Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Elgin catering company quadruples staff after winning UHI contract

The owner of the business, which has a takeaway in Elgin, said she thought a "big posh business" would win the contract.

Kathleen Shanks owns the Elgin catering service and takeaway. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson
Kathleen Shanks owns the Elgin catering service and takeaway. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

An Elgin business has been able to quadruple its staff numbers after being named the caterer for the local university.

The Little Lunchbox won the contract to supply two University of Highlands and Islands (UHI) campuses in Moray.

Since then, owner Kathleen Shanks has seen her staff team grow from two to eight.

The Little Lunchbox, which also has a takeaway on Harrow Inn Close, caters for students as well as events hosted at the facilities.

The Little Lunchbox ‘perfect fit’ for UHI Moray

Kathleen was invited along to an event as UHI advertised the tender for both the Moray Street and Linkwood Technology Centre campuses.

After deciding to give it a try for the first time, she didn’t expect to receive the news she had won the contract.

She said: “It was a lovely surprise for me and I didn’t expect it at all.

“It was a completely new experience to me – I thought some big posh business would come in and get it but they chose me.

Kathleen Shanks has quadrupled her staff numbers after taking on catering at two UHI Moray campuses. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

“It’s allowed me to expand my amazing team. They started with me in July and are all still here doing an amazing job.”

The Little Lunchbox also offers catering for weddings, funerals and other functions.

UHI Moray head of marketing and external relations Jacqui Taylor said she was keen to improve what was on offer at the campuses.

She said she had no doubts Kathleen and her business were the “perfect fit” to fulfil students’ desires.

Jacqui said: “Kathleen ticked all of the right boxes and didn’t overcomplicate things.

“It was pretty straight forward from there. We signed the contracts and by the end of August it had begun.”

‘I’m loving it’

Kathleen is absolutely loving life and says the extra workload has been “100% worth it”.

She said: “It’s been a lot of hard work, extra time and also attention. But I am absolutely loving it.

“I like to think I’ve taken a bit of my Harrow Inn Close shop and offered it out here too.”

It isn’t just Kathleen who’s loving the new menu according to Jacqui. Sandwiches, toasties and baked potatoes are all going down a treat.

Kathleen Shanks and Jacqui Taylor in the canteen. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson

Jacqui added: “We were a bit wary after re-opening the canteen that staff and students might not use it.

“However it’s going really well. Not only students but when we have major events and host hundreds of people there’s always positive comments about the food.”

Conversation