Lunchtime is the part of the school day where students break from their studies and are free to relax, socialise and enjoy extra-curricular activities like sports or music. ISS Education’s Tiller & Hobs concept has been created to enhance students’ experience of school lunchtimes and their time at school more broadly.
Tiller & Hobs is all about freshly prepared, flavoursome food enjoyed in relaxing, inspirational environments. Our three core offers provide students with flexible dining choices. They are:
These three outlets allow us to serve a wide range of foods and cuisines to students throughout the school year.
Tiller & Hobs was created based on student feedback where they told us they wanted flexibility and choice served in high street style restaurants. Whilst creating our branding and signage, we researched environments which would both look great and help to support student well-being. That’s when we discovered ‘eco-therapy’.
Environment & Eco-Therapy
Whilst the rural landscapes and farm scenes visible throughout the Tiller & Hobs marketing and environments have been used to showcase the farm to fork journey and to highlight the quality of our British and local ingredients, they are also there to have a positive impact on diners’ mental and emotional well-being.
An edition of National Geographic explains that nature nurtures us and boosts our moods. It states that –
“… According to the attention restoration theory, spending time in nature relieves the stress and mental fatigue caused by the “directed attention” that work and city life require…”
Although our dining outlets are largely indoors, we were inspired by this research and considered how we might bring the outdoors inside to echo the pastoral views and subsequently inspire a sense of calm among our diners.
We looked at different approaches to really create a sense of the outdoors and thought the use of a single image dominating a large space, such as an entire wall, would have the impact we were looking for. We hope that these relaxing environments will help students to rest their minds, allowing them to restore energy spent during their morning lessons and re-gain focus for a productive afternoon ahead.
Supporting a Whole School Approach
We are eager to support schools in developing a ‘whole school approach’ to food. We see our responsibility as more than just feeding students; it is our job to support schools in harnessing a good school food culture. Here’s how Tiller & Hobs can do just that:
Healthy Eating – our menus ensure that students receive balanced, nutritious meals every day at school
Food Quality – We source food to the principles of Food for Life Bronze standard as a minimum. This means our meat is UK Farm Assured, our fish is sourced from sustainable waters, our eggs are free range and the produce we use is seasonal and locally or British sourced, wherever possible.
Emotional Well-being – Our environments have been designed to help students relax and unwind after a busy morning of classes
Social Development – Our friendly, welcoming catering teams build young people’s confidence through positive social interactions at our counters and creating clean, pleasant dining environments where students can sit and eat together, as in a restaurant, or simply engage in conversation over the day’s meal choices
Food Education – Tiller & Hobs is focused on sharing the farm to fork story as widely as possible. We do this in a subtle way, such as through our ‘Harvest to Hob’ imagery.
For more information on Tiller & Hobs, please email us at Tillerandhobs@uk.issworld.com
