Catering services: UK Tenders, Buyers & Competition
CPV 55520000·Services · class·in Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services
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Tenders you can still bid for.
Notices at tender stage whose deadline has not passed, counted the way the search counts them: a notice shows under every code and region it names.
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Notices published in the last 12 months.
Counted per tender, not per lot, against the 12 months before where shown.
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How many companies usually bid for a lot here.
The middle value of the bid counts that award notices publish, one per lot. Only real competitions count: direct awards and framework places are left out.
Based on 391 lots from 328 competitions run by 316 buyers, last 36 months. A buyer with many similar contests counts only up to a limit. 224 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 3) and 167 from older notices (bids received, middle 4).
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What a contract here is usually worth.
Middle value of published award values, VAT excluded. Framework ceilings are left out because they are not real contract values.
Based on 409 awards with a usable value, last 36 months.
Published values, not actual spend.
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How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Based on 192 decided competitions, last 36 months.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Newest open tenders
3 of 36 open for bids now · newest first
| Notice | Authority | Deadline | Days left | Published value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catering Tender - Blue Coat CofE Academy | BLUE COAT CHURCH OF ENGLAND ACADEMY (WALSALL) TRUST | 20 Nov 2026 | 24d | £1,750,000 |
| Mulberry Schools Trust - Catering Services | Mulberry Schools Trust | 27 Nov 2026 | 31d | £8,040,809 |
| Paradigm Trust Catering Contract | Paradigm Trust | 13 Nov 2026 | 17d | £7,500,000 |
Codes and neighbouring classes
The 8-digit CPV codes notices in this class actually use, and the other classes of the same division
55524000 School catering services1,226 notices · 70%55520000 Catering services467 notices · 27%55523100 School-meal services36 notices · 2%55521200 Meal delivery service16 notices · 1%55521100 Meals-on-wheels services13 notices · 1%55522000 Catering services for transport enterprises8 notices · <1%55521000 Catering services for private households5 notices · <1%- Canteen and catering services 51 · 12m
- Hotel meeting and conference services 41 · 12m
- Hotel accommodation services 30 · 12m
- Holiday centre and holiday home services 25 · 12m
- Hotel services 16 · 12m
- Retail trade services 15 · 12m
- Restaurant and food-serving services 15 · 12m
- Cafeteria services 9 · 12m
- Letting services of short-stay furnished accommodation 8 · 12m
- Services provided by bed and breakfast establishments 5 · 12m
- All of Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services →
Who buysi
Which buyers publish the most notices here.
Buyers ranked by the number of notices, duplicate names merged.
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Which buyers publish the most notices here.
Buyers ranked by the number of notices, duplicate names merged.
All notices carrying this code · official UK_CA_TYPE where published (NHS bodies are central government authorities), else derived from the authority name
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What kinds of public bodies buy here.
Notices by the buyer’s type as published, otherwise by its name.
Education & universities44%(757 notices)
757 of 1,740 notices are Education & universities (44%).Other public bodies17%(289 notices)
289 of 1,740 notices are Other public bodies (17%).Local authorities11%(194 notices)
194 of 1,740 notices are Local authorities (11%).Central government6%(106 notices)
106 of 1,740 notices are Central government (6%).Police, fire & emergency1%(22 notices)
22 of 1,740 notices are Police, fire & emergency (1%).Not classified21%(372 notices)
372 of 1,740 notices are Not classified (21%).
| Contracting authority | Type | Notices | Last 12 months | Open now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | Central government | 31 | 17 | 0 |
| Educo | Other public bodies | 28 | 12 | 4 |
| ACE Advice Limited | not classified | 28 | 0 | 0 |
| RED BOX CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED | not classified | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| RPJ3 Group | Other public bodies | 17 | 12 | 0 |
| The Royal Parks Ltd | Other public bodies | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Procurement for Schools Ltd | Education & universities | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| The Sustainable Catering Consultancy | not classified | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council | Local authorities | 10 | 3 | 0 |
| GY5 Limited | not classified | 9 | 0 | 0 |
1,275 distinct authorities in total · the ten most active shown.
Where the work is deliveredi
Where the work on these notices is delivered.
Delivery regions published on the notices. A notice with several regions counts in each.
Where the work is, not where the buyer is based.
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Where the work on these notices is delivered.
Delivery regions published on the notices. A notice with several regions counts in each.
Where the work is, not where the buyer is based.
Delivery regions (ITL1) published on 1,582 of 1,757 notices · a notice covering several regions counts in each · competition columns: contracts awarded in the last 36 months, lots delivered in the region
| Region | Notices | Bids / lot | SME wins | Local wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater London | 3 | 24% | 31% | |
| South East England | 4 | 22% | 56% | |
| West Midlands | 5 | 7% | 45% | |
| East of England | 4 | 19% | 17% | |
| South West England | 4 | 17% | 21% | |
| North West England | 4 | 22% | 32% | |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 4 | 18% | 8% | |
| East Midlands | 3 | 30% | 20% | |
| North East England | 5 | 40% | 23% | |
| Wales (Cymru) | 3 | — | 47% | |
| Scotland | — | — | — | |
| Northern Ireland | — | 80% | — |
Local wins = the winner’s registered region is the delivery region. Dashes: fewer than ten observations.
How it is boughti
How work here is packaged.
Notices by commercial tool: a single contract, a framework, or a dynamic purchasing system.
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How work here is packaged.
Notices by commercial tool: a single contract, a framework, or a dynamic purchasing system.
Commercial tool, procedure route and threshold as published on the notice, not a legal-regime claim
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How work here is packaged.
Notices by commercial tool: a single contract, a framework, or a dynamic purchasing system.
Contract91%(1,592 notices)
1,592 of 1,757 notices are Contract (91%).Framework7%(118 notices)
118 of 1,757 notices are Framework (7%).Dynamic purchasing system3%(47 notices)
47 of 1,757 notices are Dynamic purchasing system (3%).
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Which procedures buyers here use.
Notices by the procedure they declare: open, selective, limited or direct. Open and selective are competitions; limited and direct are not.
Selective50%(873 notices)
873 of 1,757 notices are Selective (50%).Open36%(631 notices)
631 of 1,757 notices are Open (36%).Route not published8%(149 notices)
149 of 1,757 notices are Route not published (8%).Limited / restricted4%(73 notices)
73 of 1,757 notices are Limited / restricted (4%).Direct award2%(31 notices)
31 of 1,757 notices are Direct award (2%).
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How much of this market is above the legal threshold.
Notices by whether the buyer marked them above or below the threshold that triggers the full rules.
Above threshold84%(365 notices)
365 of 435 notices are Above threshold (84%).Below threshold16%(70 notices)
70 of 435 notices are Below threshold (16%).
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How long bidders get to respond.
Middle value in days from the tender notice to its deadline.
Competition
Contracts published in the last 36 months (814) · bid counts per lot from award notices · values are net contract awards, framework and DPS ceilings excluded · SME and local status as declared
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How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid13%(52)
52 of 391 lots fall in 1 bid (13%).2–332%(124)
124 of 391 lots fall in 2–3 (32%).4–650%(194)
194 of 391 lots fall in 4–6 (50%).7 or more5%(21)
21 of 391 lots fall in 7 or more (5%).
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The usual range of contract values here.
The middle half of published award values, VAT excluded, with the middle value marked. Framework ceilings are left out.
Published values, not actual spend.
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How many companies usually bid for a lot here.
The middle value of the bid counts that award notices publish, one per lot. Only real competitions count: direct awards and framework places are left out.
Based on 391 lots from 328 competitions run by 316 buyers, last 36 months. A buyer with many similar contests counts only up to a limit. 224 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 3) and 167 from older notices (bids received, middle 4).
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How much of this market is actually put out to competition.
Notices run as an open or selective procedure, out of all notices that say which procedure was used. Direct awards count as not competed.
705 of 794 notices that state a procedure, last 36 months. 20 more give no procedure and are left out.
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What share of bids come from small and medium firms.
SME bids divided by all bids, on lots where the buyer published the split.
364 SME bids out of 1,062, on 296 lots where the buyer published the split.
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What share of contracts go to small and medium firms.
Awards to a single supplier that declared its size. SME divided by all.
71 of 320 awards where the winner declared its size.
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How much work here goes to companies based in the region.
Contract awards where the winner’s registered address is in this region, out of awards where the address is known.
Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.
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Do winners come in above or below the buyer’s estimate.
For each lot we compare the published estimate with the award, like for like. Below means the winner was paid less than estimated, above means more.
Based on 273 lots with both an estimate and an award, last 36 months.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
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How often a tender ends with no award.
Notices cancelled, withdrawn or marked unsuccessful, plus terminated ones that never got an award.
28 of 814 notices, last 36 months.
Only what buyers published. Tenders that quietly went nowhere are not counted.
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How many companies apply to get onto a framework or DPS here.
Middle value per lot, frameworks and dynamic markets only. Getting onto a panel is not the same as winning work, so it is kept separate.
Based on 74 lots from 48 framework and DPS notices, last 36 months.
Who winsi
Which suppliers win the most here.
Suppliers ranked by the number of tenders won, not by money. A supplier on one big framework with many call-offs does not outrank one that won many separate competitions.
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Which suppliers win the most here.
Suppliers ranked by the number of tenders won, not by money. A supplier on one big framework with many call-offs does not outrank one that won many separate competitions.
Ranked by distinct procedures won on notices carrying this code, then award records · 1,236 awards to 389 suppliers · the five most frequent winners hold 31% of contract awards in the last 36 months
| Supplier | Procedures | Awards | Last 12 months | Buyers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aspens Services Limited | 94 | 102 | 17 | 91 |
| abm catering limited | 54 | 56 | 10 | 53 |
| Cater Link Limited | 49 | 58 | 14 | 49 |
| Innovate Services | 49 | 57 | 12 | 48 |
| Olive Dining | 38 | 62 | 28 | 28 |
| Compass Contract Services (UK) Ltd | 34 | 45 | 24 | 33 |
| Caterlink | 29 | 32 | 3 | 27 |
| Mellors Catering Services | 27 | 33 | 8 | 24 |
Where to submiti
Where bids for this work are submitted.
Notices by the portal in their submission link, where one is published.
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Where bids for this work are submitted.
Notices by the portal in their submission link, where one is published.
E-sourcing portals named in the submission address · 567 of 1,757 notices name one · each portal page explains registration
Open tenders in catering services
36 open for bids now · soonest deadline first
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- What counts here. Every notice with a CPV code starting 5552. A notice with several codes counts in each sector it names. Notices from 2021 to 26 Oct 2026.
- Competition. Bids and winners cover the last three years and count each lot as its own contest; frameworks and dynamic purchasing systems are shown apart from ordinary contracts.
- Why no total spend. Notice estimates often repeat a framework’s ceiling, so adding them up would overstate the market. Typical contract values are shown instead.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.