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Published 15 Oct 2026, 13:35 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Catering Provision Review · UK public procurement notice

Authority: NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM (Charity / VCSE)

ServicesBelow threshold - open competitionBelow thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Published estimate£20,000£24,000 inc. VAT
Submission deadline 4 Nov 202610:00 GMT · 8d 14h left
Clarification cut-off 2 Nov 202614:00 GMT · questions to the authority
Contract term 7 moends 30 Jun 2027 · extension options published · starts 23 Nov 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Museum wishes to review its current onsite catering offer and is seeking to appoint a specialist catering advisor to help deliver the Museum's wider vision for supporting commercial development and improving the visitor experience.

CPV: Catering services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1 7 moSMEVCSEPublished value£20,000
Contract period: 23 Nov 2026 – 30 Jun 2027 (7 mo)Value: £20,000 exc. VAT · £24,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: LondonEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleTurnover guideline: ~£40,000/yr≈ 2× annual value
Extensions: Phase 1 - Professional support, carry out service appraisal and provide recommendations. Phase 2 - Provide procurement support. Phase 2 will only be commissioned if the Museum decides to proceed following completion of Phase 1. The Museum is under no obligation to commission Phase 2, and no fees relating to Phase 2 will be payable unless that phase is formally authorised by the Museum.

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

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 more
How bids are scored

Lot awarding rule: Methodology 40% Relevant Experience and Capability 35% Overall Price 25% Total 100% Scoring methodology is included in the tender brief document.

No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.

What this means for your bid
  • Turnover usually expected at this size: about £40,000 (twice the 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 NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM buys Catering services (CPV 5552), and who usually turns up

NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM has little published record in this market. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Catering services (CPV 5552) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerNATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM · this authority
The marketCatering services (CPV 5552) · Greater London
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no supplier sizes published · market: CPV 5552 · Greater London, n=71
—24%

Across this market, small firms won 24% of awards with a known supplier size.

How often do local suppliers win?
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. The market figure counts awards delivered in Greater London.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no winner locations published · market: CPV 5552 · Greater London, n=107
—31%

Across this market, 31% of winners were registered in the delivery region.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no decision dates published · market: CPV 5552 · Greater London, n=54
—90 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 90 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no awards on record · market: CPV 5552 · Greater London, n=115
—16%

Across this market, at least 16% of awarded procurements had no recorded rival.

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyerNo bid counts published
The market101 lots with bid counts · CPV 5552 · Greater London
16% had one bid
Market · select a colour for counts
1 bid16%
Market: 16 of 101 lots with published bid counts.
2–339%
Market: 39 of 101 lots with published bid counts.
4–642%
Market: 42 of 101 lots with published bid counts.
7+4%
Market: 4 of 101 lots with published bid counts.

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyerNo estimate-and-award pairs published
The market61 lots with estimate and award · CPV 5552 · Greater London
23% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate23%
Market: 14 of 61 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%30%
Market: 18 of 61 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate48%
Market: 29 of 61 lots with an estimate and award.
2

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.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 55527 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£20k
Expected competition
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.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

3expected bids15% chance of a single bid
similar past contests in this category: 149
Forecast chances for this lot
1 bid15%
Chance this lot gets 1 bid: 15%. This is a forecast.
2–347%
Chance this lot gets 2–3: 47%. This is a forecast.
4–629%
Chance this lot gets 4–6: 29%. This is a forecast.
7+8%
Chance this lot gets 7+: 8%. This is a forecast.
Commercial price forecast
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.

Based on 92 comparable awards. Each lot reflects its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative.

A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.

£20kLevel with estimate
92 comparable awards
Forecast compared with the buyer’s estimate
Middle 50%£19k–£20k
Half of likely prices fall between £18,789 and £20,000.
Estimate£20k
The buyer published an estimate of £20,000 for this lot.
A 23% chance the award lands exactly on the estimate.

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.

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.

SupplierWon in this categoryLive contractsAward vs estimate
9 wins in Greater London2 panel places
£441m47 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago26 live · £317m
i

Public contracts this supplier still holds.

Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book.

Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity.

at estimate n=35
7 wins in Greater London7 panel places
£195m62 awards in 36m · last 4 months ago37 live · £128m
i

Public contracts this supplier still holds.

Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book.

Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity.

at estimate n=62
1 win in Greater London3 panel places
£29m12 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago2 live · £5.6m
i

Public contracts this supplier still holds.

Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book.

Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity.

21% above n=6
1 win in Greater London1 panel places
£10m9 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago2 live · £3.1m
i

Public contracts this supplier still holds.

Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book.

Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity.

21% above n=9
4 wins in Greater London1 panel places
£60m31 awards in 36m · last 4 months ago32 live · £80m
i

Public contracts this supplier still holds.

Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book.

Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity.

4% above n=43
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
Below threshold - open competition
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Open for tender
Procurement threshold
Below threshold
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
15 Oct 2026, 13:35 BST
Last source update
23 Oct 2026, 15:22 BST
Authority reference
K-17-1-4-1
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-097483
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Catering services
Delivery area
London (UKI)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07888b Find a Tender

How to participate & submission route

Official notice
Requests to participate (first stage)
—
Tender submission deadline
4 Nov 2026, 10:00 GMT
Clarification deadline
2 Nov 2026, 14:00 GMT
Electronic submission
Allowed
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Published estimate £20,000 excludes VAT (£24,000 including VAT).

Timeline

15 Oct 2026 → 23 Nov 2026 · 5 dates
  1. Tender notice published11 days ago
    15 Oct 2026, 13:35 BST
  2. Latest notice published3 days ago
    23 Oct 2026, 15:22 BST
  3. Today
    26 Oct 2026
  4. Clarification questions byin 7 days
    2 Nov 2026, 14:00 GMT
  5. Submission deadlinein 9 days
    4 Nov 2026, 10:00 GMT
  6. Contract startsin 27 days
    23 Nov 2026

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 15 Oct 2026
  1. Tender notice published
    15 Oct 2026, 13:35 BST
    UK4
  2. Tender notice published
    23 Oct 2026, 15:22 BST
    UK4
Published amendments (1)

Questions and clarifications received up to 22 October 2026 published.

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

NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-COH: RC000359 · GB-PPON: PVHX-3953-ZJTZ Royal Hospital Road, London, London, SW3 4HTContact email

Official documents & specifications (4)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender
  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender