Official UK procurement notice
LEGISLATION PRINT PUBLISHING CONTRACT
Authority: The National Archives (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe purpose of this Procurement Process is for The National Archives (TNA) to select a Print Publishing Supplier to deliver its Legislation Print Publishing Contract.
The intention is to award the Contract for an initial period 2 years, with options to extend for three further periods of up to twelve months each (2+1+1+1).
The attached Invitation to Tender document gives an overview of the print publishing requirements and should be read in conjunction with Annexes 1 - 4, which provide more information about what is printed and why. If you require access to them, please contact us at procurement@nationalarchives.gov.uk
We estimate the maximum contract value over the whole contract term (i.e. 5 years) to be circa £4,200,000 (inc. VAT).
The Print Publishing Supplier will operate the print publishing of legislation, associated documents, annual bound volumes of legislation and legislative effects, Chronological Tables and correction slips. The Print Publishing Supplier is responsible for all aspects of print production.
The Print Publishing Supplier will make sure that all printed items are made available for sale and deliver all aspects of order fulfilment and customers services related to the printing and sale of legislation items, including taking payment, handling enquiries and complaints, despatch and record keeping.
Printing legislation is a statutory requirement - the Print Publishing Supplier must provide a print publishing service that meets exacting quality standards and specifications, and that prints legislative items to prescribed and non-negotiable deadlines.
In addition, government departments pay a publishing fee for online publishing. The Print Publishing Supplier is not responsible for online publishing but is responsible for the financial administration of the publishing charges made to government departments. This involves invoicing departments for the correct publishing fees and ensuring that invoices are paid in a timely manner, including chasing where invoices have not been paid. The Print Publishing Supplier then transfers the publishing fees to The National Archives on a quarterly basis. The Print Publishing Supplier needs to inform The National Archives of any overdue outstanding departmental invoices.
- How the procedure runs: Stage 1' Tender submissions will be evaluated applying the criteria specified in paras 8.1 to 8.3 of the attached ITT document. Once all of those submissions have been evaluated, the top-four-ranked bidders will be issued with a 'Stage 2' ITT document and invited to submit a 'Stage 2' Tender response. A contract award decision will be made by scoring the 'Stage 2' Tender responses against the criteria specified in para 8.4 of the attached ITT document.
CPV: Printing and related services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£3,500,000
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 (3)
- Quality
- Price
- Social Value
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
- Price carries 45 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4.5 points. Quality carries 45 of 100: the paper moves it further than the discount.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £3,495,212 (twice the annual value).
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula. 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 The National Archives buys Printing and related services (CPV 7980), and who usually turns up
The National Archives’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Printing and related services (CPV 7980) →
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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 in 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 56 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.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
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 bid17% / 0%
2–350% / 43%
4–60% / 32%
7+33% / 25%
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 estimate0% / 29%
Within ±2%100% / 67%
Above estimate0% / 5%
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 #1CPV 7980Published estimate£3.5m
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.
1 bid6%
2–350%
4–616%
7+28%
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 3 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.
Middle 50%£3.5m
Estimate£3.5m
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Stationery OfficeEarlier contract | Concession Contract for Legislation Publishingended Jul 2026 | — | £3.5m | Matched as the earlier contract |
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| £94m7 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 4 live · £15m iPublic 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=2 | |
OMD Group Ltd.Large | £90m9 awards in 36m · last 3 months ago | 4 live · £24m iPublic 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=2 |
| £37m60 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 36 live · £3.6m iPublic 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. | 6% below n=2 | |
| £5.3m5 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 4 live · £5.3m iPublic 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. | 33% below n=1 | |
| £5.3m32 awards in 36m · last 3 months ago | 12 live · £3.2m iPublic 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. | 10% above n=2 |
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.
What this replaces i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
68% title match.
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.
68% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (68% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid
Concession Contract for Legislation Publishing — held by The Stationery Office; the published contract ends 31 Jul 2026.
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
- 18 Sept 2026, 10:26 BST
- Last source update
- 19 Oct 2026, 15:43 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 22 Jan 2027
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-088522- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077519Find a Tender
- How it runs
Stage 1' Tender submissions will be evaluated applying the criteria specified in paras 8.1 to 8.3 of the attached ITT document.
Once all of those submissions have been evaluated, the top-four-ranked bidders will be issued with a 'Stage 2' ITT document and invited to submit a 'Stage 2' Tender response.
A contract award decision will be made by scoring the 'Stage 2' Tender responses against the criteria specified in para 8.4 of the attached ITT document.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 30 Oct 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 8 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Submissions are to be sent to procurement@nationalarchives.gov.uk
The National Archives' website address is www.nationalarchives.gov.uk ↗
Timeline
18 Sept 2026 → 1 Aug 2027 · 6 dates- Tender notice published38 days ago18 Sept 2026, 10:26 BST
- Clarification questions by18 days ago8 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Latest notice published7 days ago19 Oct 2026, 15:43 BST
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Submission deadlinein 3 days30 Oct 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 87 days22 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 277 days1 Aug 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 18 Sept 2026- Tender notice published18 Sept 2026, 10:26 BSTUK4
- Tender notice published19 Oct 2026, 15:43 BSTUK4
Published amendments (1)
Published clarification questions and answers document.
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
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications Clarification Questions & Answers Document
- Bidding documents and specifications Stage 1 ITT document
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender