ASSIST-FM chair Nicky Joiner and other committee members took part in a roundtable co-hosted by the Public Sector Catering Alliance (PSCA) and the National Farmers Union Scotland that looked at a ‘Scottish first’ approach to public procurement.
The Procurement Roundtable, hosted on the 28 November at the Royal Highland Centre, brought together key procurement bodies, public sector catering representatives, and food producers to discuss how the system can better support Scottish produce.
Key discussions included: the important role of data to establish a baseline of the current food procurement landscape, the challenging circumstances facing the public catering sector and the need for collaborative leadership to drive meaningful change to address the systemic challenges.
The meeting heard that over the past decade, Scotland’s public procurement landscape had undergone significant transformation – shaped by sustainability goals, new legislation and trade developments.
However, NFU Scotland says that there had been no tangible progress in supporting more domestic growers and producers securing public sector contracts. And the Scottish Government’s draft Good Food Nation National Plan which came out earlier in the year – setting out a long-term vision for food in Scotland – missed a key opportunity to embed local sourcing within public procurement.
Jayne Jones, chair of PSCA and a former chair of ASSIST-FM, said: “This round table discussion was an important event that gave public sector caterers, NFUS, and others the opportunity to listen to different perspectives, better understand the current challenges, and identify opportunities for more aligned working.
“The last round table between the public sector and NFUS took place back in 2019, with John Swinney, who was Cabinet Secretary for Education at the time, leading the discussion.
“This time, we had the opportunity to explore the current food systems landscape in Scotland, and the session was long overdue.”
She said it was great to have so many voices from across public sector, farming and production and wider supply chain and industry involved in an excellent discussion around what was going well.
Among the ideas to improve the commitment to public food and to farming and food production in Scotland was suggestion of splitting contracts into small lots and working with wholesalers to create opportunities.
She added that the award-winning Pease Please project in Aberdeen was now being expanded to Moray and to the Highland.
“There was agreement from all that there needs to be Cabinet-level and wider systems leadership focussing on this at a local and national level to really drive change.”
And NFU Scotland President Andrew Connon added: “The food served in Scotland’s schools, hospitals and care homes should reflect the quality of what we produce here.
“Farmers and crofters across the country are delivering world-class food to the highest standards – yet the system often limits the ability of the public sector to utilise local produce.
“We want to see a Scottish First approach, where local, fresh and sustainably produced food is prioritised and properly valued.
“That means reforming the way contracts are awarded, ensuring that cost and quality are adequately balanced, and making sure budgets can realistically support high-quality, local food.”
Jayne concluded: “There was commitment from all attendees that this session should be a starting point to really begin to deliver for public food and for farmers, producers and suppliers, with a further session arranged for early in the New Year to keep momentum going.”
The ASSIST FM Autumn Seminar 2025 brought together over 150 delegates and supplier partners in the Kingdom of Fife for a day of collaboration, inspiration, and celebration. The event showcased the strength and innovation within Scotland’s facilities management sector, with discussions focused on the future of services and workforce development.
The seminar opened with a warm welcome from Nicky Joiner, Chair of ASSIST FM, who reflected on the committee’s recent work. From supporting the Hospitality and Cleaning Scholarships to earning recognition as finalists for the APSE Best Workforce Award and the European Cleaning Awards, the committee has been working tirelessly behind the scenes.
Nicky also praised the progress of key working groups, Hands on Hungry, Cleaning with Class, and Sustainability all continuing to grow and deliver impact.
“The work each and every one of you delivers daily is outstanding, and it’s time we shouted about it. We want to make sure the value of our services is recognised far and wide.”
Speaker Highlights
The seminar featured an impressive line-up of speakers who shared insights and strategies for driving improvement across FM services:
- Jayne Jones – Chief Executive, Scottish Food Commission
Jayne provided an update on the Good Food Nation and introduced delegates to Dennis Overton, reinforcing the importance of collaboration in shaping a sustainable, healthy, and fair food system for Scotland. - Mo Baines – Chief Executive, APSE
Mo presented the half-term report on “Local Government: Funding, Fairness and Futures”, offering valuable insights into challenges and opportunities for local authorities. - Fife Council Catering Team
Showcased inspiring examples of how her team delivers more than just lunch — from creative menus to pupil engagement and sustainability initiatives. - Campbell Ford – Rathmore Coaching & Training Consultant
Campbell introduced PRISM, a dynamic management tool for enhancing self-awareness, teamwork, and leadership development. - Samantha Wilson – Business Development Manager, BICSc
Samantha closed the day with an engaging session on Driving Positive Change to Cleaning Standards, highlighting innovation and training opportunities.
Celebration of Scholars
The day concluded with a celebration of the Hospitality and Cleaning Scholars of 2025, recognising their dedication, learning, and contribution to the future of our profession.
Their achievements remind us why we do what we do: to nurture talent, celebrate excellence, and keep raising the bar across FM services in Scotland.
The Autumn Seminar 2025 was not only a chance to share knowledge and celebrate success but also to reconnect as a community dedicated to delivering excellence every day.#
Presentations will be available in the members resource area shortly.
The 2025 ASSIST FM seminar saw the launch of the 2026 awards and competitions that will climax at the conference at the Crowne Plaza in Glasgow on 14th May 2026.
The 2026 awards alongside the Local Authority Cook of the Year and the StreetFood Competition can all be entered and the forms and brochures can be downloaded here:
Our future leaders, representing 21 different Scottish Local Authority catering and cleaning services, gathered today for a closing ceremony at the ASSIST FM Autumn Seminar.
After successfully piloting the Muller Milk & Ingredients ASSIST FM Scholarship in association with Hospitality Industry Trust Scotland (HITS) scholarship programme in 2024, this fabulous scholarship was a mixture of in-person and online learning designed to give the skills to be a great manager such as Learning to Lead, Resilience & Mental Wellness.
ASSIST FM sought to replicate this model for cleaning service teams. In response, ASSIST FM worked with British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICSc) and developed a suite of tailored online courses, enabling candidates to complete training at their own pace. The curriculum addressed key topics such as environmental considerations, ethical and effective product purchasing, the role of robotics, the science behind cleaning, conducting meaningful building inspections, calculating required cleaning hours from building plans, and other essential elements for delivering comprehensive cleaning services. The curriculum was further supported by two days of face-to-face leadership sessions delivered by We Are Extraordinary Training.
The overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants and continued support from the Suppliers ensured the continuation of the scholarship into 2025, today was a proud moment for 37 scholars who attended the closing ceremony at the ASSIST FM Autumn Seminar. The closing ceremony and presentation of certificates was conducted by Nicky Joiner, Chair of ASSIST FM, who congratulated all our scholars on their success, she also expressed thanks to training partners and to the generous support of our fantastic Local Government suppliers, including Muller Milk & Ingredients , Alliance Local, Unico Direct, Instock, Bunzl, Arrow County Supplies, and GMC Corsehill whom without their support this would not have been possible.
The feedback has been exceptional, and Nicky wished all our scholars the best of luck as they take their new skills back into their workplace.
After 9 years of successfully running the Scottish School Cook of The Year competition, ASSIST FM decided to widen the scope of its premier individual catering award by opening the criteria and running our first ever ASSIST Scottish Local Authority Chef of the Year competition.
We are very grateful to our sponsor Müller Milk & Ingredients for their support of our organisation and for their continued sponsorship.
The winning dishes from this competition were featured at our 2023 Annual Conference in May hosted by the Hilton Glasgow. The competition itself was judged based on the best starter, main course and dessert on the day at The Cook School Scotland with Chef judges Willie Pike and Bruce Sangster. We had five councils involved in the competition: Scottish Borders, Stirling, East Lothian, Edinburgh and East Ayrshire.
Willie Pike said: ‘We love good food and good skills and these were shown in abundance by the competitors with some stand out dishes and techniques. The Councils and the competitors should be very proud of what was delivered at The Cook School Scotland today.’’
The three contestants who were crowned as the three finalists were:
Nicola Arnold – Edinburgh Council
Martyn Cuthbert – East Ayrshire Council
Jamie Kimmett – Stirling Council
The three winning individuals then had the opportunity to cook alongside the Hilton Chefs and produce their dishes for the Conference Gala Dinner.
Nicola Arnold from Edinburgh Council was announced by Claire Doyle from Müller Milk and Ingredients as the winner at the evening gala dinner with her starter, Textures of Beetroot, Candied, Roasted, Puree, Pickled and Crisp Hazelnut and her dessert, Cranachan Baked Cheesecake with Whisky Mist.
Nicola said that “a modern twist on seasonal traditional food” was the inspiration for her menu.
We look forward to holding this competition in 2024 and allowing other Local Authority chefs to shine!
Two ASSIST FM Seminars were held in Dunfermline and Aviemore on 21st/22nd February 2017. Both were very successful and delegates have been very positive about the content, and especially the new Obesity campaign.
Thanks to everyone for coming, as well as the speakers and the partners who attended.Here are the presentation links for powerpoint presentations:
Procurement section seminar Feb 2017
ASSIST SEMINARS ASSIST OBESITY CAMPAIGN AND EVENTS
For the Food For Life and FDFS powerpoints please contact Joe Hind and Moira Stalker respectively.
The ASSIST Spring Seminar sponsored by Robert Wiseman Dairies was a great success. In a departure from the usual format, ASSIST created an event that is relevant to all of us – The Secondary School Meals Summit. Compered by Lorraine Herbison of Radio Clyde the seminar saw presentations from Sharon Cameron and Sue Nield of Highland Council, Ellen McFarlane of West Dunbartonshire Council, Bill Kennedy of Tayside Contracts, Judith Borg of Falkirk Council, Fergus Chambers of Cordia, Alan Cunningham of Totalize Media and Ken Campbell, Chair of ASSIST. The topics ranged from healthy vending to media campaigns and from budgets to pre-ordering. Scottish School Meals Week was also launched.The presentations for the seminar are below. Thanks once again to Robert Wiseman Dairies for making the event possible.
Speakers’ Presentations Below you will find a selection of PowerPoint Presentations* shown at the seminar. Click on a link to view the presentation.
*Note: In order to view the presentations above, Microsoft PowerPoint must be installed on your computer. If you do not have PowerPoint, you may download the free PowerPoint Viewer by clicking here.
The ASSIST Conference was held in Glasgow for the first time, with the delegate sessions and exhibition being held in the City Halls and Old Fruitmarket. Compered by Viv Lumsden, the Conference saw presentations from Neil Schneider, Chief Executive Officer, Stockton Council, Terry Lanagan, Executive Director of Education, West Dunbartonshire Council, Sarah Gadsden, Director, Improvement Service, Iain Waddell, MD, Tayside Contracts, Alistair McIntyre, Head of Catering, Scottish Borders Council, Janice Gillan, Chair Hospital Caterers Association, and Hugh Stuart, William Tracey Waste Management.
Speakers’ Presentations Below you will find a selection of PowerPoint Presentations* shown at the seminar. Click on a link to view the presentation.
*Note: In order to view the presentations above, Microsoft PowerPoint must be installed on your computer. If you do not have PowerPoint, you may download the free PowerPoint Viewer by clicking here.
ASSIST CONFERENCE 2013 – TALKING HEADS
29-30 August – Caledonian University, Glasgow
This year’s ASSIST conference, sponsored by Muller Wiseman, will be held in Glasgow for the third year running.The venue for the Conference and Exhibition is Glasgow Caledonian University. The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Talking Heads’.Conference Delegates will be coming from councils all over Scotland from Highland and Moray in the north to the Scottish Borders in the south, and will include the decision makers for purchasing FM related products.As Bill Kennedy, National Chair of ASSIST states, ‘Our theme for the Conference this year is ‘Talking Heads’ – one of the key objectives for ASSIST is to generate discussion and information-sharing between councils – we are not in competition with each other and we need to share best practice and lessons learned. That’s what the launch of our Scottish School Meals site has been all about. It is really important for each authority to look at ways it can improve its service, even when budgets are being cut. Marketing is an important part of that mix.’This year ASSIST has great mix of speakers including Rory Mair, Chief Executive Officer, COSLA, David Mories from The Glasgow 2014, Commonwealth Games organisation, Elsie Downham of The Soil Association, Colin Mair, Chief Executive Officer of The Improvement Service, Marie-Claire James of The Federation of Chefs Scotland, and James Anthony.Each of our speakers will give their own individual takes on what the delegates can do to develop their business. We purposely invited key influencers from government and local authorities this year to give us their take on the future of Facilities management within Scottish local authorities.Bill goes on to say, ‘ASSIST as an organisation was established to create and present a shared voice on all matters relating to Facilities Management throughout Scotland’s 32 local authorities. The organisation is even more important today than ever. As it is a difficult year for council finances we have frozen our delegate fee at £95, thanks in part to sponsorship from Muller Wiseman, and our exhibitors. We work closely with all our suppliers and our exhibition this year will have 46 stands. All will be exhibiting products that fit our members specifications, and some have created products specifically for our market.’The format for the conference will remain as in past years with the supplier exhibition taking place on Day One.
Exhibitors this year include:
BRAKES UNICO PREMIER CRB MULLER CALYPSO BATLEYS GREEN GOURMET QUORN 3663 CATERING FALCON MCCAIN FOOD PARTNERS ARROW SUPPLIES COOLDELIGHT MULLER WISEMAN HARFIELD NRS NISBETS DIVERSEY THERMOBOX SPACERIGHT PARENT PAY FDH AGBARR UK FOODHALL COOK SCHOOL FIFE CREAMMERY GT CLEANING SECRET SAUSAGES SCOMAC HOBART SOIL ASSOCIATION ER MOFFAT UNILEVER CONTRACT FURNITURE SPECIALISTS IDEAL BUNZL CHS BUNZL CATERING SUPPLIES DR OETKER PASTA KING ROLLOVER MAKRO KARCHER ETI CARING INT NESTLE
Bill Kennedy is keen that ASSIST continues to address important issues for all its members. ‘This year we will be launching a major Commonwealth Promotion as well as highlighting updates to our website, running a third Scottish School Cook of The Year promotion, and introducing a new ASSIST Awards scheme for Scotland. There will be three awards at this year’s conference:
ASSIST Chair Award – last year’s winner was Craig Stevenson of Braehead Foods, for services to industry and continued support of ASSIST.
ASSIST Scottish School Cook of The Year – last year won by Norrie Scott of Tayside Contracts.
ASSIST Best Stand – last year won by Green Gourmet.
The ASSIST website is www.assistfm.comThe School meals site is at www.scottishschoolmeals.co.ukIf you wish to contact ASSIST please email: info@assistfm.com or call Alan Cunningham for more information on 07768 584517.