Mitie set to win a £170 million contract to provide services ranging from cooking school meals to maintaining buildings for the City of Edinburgh Council.

The outsourcing specialist beat off competition from other private sector players including Capita and Carillion to be appointed preferred bidder to deliver Integrated Facilities Management services for seven years.

In a report prepared for the council, its chief executive Sue Bruce said a "compelling business case" existed to adopt a partnership model with the preferred bidder.

The council expects the proposal developed by Mitie to generate £51.5m of savings over the term of the contract. It said this will provide an additional £13.5m of savings compared with those offered under a plan to improve the delivery of services while keeping them inhouse.