How the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust uses Quenelles reporting to drive insight

The team at Quenelles has worked within the healthcare sector for over three decades, helping organisations secure value for money from their catering procurement. A longstanding client is the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT), where Quenelles has delivered benchmarking and reporting services for more than 20 years.

The Trust runs the West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket Community Hospital and provides a wide range of hospital and community services to a population of approximately 280,000 people. It plays a vital role in supporting the health of communities across a catchment area of around 600 square miles.

The Trust is a member of Quenelles’ Data Provider Panel. In return for supplying invoice data, WSFT receives benchmarking reports that analyse the prices paid for food and commodities across all suppliers. These detailed reports provide a clear view of how WSFT’s purchasing compares with industry averages, helping the organisation strengthen supplier relationships, secure competitive pricing and drive long-term value.

At the same time, WSFT’s participation helps maintain the strength of our database – the UK’s most comprehensive benchmarking resource, tracking over 470,000 coded product lines, 3,100 named suppliers and more than 51,000 benchmarked products.

The value of deeper insight

Around seven years ago, the Trust upgraded from our Standard Reporting to our Full Reporting service, recognising the additional value the more detailed benchmarking could bring. The move enabled them to access a greater depth of insight, helping them understand performance trends and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.

Initially adopting quarterly reporting, the hospital later moved to bi-monthly after experiencing the benefits of receiving more frequent data and analysis.

Vanessa Theobald, WSFT’s Catering Services Manager, explains: “Whilst the quarterly reporting was helpful to us, since adopting bi‑monthly Quenelles reporting two years ago, we’ve strengthened our budgeting during a period of rising costs. It has enabled us to identify best‑value options and reduce provisions spending to the required level without compromising on quality. The system also provides clear evidence of due diligence for senior management when reviewing purchasing decisions. Maintaining high quality catering services for patients, visitors and staff while making informed operational choices is essential, and this system supports that aim.”

Quenelles Managing Director, Paul Wright, shares: “WSFT’s decision to invest in increasingly frequent reporting demonstrates the value they place on data-driven decision-making, while the strength of the relationship itself highlights the importance of partnership in achieving long-term success.”

Kay Bailey, Data Provider Manager at Quenelles, continues: “Over the course of our relationship, we’ve worked alongside several Heads of Department within the hospital’s catering operation, helping the team access meaningful benchmarking data and performance insights that support informed decision making. More than 20 years on from first joining the Quenelles Data Provider Panel, the Trust continues to demonstrate the value of benchmarking its price data against our national database, consistently uncovering cost saving opportunities that enhance operational performance.”

If you work within a healthcare organisation and would like to understand how your catering procurement compares to the industry average, get in touch with us here and we can review your current buying performance.

The Quenelles team