Taking the hard work out of soft services

Hello, we’re Cohesion.

We partner with schools to provide cost effective strategic sourcing and contract performance management for a broad portfolio of soft services.

We are market leaders in the education sector. As our name suggests, we are experts in nurturing highly effective, compliant and hassle-free partnerships between schools and contractors for mutual gain.

We take the hard work out of soft services management and procurement so our clients can focus on what really matters: improving the quality of daily life for every pupil.

What we do

We get it. Schools are challenging businesses to run. School procurement leads are often very stretched, with long to-do lists, tight budgets and complex contracts to manage.

At Cohesion we do the heavy-lifting for you as a part of your own team. We take the pain out of procurement and the trauma out of tendering, so that you’re not working harder than your budget.

Strategic Procurement and Contract Management

We procure critical support services, including Catering, Cleaning, ICT Management, Waste and Recycling, Planned Maintenance, Agency Staff Supply, Internal and External Audit, Uniforms and Catering Equipment.

We also support clients that are using frameworks to manage the process and administration from the planning phase through to contract award and mobilisation.

Our bespoke cloud-based procurement and auditing platforms deliver quick, cost-effective solutions designed around individual client needs and budgets.

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Catering Services

We help clients review their catering services, develop a focused catering policy and manage costs and performance.

We provide bespoke, best value strategic catering procurement solutions for schools. Our client support includes auditing and managing catering services, advice on compliance and managing kitchen equipment purchases and kitchen design.

For schools that run their own catering services, we work alongside our clients and their catering team to drive innovation, control costs, improve food standards and promote a “Whole School Approach” to great food.

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Cleaning Services

Whether schools outsource or insource their cleaning services, we support schools achieve a sustainable, compliant and high quality cleaning solution.

We support BICSc standards in operation and work with partners to provide equipment, materials, training and auditing support for clients and operatives to control costs and improve standards.

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Facilities Management

Our facilities management expertise will help keep your school operating efficiently, lowering running costs and improving the quality of the school environment.

We procure planned preventative maintenance services and FM contracts, working with all parties to monitor and manage the ‘whole life’ costs and performance of the service.

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What others say

Our academy has utilised Glenn’s expertise for multiple tenders now and each time have been blown away by his knowledge and dedication to his clients. Glenn truly does go above and beyond to ensure that every step is understood and completed appropriately by all parties.

Large East London Secondary Academy

Head of Estates and Operations

Glenn is professional, knowledgeable and fair, he has been totally invaluable to us with regards to our outsourced catering provision. Services covered to date include tender support, on boarding, implementation and monitoring. Colleagues see Glenn as an extension to our internal resource, which is a reflection on how approaches his work, he views each £ we spend as his own. We see him as a trusted critical friend to ensure we are constantly challenging our suppliers and ourselves!

Large Multi-Academy Trust

Head of Procurement

Glenn works with you rather than for you, always going the extra mile to ensure we get the best possible service. His knowledge and experience are second to none.

School Business Manager

Large Tower Hamlets Secondary School and Sixth Form

Preparing to deliver UFSM to all Secondary School pupils was a unique and challenging project and Cohesion Consulting were a major player in its successful delivery. Throughout the project they were totally committed to the task, delivering a survey report on all 20 schools within a very short timescale which formed the basis of a Cabinet report that was approved. At every stage of the project, they offered practical and best value solutions that were achievable to ensure that schools could be ready to deliver UFSM. Their expertise in project management, contract negotiations, commissioning and mobilisation was essential and throughout they were honest and approachable with the ability to engage at all levels with schools and the whole project team which made working with them a pleasure during this challenging but exciting project.

Tower Hamlets, London

Head of Contract Services

Glenn has supported us with cleaning and catering tenders. We were extremely impressed with the level of professionalism and integrity that he provided during our catering tender a few years ago and therefore had no hesitation in asking him to support us with our more recent cleaning one. He supported us all the way through the tender and made the whole process very straightforward and simple for us. I thoroughly appreciate the way in which he continues with his level of support once the contract has started and that he makes himself available for advice. His knowledge of both sectors is impressive and he is always mindful of achieving best value and a good fit for the school.

Large Secondary School, Finchley, London

School Business Manager