Official UK procurement notice
Ceremonial Event Planning and Management
Authority: Scottish Government (Central government)·Consortium: 2 public authorities
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Scottish Government required the provision of a one-stop professional project management service in respect of the maintenance of an existing set of plans for state and ceremonial matters within Scotland. The successful Service Provider will be responsible for the delivery of an existing comprehensive programme of works which will include reinstatement works and which will assist the Purchaser and its stakeholders in providing seamless, high quality programme and project management for ceremonial events to be provided on a contingency basis, as the requirement could be activated at any time during the lifetime of the contract.
- Recurrence: In readiness for the anticipated contract end date of 22nd August 2026 or the extension period end date of 22nd August 2028, i.e early 2026 or 2028.
CPV: Management-related services · Project-management services other than for construction work
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1The services fall into 3 categories:AwardedRenewalPublished value£700,000
The services fall into 3 categories:
- Overall project planning and management
- Procurement, direct contracting and management of sub-contracted services/works.
- Planning, management and operation of specific Ceremonial events where the programme is activated.
The Service Provider shall be required to:
- Maintain the plans, updating them as required by the Purchaser;
- Attend relevant meetings as and when required;
- Proactively liaise with the Purchaser and other stakeholders to ensure plans are accurate;
- Procure and manage a number of sub-contracts, as and when required;
- Work with stakeholders to ensure tasks are carried out to accurate timings and best value, when plans are activated.
This programme would include processions, ceremonial events, a church service, specific and extraordinary transport requirements and an anticipated high level of crowds in the historic centre of Edinburgh, with the associated arrangements for media coverage. The plans are now largely in place and the role of the Service Provider will be to maintain these plans in conjunction with the Purchaser and other relevant stakeholders and to ensure that it delivers a successful, high profile series of events to the satisfaction of all parties.
The Service Provider shall act as the main contractor and shall be directly responsible for a number of sub-contracts in order to ensure efficient and effective service delivery. Services will include further development of the planning and design process, procurement, logistical and management services including financial control, budget responsibilities and the co-ordination of a wide range of ceremonial participants.
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)
- Technical: 60%
- price: 40%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical: 60
- Price: 40
- Suitability
N/A
- Economic & financial standing
There is no action required of tenderers at this stage. The Authority will make an assessment of the Economic & Financial Standing of each tenderer (and any consortia or reliance partners) using the Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) 'Failure Score' indicator and the following process:
Step 1: A D&B 'Failure Score' of 50 or above will result in a PASS.
Step 2: If the tenderer (or any consortium or reliance partner) scores below 50, then the audited financial accounts of the tenderer (or consortia or reliance partner) will be used to conduct an assessment of the risk of business failure. If this assessment identifies an unacceptable risk then the tenderer (or consortia or reliance partner) will fail this assessment
Financial Accounts For Question 4B6 of the SPD, bidders may elect to provide their audited financial accounts for the last three financial years. There must be no qualification or contra-indication from any evidence provided in support of the tenderer's Economic and Financial Standing.
Minimum: Refer to the process described above. Minimum Insurance Levels - . For question 4B5 of the SPD, it is a requirement of this contract that bidders hold, or can commit to obtain prior to the commencement of any subsequently awarded contract 1 million GBP public liability insurance,… - Technical & professional ability
- ISO/IEC 27001 or equivalent
- Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation or recognised equivalent
- BS EN 9001 or equivalent
Minimum: The bidder must: - have achieved, or be committed to achieving prior to contract award, ISO/IEC 27001 (Information Security Management Systems Requirements) or recognised equivalent. - have achieved, or be committed to achieving prior to contract award, Cyber Essentials Plus accr…
- Staff
- Names and qualifications of delivery staff must be submitted
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Restricted procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
Yes · In readiness for the anticipated contract end date of 22nd August 2026 or the extension period end date of 22nd August 2028, i.e early 2026 or 2028.
- First published
- 27 Jan 2021, 10:24 GMT
- Last source update
- 7 Apr 2026, 08:59 BST
- Authority reference
537308- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-031250- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-028d9bFind a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic payment
- Performance terms
If a bidder comprises a consortium which will establish a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to deliver the contract, that bidder will not be
required to form an SPV at this stage, but will be required to do so prior to the award of any contract. In this circumstance the consortium,
acting through consortium members, will be required to provide appropriate guarantees in respect of the performance of the SPV of that
bidder’s obligations under the contract.
Publisher note: (SC Ref:826735)
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 5 Mar 2021, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bid validity
- 180 days from the deadline
Timeline
5 Mar 2021 → 7 Apr 2026 · 4 dates- Submission deadline5 Mar 2021, 12:00 GMT
- Invitations to tender expected19 Mar 2021
- Contract starts23 Aug 2021, 00:00 BST
- Notice published203 days ago7 Apr 2026, 08:59 BST
Notice history
2 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 26 Oct 2021- Status changed to complete26 Oct 2021, 15:55 BST
- Buyer details updated7 Apr 2026, 08:59 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecastContracts
Contract 026800-2021-537308-1 · Arcadis
- Signed
- 23 Aug 2021
- Value
- £700,000
- Period
- … – 22 Aug 2026
- Status
- active
Ceremonial Event Planning and Management · Arcadis
- Signed
- 23 Aug 2021
- Value
- £869,236
- Period
- 23 Aug 2021 – 22 Aug 2026
- Status
- active
- Change Several areas of the plan are to be reviewed and updated following the initial activation of the plan and having received updated advice. The Service Provider will liaise with all relevant stakeholders to produce a new plan which aligns with the updated requirements., Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire: The existing Service Provider has a detailed technical understanding of this programme, including familiarity with the programme objectives, data sets, internal governance and stakeholder landscape. The initial tender procedure only produced a single compliant bid, which indicates limited market capacity or appetite to deliver this specialist work. Securing a technically comparable supplier at this stage is unlikely without incurring additional cost, delay, and programme risk. Were one to be identified they would then require a significant mobilisation period in order to to review historic work, reconstruct the analytical approach, recreate project baselines, and re establish stakeholder and governance alignment. These activities would largely duplicate work already completed and paid for under the existing contract. As a result, a change of contractor at this point would result in significant inconvenience and material duplication of cost without delivering additional value.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2bids · 2 electronic · 2 from abroad | 1 | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeDispute resolution & review bodies
- Edinburgh Sheriff CourtReview body
- Edinburgh Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace CourtReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the noticeOfficial documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.