Find a TenderAwardedContract award notice
Published 10 Dec 2025, 12:05 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Cotham School ~ Catering Tender

Official notice

Authority: Cotham School (Education)

ServicesCompetitive flexible procedureAbove thresholdSME suitable
Published estimate£1,760,000≈ £587k / year · £1,760,000 inc. VAT
Submissions closed 27 Mar 2026awarded 11 Jun 2026
Award (standstill) to Innovate Services
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Aug 2029 · up to 31 Aug 2031 with extensions · starts 1 Sept 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The successful Supplier will be required to provide catering and hospitality services for Cotham School.

Two sites listed below of the school are included in the tender, and we are seeking tender submissions for the whole contract.

Cotham School has an excellent reputation in Bristol built upon its results and student performance ranked one of the best. The successful contractor will be required to deliver a service and meet the requirements of the specification at each site from the contract commencement.

1 - Secondary Schools 1 – Sixth form centre

The process is to be inclusive of the requirements for the following locations:

•Cotham School, Cotham Lawn Road, Cotham, Bristol, BS6 6DT

•Cotham Learning Community, Charnwood House, 30 Cotham Park, Bristol, BS6 6BU

The contract being tendered is for 3 years in duration from 1st September 2026 until 31st August 2029, with the option to extend for further terms of 1 +1 years on the same terms and conditions excluding the right to further extend. The contract will be guaranteed performance in nature.

The tender project is seeking to appoint a Contractor whose Initiative and innovation will be welcomed for the provision of all catering services within the school. The high-quality service levels proposed, should maintain excellent standards throughout, resulting in a new food service offer with consistent high standards of food operations across the sites.

Regular customer and parental engagement (using digital platforms and social media) will be required to ensure this is the case moving into the contract term.

These new standards of operation should meet the needs of pupil’s moving forward into this contract term.

The contract will operate on a guaranteed basis (return or subsidy) with free school meals being charged to the client monthly at net food cost only. All hospitality is to be charged on a net food cost basis.

The approximate current revenue (sales) within the contract annually is in the region of £352,000 across both locations.

The successful contractor will be expected to put forward both innovation and their proposals for making this contract more environmentally sensitive and carbon neutral moving into this contract term both by way of contract delivery and within the successful contractor’s organisation, while working to deliver the Cotham School environmental policies. Your approach to sustainability should mirror that of the school’s.

The successful contractor should be able to evidence significant steps towards carbon neutrality as well as demonstrable plans to achieve their targets throughout the contractual term. It will be expected that sustainability as well as social value be reported through the management review meetings.

The terms and conditions of employment and recognition offered to the catering operatives should be both progressive and forward thinking ensuring that the staffing establishment is always complete, and staff turnover is kept to a minimum.

Please see PSQ Document for more information.

  • How the procedure runs: Please see PSQ Document for more information.

CPV: School catering services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1AwardedRenewal 3 yrsSMEPublished value£1,760,000
Contract period: 1 Sept 2026 – 31 Aug 2029 (3 yrs) · up to 31 Aug 2031 with extensionsValue: £1,760,000 exc. VAT · £1,760,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: South WestEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: 1+1 See PSQ Document for more information.

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 were scored
Quality: 70%Price: 30%
Published sub-criteria (2)
  • Criterion 1: 70%
  • Criterion 2: 30%
Published award criteria (2)
  • Criterion 1
  • Criterion 2
What this means for your bid
  • Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 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
Procedure method
Competitive flexible procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Awarded
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Yes (GPA)
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
10 Dec 2025, 12:05 GMT
Last source update
16 Jul 2026, 14:06 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 9 Jun 2026
FTS notice number
2025/S 000-081447
Latest notice
Contract award notice (UK6)
Classification (CPV)
School catering services
Delivery area
South West (UKK1)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05f2a8 Find a Tender
How it runs

Please see PSQ Document for more information.

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: Litmus TMS
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission not allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free
Submission deadline
27 Mar 2026, 12:00 GMT
Clarification deadline
9 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Not allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

Timeline

10 Dec 2025 → 1 Sept 2026 · 8 dates
  1. Tender notice published320 days ago
    10 Dec 2025, 12:05 GMT
  2. Clarification questions by290 days ago
    9 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
  3. Submission deadline213 days ago
    27 Mar 2026, 12:00 GMT
  4. Award decision expected by139 days ago
    9 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
  5. Assessment summaries sent138 days ago
    11 Jun 2026, 00:00 BST
  6. Latest notice published102 days ago
    16 Jul 2026, 14:06 BST
  7. Standstill ends91 days ago
    27 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
  8. Contract starts56 days ago
    1 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

4 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 10 Dec 2025
  1. Tender notice published
    10 Dec 2025, 12:05 GMT
    UK4
  2. Contract award notice published
    16 Jul 2026, 14:06 BST
    UK6
  3. Status changed to complete
    16 Jul 2026, 14:06 BST
  4. Contract signature expected
    28 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
    scheduled

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value (inc. VAT) £1,760,0001 award inc. VAT; no net value published
Bids received 3
Awarded toValueDateStatus
Innovate Services1 Sept 2026 – 31 Aug 2029 · up to 31 Aug 2031Extensions: 1+1 See PSQ Document for more information.£1,760,000 inc. VAT11 Jun 2026standstill to 27 Jul 2026Standstill

Bid statistics published by the authority

BidsSMEVCSEValid bid range
3final-stage tenders00—

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Cotham School

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PYBW-8563-JMZW Cotham Lawn Road, Cotham, Bristol, South West, BS6 6DTContact email, phone

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice
  • Innovate Services LtdAwarded supplierGB-COH: 06420662 St Andrews House, West Street, Woking, South East, GU21 6EBContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Contract award notice awardContract award noticeUK6Contract award notice on Find a Tender
  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender