An Introduction to Thomas Franks
We are delighted to be providing the catering services at Alfriston School. A lovely building, set in beautiful grounds, the school is a wonderful place for girls to thrive and learn in a unique, safe and supportive environment.
The school is entering a new phase by funding a significant project to build a brand new catering space nestled in the trees overlooking the sports grounds.
The inspirational plans developed by the school will certainly transform the catering services and enable the school to exploit commercial lettings opportunities.
This is an exciting time and we would love to support every element and enhance the school’s reputation through food, hospitality and events.
Chef led, food first, quality driven caterer
Thomas Franks is a debt free, cash rich, sustainable company with charity and giving at its heart. We invest back into new projects and our people and our core values and vision can be best summed up below:
“We are a chef led, food first, quality driven caterer and provide freshly-prepared, locally sourced mouth-watering food to all Alfriston pupils and staff on a daily basis”
“We have a leadership team that really goes out of it way to look after and train its people. This commitment to the training and development of the Alfriston staff will shine though in all we do, from our innovative menus to our approach to customer service”
“We will strive to work in the most sustainable way possible, showing consideration to the wider environmental landscape in all that we do”
“We will work with creativity and passion, having fun along the way – and will always be fanatical about our food”
Our vision for Alfriston School
Food and Menus
Your chef will have access to high quality, fresh, seasonal ingredients for every dish they prepare. We prepare 96% of all dishes from fresh ingredients and avoid using processed foods, jars of sauce and packet mixes. Pupils will no longer have to pre-order their meals. Our team of development chefs will support your chef with training on production, planning and food waste. We expect the daily uptake to be closer to 100% every day when girls can choose their lunch from a range of hot and cold dishes, salads and homemade treats.
Communications and Engagement
We build close relationships with parents through direct meetings and taster events and also through our Parent Portal app. The app is a fantastic way of communicating every element of our service and gathering direct feedback. Parents will have the confidence that their children are eating a freshly cooked, nutritious, tasty and balanced meal every single day. We’ll join in with school committees to talk about food, ingredients and discuss pupil feedback. Our collaborative approach means children of all ages can contribute to their mealtime experiences.
Theme Days and Pop-Ups
A calendar of events, pop-ups and guest chefs will excite and delight your pupils. We’ll focus on international cuisine, school-specific events and pop-ups that focus on sustainability, food waste and nutrition. Our creative teams and marketing manager will create a unique identity for the school with new large screen displays and smart promotional material.
Nutrition, Allergens and Special Diets
We take allergens seriously and we’re dedicated to delivering only the safest food to all customers at every mealtime. Christine Bailey, Director of Nutrition and Wellbeing, has supported our business by implementing stringent allergen and special dietary needs procedures. She holds assemblies and provides specific guidance to girls to help with their relationships with food and their understanding of nutrition and good food choices.
Suppliers
Good quality raw ingredients make the difference to the flavour and enjoyment of our menus. Our local and family-owned suppliers provide us with a huge range of seasonal and delicious ingredients, which makes an enormous difference to the final dish while improving the nutritional quality on offer. We keep food miles to a minimum and encourage reusable packaging to reduce waste. Locally to Alfriston, our suppliers will include Aldens Butchers, Savona for grocery items and E.S. Hulse & Son for fruit and vegetables.
Sustainability
A subject close to our hearts that features across every element of our business. Your school will immediately benefit in terms of waste reduction and overall awareness of how we can all reduce food, packaging and energy waste. We will implement our sustainable action plan developed to reduce the environmental cost of catering with a focus on reducing single-use plastic to zero and minimising food waste. We are working to becoming the first contract caterer to achieve B Corporation status and have developed a clear plan to achieve carbon neutral status by the end of 2026. Our interim target of a 50% reduction has been set by 2023 and will be achieved through our many initiatives that include using biodigesters, removing all single- use plastic and ensuring we only use local, seasonal ingredients in our menus.
