rather eat there and I always bring my own food and drink in.

[F0zziebear]

Quadrant in my experience seemed to subsidise food that is bad for you and charge an arm & leg for healthy food. You could get a fry up with a mug of tea for about £1.50 a measly salad cost £2.10

Now don;t get me wrong there's nothing wrong with a nice fry up. However, with a workforce who's biggest reason for sick absence is gastroenteritis. It doens't take a brain surgeon to realise that stuffing your ost important commodity full of grease and muck is likely to clog up the parts. You wouldn't feed the machines low grade oil (ok so we are talking about RM). You get my drift. Quadrant should be offering healthy food cheap so that it's workforce are encouraged to lead a healthy lifestyle bring down sick absence and improve performance.

Now someone for civil liberties will point out the choices issue, but I argue that the true cost of a daily fry-up is also a discrimatory practice.

Feel free to argue if you wish.

Also, could you imagine RM dropping Quadrant for poor performance when we own a majority share? So why do we need a procurement manager to agree something that was already agreed?

F0zz

[DGP1]

You wouldn't feed the machines low grade oil (ok so we are talking about RM).

[baldrick]

So come on then any MC workers on here? What do you pay for a breakfast in your quadrant canteen? Compared to the fact i have to go to local shop and pay £ 1-50p for a pastie?

I think Fozzie is a bit out of date with prices. It's more like £2.50 for a fried breakfast and tea now - compared
with about £3.50 in local cafes. The problem is that unless you're fortunate enough to get it just after it's been
cooked it is likely to be dried up and rubbery after standing under the heating lights, whereas the breakfast in
the cafe will be individually freshly cooked.
A main course at lunchtime or in the evening will be between £2 and £3.50, and a dessert about 50p. I think a
pastie in the Quadrant canteen would also be about £1.50.
The meals were better (and cheaper) before Quadrant were taken over by Granada/Trust House Forte or whoever it was.

[wee nippy sweetie]

So come on then any MC workers on here? What do you pay for a breakfast in your quadrant canteen? Compared to the fact i have to go to local shop and pay £ 1-50p for a pastie?

The canteen's OK if you like your food kept warm under a lamp. I had a scotch pie and beans which had been kept warm this way at dinner time today - for how long is anybody's guess. Once we had all queued for about 10 mins waiting for Wavy Mavis on the till to work out which buttons to press, I found they had run out of proper (steel) knives and forks and I had to take plastic ones, which broke. They may as well have been rubber cos there was no chance of them making inroads into that pie crust. Ended up having to lift it in my hands to bite through it.

I get my new teeth next week.

[baldrick]

Now don;t get me wrong there's nothing wrong with a nice fry up. However, with a workforce who's biggest reason for sick absence is gastroenteritis. It doens't take a brain surgeon to realise that stuffing your ost important commodity full of grease and muck is likely to clog up the parts.
F0zz

One of my mates at work was off for two weeks with serious food poisoning - he was in hospital for 3 days on
a drip. He is sure he got it from Quadrant canteen food but still got issued with a Stage.

[andy2007]

Our Quadrant Canteen isn't cheap, but it does sell good healthy food (as well as the usual fry ups, etc.). So why is there a difference?
The problem that we do have though, is that it's only open during OUR official breaks, so Drivers often miss out. Also, as our breaks are staggered, those on the later break, get little choice. And whatever IS left, has been kept warm for over an hour, and isn't as nice.

[norbert]

Our Quadrant Canteen isn't cheap, but it does sell good healthy food (as well as the usual fry ups, etc.). So why is there a difference?
The problem that we do have though, is that it's only open during OUR official breaks, so Drivers often miss out. Also, as our breaks are staggered, those on the later break, get little choice. And whatever IS left, has been kept warm for over an hour, and isn't as nice.

I've spoken to one of their cooks , he said he joined Quadrant as he preferred to work single shifts rather than split shifts in Hotels , Bars etc for c**p pay/conditions /no union etc .

His main complaint was he was sick of frying frozen food or doing endless fry-ups /stodge , he also mentioned his long term staff had too many oldfashioned ideas about cooking/catering .

He said the staggered breaks gave him problems as the food that had been prepared had to stay in the Bain Maries etc , there's cleaning routines that have to be organised round the staggered breaks and shifts .

There was a notice countersigned by the CWU regarding petty pilfering of cutlery etc and food , Christ if you're that hard up /tightfisted you buy cutlery/crockery etc from the car boot/charity shops cheaply .

Quadrant did have a comments book and if you made proper constructive comments you got a fair answer . Their Management said they were constricted from on high as to the suppliers they could use .

I do believe the catering standard has gone downhill since RM part privatized it . I wouldn't get at their staff personally , some have longterm service from when it was RM Inhouse and are CWU Members .

I'm not a expert on catering , there's probably people on here that know the trade much better but there's always two sides to every story .

[billyb8]

So let me get something right here.Have heard that if you work in a MC you get cheap meals? But if you work in a DO all you get is a machine churning out p**s water as coffee and tea for 30 pence?

it's not that simple. If you work in a MC and eat when the day time Govs eat then it's pretty good. The late shift get a slightly dummed down version of this less but drier options. The nights get the reheated leftovers or short order fixed price. so if there is something you don't want you still pay.