Official UK procurement notice
Meals on Wheels · UK public procurement notice
Authority: London Borough of Tower Hamlets (Local council)
This service will provide a selected group of residents with daily, nutritious hot meals delivered straight to their homes, primarily to address food insecurity and, secondarily, to ease social isolation. Therefore, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets is seeking a food supplier with a proven track record, ideally within the borough, and the logistical capacity to sustain a reliable, high-quality delivery service. All meals must meet rigorous nutritional standards and accommodate a wide range of dietary and cultural requirements, while offering residents daily choice and flexibility in meal selection.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis service will provide a selected group of residents with daily, nutritious hot meals delivered straight to their homes, primarily to address food insecurity and, secondarily, to ease social isolation. Therefore, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets is seeking a food supplier with a proven track record, ideally within the borough, and the logistical capacity to sustain a reliable, high-quality delivery service. All meals must meet rigorous nutritional standards and accommodate a wide range of dietary and cultural requirements, while offering residents daily choice and flexibility in meal selection. This is for a 3 year contract.
- No preliminary market engagement: Pre market engagement was carried and linked to a different Notice. The tender was subsequently abandoned - this is a retender. PME notice 2026/S 000-020345 (ocds-h6vhtk-06640e)
CPV: Catering services · Welfare services not delivered through residential institutions
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£3,000,000
- Economic & financial standing
The legal and financial capacity conditions of participation will be clearly set out in the Invitation to Tender document.
- Technical & professional ability
The technical ability conditions of participation will be clearly set out in the Invitation to Tender document.
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)
- Price
- Quality
- Social Value
- Economic & financial standing
The legal and financial capacity conditions of participation will be clearly set out in the Invitation to Tender document.
- Technical & professional ability
The technical ability conditions of participation will be clearly set out in the Invitation to Tender document.
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £2,995,896 (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 London Borough of Tower Hamlets buys Catering services (CPV 5552), and who usually turns up
London Borough of Tower Hamlets’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: Catering services (CPV 5552) →
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. The market figure counts awards delivered in Greater London.
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 35 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 bid22% / 16%
2–354% / 38%
4–617% / 42%
7+7% / 4%
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 estimate18% / 23%
Within ±2%80% / 30%
Above estimate3% / 47%
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 8531Published estimate£3.0m
This lot is listed as CPV 8531. The table above uses the notice category.
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 bid21%
2–349%
4–626%
7+4%
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.
Middle 50%£3.0m
Estimate£3.0m
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.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 awards in 36m · last 10 months ago | 5 live · £11m 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. | 4% above n=1 | |
| £194m64 awards in 36m · last 1 month ago | 38 live · £132m 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=64 | |
CaterlinkLarge | £29m12 awards in 36m · last 1 month ago | 2 live · £5.6m 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. | 21% above n=6 |
| £48m17 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 6 live · £27m 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. | 36% above n=15 | |
| £17m13 awards in 36m · last 4 months ago | 10 live · £21m 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. | 13% above n=15 |
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender and Contracts Finder), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly. Contracts Finder appears in live search, the Retender Radar, contract pages, organisation counts and the buyer's decision figure; the other analytical figures are built from Find a Tender notices.
- 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
- Open 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
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 30 Oct 2026, 16:04 GMT
- Last source update
- 30 Oct 2026, 16:04 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 15 Feb 2027
- Authority reference
CE6148A- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-103404- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0794fdFind a Tender- Contract terms summary
Details of payment terms can be found in the tender pack
- Risks
Continued failure to report no access or non-responding clients
Continued failure to deliver meals on schedule
Food quality shortcomings
Failure to maintain adequate staffing levels, leading to service disruption.
Failure to comply with food safety and hygiene requirements.
Failure to maintain effective communication regarding service issues, delays, or safeguarding concerns.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via ProContract (Due North)- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 2 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 13 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
30 Oct 2026 → 1 Mar 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published9 days ago30 Oct 2026, 16:04 GMT
- Today9 Nov 2026
- Clarification questions byin 4 days13 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 23 days2 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 98 days15 Feb 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 111 days1 Mar 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published30 Oct 2026, 16:04 GMTUK4
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender