Official UK procurement notice
Bourne Education Trust - Catering Apr27
Procurement agent: Educo·On behalf of: Bourne Education Trust (from the title)
What is being bought2 lots · detail below
Published requirement descriptionIt is the objective of the Trust to provide a good value meal service (term-time) to all pupils and staff and visitors using quality produce and nutritionally balanced menus that meet the School Food Plan and Food for Life Silver Standards through an efficient service with a good standard of presentation.
- How the procedure runs: Educo Consultancy & Facilities Management are completing a competitive tendering procedure for the catering services on behalf of Bourne Education Trust comprising of c35 schools in multiple locations in Central London, South London, Surrey out to Reading and down to New Milton in Hampshire. Educo on behalf of the Trust will manage a multiple stage process through the mytenders portal that links to the Find a Tender Central Digital Platform. In essence there will be 3 stages to the tender process. All documentation and responses to each stage must be uploaded to the post-box within mytenders relating to this tender opportunity. STAGE 1 - EXPRESSION OF INTEREST The 1st Stage of this tender is to assess the most appropriate Contractors from their expression of interest applied and on information and responses provided and submitted on the mytenders portal as requested in this Selection Questionnaire. Please see Section 4.0 for the requirements for submission. The responses will be evaluated and scored with the highest scoring 4 - 5 bidders will be invited to progress to Stage 2. STAGE 2 - PROPOSAL AND FORM OF TENDER STAGE The 2nd Stage will comprise of: • Initial on-line Briefing session to outline key requirements, expand on completing forms of tender and answer any questions. • Site visits to the Schools. • Submission by Tenderers of their Forms of Tender outlining their financial proposal and responses to Technical Questions within the ITT. • Submissions will be evaluated with the 3 highest scoring Tenderers being shortlisted to present to representatives of the Trust, the Schools and Educo. STAGE 3 – INTERVIEW Each Contractor will have one and a half hours to present their operational proposal and proposed food offer to the representatives of the Trust, Schools and Educo. Specific detail of the requirements for the day will be outlined within Stage 2. The Trust and the Schools will then score the presentation and evaluate the financial proposal issued within stage 2 and select their preferred bidder or bidders.
- No preliminary market engagement: this is stage 1 of this tender process, following the deadline of this UK4 notice, there will be further stages as identified in the SQ document
CPV: School catering services
Lots and requirements (2)Procurement structure
2 lots · all with a published value (£21,083,550 together) · same evaluation weights on every lotLot #1BET Secondary Schools & SEN SchoolsRenewalPublished value£13,808,000
provision of term time catering services
Lot #2BET Primary SchoolsRenewalPublished value£7,275,550
provision of term time pupil and staff meals
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Organisations Financial Status: 20%
- Technical: 80%
Published award criteria (2)
- Organisations Financial Status: response to section 8.0 in the SQ
- Technical: response to Section 9.0 of SQ
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
- Turnover usually expected: about £4,845,941 – ~£9,196,934 per lot (twice each lot's annual value).
Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Educo runs Catering services (CPV 5552) tenders for its clients, and who usually turns up
Educo buys for other bodies; its column covers all its clients. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Catering services (CPV 5552) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
No small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
i
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.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 89 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
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 bid0% / 13%
2–356% / 32%
4–644% / 50%
7+0% / 5%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate17% / 18%
Within ±2%3% / 42%
Above estimate79% / 40%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1BET Secondary Schools & SEN SchoolsCPV 5552Published estimate£14m
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 391 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid13%
2–332%
4–650%
7+5%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
Lot #2BET Primary SchoolsCPV 5552Published estimate£7.3m
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 391 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid13%
2–332%
4–650%
7+5%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
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.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- 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.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Open for tender
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 28 Oct 2026, 13:49 GMT
- Last source update
- 28 Oct 2026, 13:49 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 23 Apr 2027
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-102095- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-079274Find a Tender
- How it runs
Educo Consultancy & Facilities Management are completing a competitive tendering procedure for the catering services on behalf of Bourne Education Trust comprising of c35 schools in multiple locations in Central London, South London, Surrey out to Reading and down to New Milton in Hampshire.
Educo on behalf of the Trust will manage a multiple stage process through the mytenders portal that links to the Find a Tender Central Digital Platform.
In essence there will be 3 stages to the tender process.
All documentation and responses to each stage must be uploaded to the post-box within mytenders relating to this tender opportunity.
STAGE 1 - EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
The 1st Stage of this tender is to assess the most appropriate Contractors from their expression of interest applied and on information and responses provided and submitted on the mytenders portal as requested in this Selection Questionnaire. Please see Section 4.0 for the requirements for submission.
The responses will be evaluated and scored with the highest scoring 4 - 5 bidders will be invited to progress to Stage 2.
STAGE 2 - PROPOSAL AND FORM OF TENDER STAGE
The 2nd Stage will comprise of:
- Initial on-line Briefing session to outline key requirements, expand on completing forms of tender and answer any questions.
- Site visits to the Schools.
- Submission by Tenderers of their Forms of Tender outlining their financial proposal and responses to Technical Questions within the ITT.
- Submissions will be evaluated with the 3 highest scoring Tenderers being shortlisted to present to representatives of the Trust, the Schools and Educo.
STAGE 3 – INTERVIEW
Each Contractor will have one and a half hours to present their operational proposal and proposed food offer to the representatives of the Trust, Schools and Educo. Specific detail of the requirements for the day will be outlined within Stage 2.
The Trust and the Schools will then score the presentation and evaluate the financial proposal issued within stage 2 and select their preferred bidder or bidders.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via mytenders- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 4 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 27 Nov 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
28 Oct 2026 → 1 Aug 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published2h ago28 Oct 2026, 13:49 GMT
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Clarification questions byin 30 days27 Nov 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 36 days4 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 177 days23 Apr 2027, 23:59 BST
- Contract startsin 276 days1 Aug 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published28 Oct 2026, 13:49 GMTUK4
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeClients of the procurement agent
- Bourne Education TrustBeneficiary authoritynamed in the title
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications Selection Questionnaire
- Bidding documents and specifications Example agreement Primary
- Bidding documents and specifications Example agreement Secondary
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender