Official UK procurement notice
Early Years Children Centre & Family Hubs - Catering Service
Authority: London Borough of Hackney (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe London Borough of Hackney intends to award a framework contract to a suitably experienced supplier to provide catering services (lunch and snacks) for Children under 5 at Hackney Children Centres and Family Hubs
The framework agreement duration is for an initial 3 years and includes an option to extend for a further year (12 months).
The service will provide healthy, nutritional and balanced meals, whilst meeting the Educational Foundation Stage Nutritional Guidelines and the Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering.
- How the procedure runs: This procurement will use the Competitive flexible procedure. This will involve three stages Stage 1 - Tenderers must pass the Conditions of Participation and Procurement Specific Questions in order to be invited to the full tender stage. Stage 2 - Submission and evaluation of tender submission (quality questions and price). Those tenderers that meet the quality thresholds met will be shortlisted (4 highest scoring) and invited to stage 3. Stage 3 - Food Presentation, demonstration and question and answer session. The food presentation and demonstration will be scored and the question and answer session will be used to clarify proposals. The tenderer achieving the highest score overall will be recommended to deliver the contract.
CPV: Catering services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Bids received
- 1 bids received · 1 suppliers appointed
- Framework period
- 3 yrs · up to 4 yrs from 1 May 2026
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£2,800,000
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 award criteria (2)
- quality
- Price
- Price carries 35 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- “Early Years Children Centre & Family Hubs - Catering Service” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
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
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 2 Jun 2025, 15:13 BST
- Last source update
- 4 Feb 2026, 11:56 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 3 Mar 2026
- Authority reference
DN766798- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-050932- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-052ad1Find a Tender
- How it runs
This procurement will use the Competitive flexible procedure.
This will involve three stages
Stage 1 - Tenderers must pass the Conditions of Participation and Procurement Specific Questions in order to be invited to the full tender stage.
Stage 2 - Submission and evaluation of tender submission (quality questions and price). Those tenderers that meet the quality thresholds met will be shortlisted (4 highest scoring) and invited to stage 3.
Stage 3 - Food Presentation, demonstration and question and answer session. The food presentation and demonstration will be scored and the question and answer session will be used to clarify proposals.
The tenderer achieving the highest score overall will be recommended to deliver the contract.
- Risks
i) It is possible that Children Centres may be removed from the framework at any point after the first year of the contract if catering provision is no longer required at this location. Payments for the Children Centre removed from the framework will finish at the end of the notice period. In all cases a minimum of 3 months notice will be provided.
ii) It is not yet determined whether meals will be prepared for Oldhill Children Centre on site or offsite. We expect to be able to advise on this at the full tender stage.
iii) It is possible that further Children Centres may join the framework after the framework has commenced. A maximum of 2 Children Centres will be permitted to join at a budget of £180,000.
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 22 Sept 2025, 12:00 BST
- Appointment period ends
- 22 Sept 2025, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 15 Jun 2025, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Submissions must be made using the London Tender Portal www.londontenders.org ↗
Timeline
2 Jun 2025 → 1 May 2026 · 9 dates- Planning notice published2 Jun 2025, 15:13 BST
- Next notice expected3 Jun 2025, 00:59 BST
- Clarification questions by15 Jun 2025, 12:00 BST
- Tender notice published22 Aug 2025, 14:50 BST
- Admission / appointment period endsperiod end, not a bid countdown22 Sept 2025, 12:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent267 days ago4 Feb 2026
- Latest notice published267 days ago4 Feb 2026, 11:56 GMT
- Award decision expected by239 days ago3 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts181 days ago1 May 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
8 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 2 Jun 2025- Planned procurement notice published2 Jun 2025, 15:13 BSTUK3
- Tender notice published22 Aug 2025, 14:50 BSTUK4
- Published value updated22 Aug 2025, 14:50 BST
- Status changed to active22 Aug 2025, 14:50 BST
- Procurement method changed22 Aug 2025, 14:50 BST
- Contract award notice published4 Feb 2026, 11:56 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete4 Feb 2026, 11:56 GMT
- Contract signature expected15 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASHLYNS CATERING LIMITED1 Jun 2026 – 31 May 2029 · up to 31 May 2030Extensions: 1 year extension. | £2,792,522 | 2 Feb 2026 | Awarded |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1final-stage tenders | 1 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Framework contractors & participating bidders
1 commercial party on the notice- ASHLYNS CATERING LIMITEDFramework contractor
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender