Chartwells wins catering contract with Hampshire County Council

Chartwells, the education catering arm of Compass Group UK and Ireland, has secured a catering contract with Hampshire County Council.

Starting from January 2026, Chartwells will cater for the region’s nurseries and schools, with meals offered at the reduced price of £2.75.

The caterer has committed to using 100% British Red Tractor Assured milk, beef, sausages and eggs, and only serving Marine Stewardship Council fish rated 1-3.

The business will also deliver a CAPEX investment into Hampshire’s schools and plans to introduce an allergen management process.

Hampshire County Council will still have overall oversight for the service, while day-to-day operations will be managed by Chartwells.

Councillor Steve Forster, the county council’s cabinet member for education, said: “I am pleased that thanks to our new partnership with Chartwells, we are now able to offer a more affordable meal price of £2.75 while continuing to drive positive change in our schools around food education and sustainability. Chartwells is a long-standing and well-established school meals provider, and we look forward to working with them from January.”

Lisa Priestley, managing director at Chartwells Schools, added: “We are committed to delivering quality, safe and inclusive meals for pupils, utilising the power of our scale, processes and procedures to drive efficiencies. This is all underpinned by our belief in harnessing the power of food education to inform pupils with knowledge that will lead to healthier lives and positive outcomes. We very much look forward to working with Hampshire County Council on a smooth integration to achieve this shared goal.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Chartwells also recently renewed its six-year contract with Berkhamsted Schools Group and secured catering contracts with five schools within the Cheshire-based Halliard Trust.