A catering firm has brought a legal challenge to the awarding of a new €12.6 million catering and hospitality services contract for the Grangegorman campus of the Technological University Dublin (TUD).Kennedy’s Food Store of Fairview, Dublin, is a provider of on-campus catering as a sub-contractor in Grangegorman. It tendered for the new 60-month contract for Grangegorman last February but Sodeso was the successful bidder.It seeks declarations that the decision was invalid on grounds including that it was vitiated by manifest error and was unreasonable, disproportionate, unfair and/or oppressive. In an affidavit seeking entry of the case to the Commercial Court, Catherine Bruen, TUD head of internal reporting, finance department, said the main grounds related to the manner in which Kennedy’s tender was scored. She said there was a necessity that a determination be made about the challenge given that a procurement challenge gives rise to an automatic suspension pending the decision of a court. She said the conclusion of the contract will benefit TUD’s student population and will initiate a major redevelopment of its campus food offering. It will deliver food offerings that are affordable, accessible, varied, of a high standard and reflective of the college’s many cultures. It will also result in improvements to the current service, she said.It will further result in increased commission when compared with existing catering arrangements and the additional income from this will help support enhancements of facilities, she said. Judge Eileeen Roberts entered the case into the commercial list on the application of Jonathan Newman, counsel for TUD, and on consent from barrister Stephen Brittain, for Kennedy’s.The judge also approved agreed directions for the progress of the case which comes back in October.