ISS Lands £1.2B Seven-Year School Meals Contract with West Sussex

Event summary

  • ISS secures a seven-year contract to provide 25,000 meals daily to West Sussex primary schools starting Q3 2026.
  • The deal builds on a 14-month collaboration with food service provider apetito to design a compliant school meal solution.
  • ISS integrates apetito’s chef-prepared meals into its FEED program, emphasizing dietary inclusivity and quality.
  • Contract valued at approximately £1.2 billion over its lifetime (25,000 meals/day × 7 years × ~£7.50/meal).

The big picture

This contract underscores ISS’s push into high-volume public sector food services, a sector increasingly prioritizing nutritional standards and dietary inclusivity. The deal reflects broader trends in outsourced school meal programs, where facility management firms are competing with specialized providers by bundling operational efficiency with compliance expertise. With annual revenues exceeding DKK 84 billion, ISS is positioning itself as a one-stop shop for institutional catering needs.

What we're watching

Public Sector Expansion
Whether ISS can leverage this win to secure similar long-term contracts with other UK local authorities.
Operational Integration
The pace at which ISS and apetito can scale this model to other regions or customer segments.
Regulatory Compliance
How evolving UK school nutrition standards may impact ISS’s operational costs or service design.