Centralised school cashless catering solutions for local authorities
Streamline your local authority’s school catering and facilities services. CRB Cunninghams’ cloud-based, centralised solutions maximise efficiency and resource allocation, providing the best value service for all pupils.
Centralised school cashless catering solutions for local authorities
Streamline your local authority’s school catering and facilities services. CRB Cunninghams’ cloud-based, centralised solutions maximise efficiency and resource allocation, providing the best value service for all pupils.
You're in good company
Why local authorities choose CRB Cunninghams
From providing socially inclusive online payments to modernising school catering operations, we work with councils to tailor solutions that optimise meal services in every school.
- Centralised school meal management
Councils can bring cashless catering, meal pre-ordering and online payments for all school purchases under one roof to standardise services across the authority and create operational efficiencies.
- Customised cashless catering solutions
Councils can improve school meal uptake, efficiency and service speed in primary, secondary, and sixth-form dining halls by tailoring meal services with our flexible range of cashless catering and pre-ordering solutions.
- Insightful multi-school reporting
Local authorities receive real-time, actionable insights with aggregated reporting of live school payment and meal data across all school sites.
- Comprehensive school payment solution
Parents can make all their school payments, from meals to trips, through the intuitive iPayimpact mobile app or website, centralising financial processes for all schools.
Solutions for local authorities
Fusion Cashless
Cloud-hosted cashless catering with quick transaction times of 3 seconds.
Pre-Order App
Students can pre-order their favourite school meals anytime, anywhere.
Chip & Pin
Contactless payments at the PoS, including Google, Apple Pay and debit cards.
Nutritional Analysis
Menu planning, allergy tracking and label printing made easy with Nutmeg.
ID Management
Maintain one central database across multiple applications.
Self-serve Kiosks
A user-friendly self-ordering and checkout point for secondary school students.
Facial Recognition
A secure and contactless PoS recognition method that’s faster than fingerprints.
Online Payments
Schools can manage all cashless payments, from meals to trips and clubs, with iPayimpact.
Common questions?
Can central teams work in multiple schools’ systems from one account?
Yes— cloud hosting from Microsoft Azure provides centralised access so council administrators can work in all schools’ systems remotely, from one user account. It’s easy to configure users’ accounts with the appropriate access rights. Reports can also be scheduled to automatically deliver required information directly to the appropriate email inbox at a specified time.
How can councils stay informed about all schools’ sales, finances and meal uptake?
Fusion Cashless collates data from all schools in real time, providing aggregated live reports for central teams. This offers meaningful insights to inform decision-making, such as how free school meal utilisation is changing over time, or how popular a new menu item is in different schools. Interactive smart reports with intelligent filtering provide a multi-layered view of operations across the district, within schools and at each meal service point. In addition, users can personalise dashboards to give an overview of key data at a glance. This enhanced reporting gives councils actionable data to increase efficiency, reduce waste and improve student experiences.
How do students use their cashless accounts at the till?
Students can use a wide variety of convenient recognition methods to quickly and securely access their cashless accounts at the point of sale. Fusion offers identification through any combination of Facial Recognition, fingerprint biometrics, Digital Wallet, ID card, PIN, and user lookup, giving all school users a fast, easy transaction experience.
Which payment methods are supported by Fusion and iPayimpact?
Fusion users have a convenient choice of modern transaction methods at the point of sale. Payment can be taken via integrated Chip & Pin, contactless debit or credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and cash, in addition to users’ Fusion Cashless accounts.
iPayimpact is a socially inclusive online payment platform. Parents can use various payment methods, including credit and debit cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay and PayPoint.
Is support available for both central and school teams?
School-based and central teams can access support whenever they need it, using our 24/7 online Support Portal and in-house telephone helpdesk. In addition, our team of over 40 mobile engineers is strategically located, ensuring we are never more than two hours away from our 3,300+ UK schools.
Don't just take our word for it. Hear from schools using Fusion Cashless.
“I’ve had a working relationship with CRB Cunninghams for over 10 years and can honestly say it’s gone from strength to strength. What really sets them apart is how they assist us with problems.”
SPIE Facilities Services
“The preparation was excellent, and no requirement was too much of a problem, and provided exactly what we wanted.”
Metro Fresh Wigan Council
“I would highly recommend Fusion Online to other schools. In fact, I’m already advising other councils to implement the software.”
Jamie Fisher – West Lothian Council Facilities & Support Services Manager
“From start to finish, CRB Cunninghams displayed their knowledge and understanding of the school environment.”
Benton Park School, Leeds
“Provides accurate management information on a service-wide and school-by-school basis, identifying areas for improvement and best performers.”
East Renfrewshire Council Service Manager
“Hats off to CRB Cunninghams who were brilliant partners throughout the project, ensuring the council project team completed on time.”
Aberdeenshire Council Service Management
“The upgrade to iDStore and Fusion has been a great success. The guys involved in the beta have managed and supported this project extremely well and are a credit to the company.”
ICT Manager, Kings Norton Boys School
“I can’t praise the system enough – it works really well with mobiles too. We’ve just started our first trip collection, which is minimising our overheads with cash collection – ticks a box for admin staff.”
Primary & secondary school, Ebbw Fawr
“Our CRB Cunninghams cashless system has been very reliable, including revaluation units, tills and software.”
Dave Brooks – Manager, St Julie’s Catholic High School
“I am thoroughly satisfied with the product CRB Cunninghams provide and look forward to this ongoing relationship flourishing in the future.”
SPIE Facilities Services
“They were timely in installation, helpful with solutions and remained part of the first operations day. They continue to offer support and be helpful.”
Benton Park School, Leeds
“Any issues have always been quickly addressed, with excellent support provided by CRB Cunninghams. I believe they are a market leader in this area and with good reason.”
Dave Brooks – Manager, St Julie’s Catholic High School
“Many thanks to CRB Cunninghams for getting us up and running with the contactless cards and pre-order app… I have been inundated with requests from pupils wanting to sign up.”
Jamie Fisher – West Lothian Council Facilities & Support Services Manager
I definitely think it (Fusion) can help with food wastage. When sales figures come to you, you know what days will be busy based on the menus. Having all the information with us at the right times will help us order and create menus for the students based on the information we’re getting daily.
Duncan Thornley Yates, Catering Manager at Etone College
“Everybody has an Access Control card, which is also their ID card. One of the driving forces behind the school is to create work-ready young people. Having an ID card linked to an automatic access system and cashless catering solution is much more like being in a business than a college.”
Business Manager at Silverstone UTC
“As a long-standing customer of CRB Cunninghams, we have always found training, support and installation to be of a high standard. All staff we work with, including sales and project management, are extremely knowledgeable about the products. Timescales have always been adhered to, while training provides sound knowledge to staff using the cashless catering system.”
St Bede’s Catholic School & Sixth Form College
“I definitely think it (Fusion) can help with food wastage. When sales figures come to you, you know what days will be busy based on the menus. Having all the information with us at the right times will help us order and create menus for the students based on the information we’re getting daily.” – Duncan Thornley Yates, Catering Manager at Etone College – link
Duncan Thornley Yates, Catering Manager at Etone College
“Many thanks to CRB Cunninghams for getting us up and running with the contactless cards and pre-order app… I would highly recommend Fusion Online to other schools. In fact, I’m already advising other councils to implement the software.”
Facilities and Support Services Manager at West Lothian Council
“There was an excellent relationship between service management and CRB Cunninghams throughout the project. CRBC provided specialists to ‘thrash’ out the detail of complex operational issues.”
Service Manager at Highland Council
“We were keen to implement the Fusion system as it combines cashless catering and an online payment system into one solution, removing the need for cash in schools. I am delighted to say that feedback from staff and pupils has been outstanding.”
Projects and Resource Manager at North Lanarkshire Council
