Hampshire County Council in England has selected Chartwells as catering provider for its schools and nurseries from January 2026.

Chartwells will take over the meal provision previously managed in-house by the council.

The decision follows the council's earlier move to seek external suppliers for school meals, prompted by increasing food and staffing expenses that have led to higher meal prices.

These rising costs have placed financial burdens on both schools and families, resulting in many institutions opting for private catering services that offer more competitive pricing.

The ongoing budget constraints faced by Hampshire County Council, combined with the decline in school meal business, have made the continuation of an in-house catering service unsustainable.

Chartwells is expected to implement a quality assurance process for meal preparation described as "rigorous" and will use sustainably sourced ingredients, including fish and British meat products.

The company has measures in place to address food allergies.

Hampshire County Council will engage with schools and nurseries to ensure a seamless shift to Chartwells’ services in early 2026.

Councillor Steve Forster, the council’s Cabinet Member for Education, stated: “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.

“More generally, I continue to urge families where possible to make use of free school meals, which are automatically available to all children in Reception through to year 2, and from year 3 and above, for families who receive certain benefits. You can visit our website to find out more and check your eligibility for means-tested free school meals.”