Charlton House - the company founded by former Edgbaston High School pupil Mrs Robyn Jones - has been awarded a three-year catering contract with T-Mobile (UK).

The contract is valued at £5.5 million in annual turnover - the largest in Charlton House's history.

Charlton House will take over from incumbents, Lexington Catering, on June 6 to provide staff catering services across six T-Mobile sites in Hatfield, Borehamwood, Hammersmith, Sunderland, Merthyr Tydfil and Glasgow.

In addition to the six sites, the independent caterers will also manage vending and hospitality at fourteen T-Mobile locations throughout the UK. Reception/switchboard services will also come under Charlton House management.

In all, Charlton House will cater for 6,000 plus TMobile employees nationwide.

Four of the sites will run a seven-day-a-week catering operation, the biggest of which is T-Mobile's UK corporate headquarters at Hatfield in Hertfordshire, where Charlton House will cater for over 3,000 employees.

Commenting on the gain, Ms Jones, co-founder and chief executive of Charlton House, said: "We couldn't ask for a more prestigious addition to our portfolio.

"Winning the T-Mobile group contract is a fantastic vote of confidence in our food, our people and our ethos.

" The geographical spread of the sites strengthens our presence nationwide, and we are particularly pleased to have gained an additional foothold in Glasgow with the opening of T-Mobile in Greenock, immediately on the heels of Network Rail last month.

"The FM aspect of the contract, with the additional reception/ switchboard resources required, is a very welcome addition to our existing FM business.

"Whilst food has and always will be the focus of our business, we find that more and more of our clients and prospective clients want additional support resources.

"The success of any business is a reflection of its people, and we are very proud that our catering and management teams have created such a good impression that clients are demanding people of a similar calibre for their front of house roles."

Charlton House claims to be the UK's largest, organically grown, independent contract caterer.

Clients include the corporate headquarters of Sony, Network Rail and BUPA.

The company employs 1,300 nationwide and currently enjoys an annualised turnover of £47 million for 2005.