Official UK procurement notice
Preliminary Market Engagement - Outsourced Meal prep and Transported In Catering Service
Authority: Academies for Character & Excellence (Central government)·On behalf of: PHP Law LLP
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Trust is seeking a Contractor that will deliver an Outsourced “Meal Preparation Delivered In” Catering Service for this contract.
There are 6 schools in Somerset. The current contract ends in August 2025 and the production kitchens currently preparing and serving the meals are part of another Trust and will no longer be available for a new contract.
the Contractor shall:
- offer a service that is aligned to the vision, value and ethos of the Trust who deliver ’excellence’ in their own in-house catering service.
- formulate a service delivery schedule that accounts for each site’s geographical location, is streamlined, efficient and ensures journey times are below 30 mins.
- deliver a high-quality service, ensuring food quality, selecting suitable menu choices that can be transported and served effectively whilst delivering value for money for schools, parents and pupils using the services.
- provide management information and partnership working to improve take-up of meals, and continuous improvement particularly for FSM pupils.
- be responsible for TUPE of existing staff who are associated with the transporting of the meals
the schools are:
School Address
Ashill Primary School Road, Ashill, Ilminster, TA19 9ND
Buckland St Mary Buckland St Mary, Chard, TA20 3SJ
Hatch Beauchamp Station Road, Hatch Beauchamp, Taunton, TA3 6SQ
Holy Trinity South Street, Taunton, TA1 3AF
Stockland Primary Stockland, Honiton, EX14 9EF
Winsham Primary Church Street, Winsham, Near Chard, TA20 4HU
CPV: Canteen and catering services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Past planning notice
- 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 Mar 2025, 21:12 GMT
- Last source update
- 18 Mar 2025, 21:12 GMT
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-010041- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04eecfFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
18 Mar 2025 → 1 Sept 2025 · 4 dates- Planning notice published18 Mar 2025, 21:12 GMT
- Tender notice expected4 Apr 2025, 23:59 BST
- Market engagement4 Apr 2025, 23:59 BST
The Trust Director of Operations Sam Ward is seeking potential solutions ahead of the catering service tender being published on the 4th April.
The Trust are open to innovative solutions and options around splitting the service to the schools between different solutions or production kitchens.
Please email tenders@phplaw.co.uk if you would like to participate in the preliminary market engagement by having a meeting with the Director of Opertions.
All meetings will be minuted with any implications on our requirements or tender approach transparently updated. No prospective supplier would be put at a disadvantage.
- Contract starts1 Sept 2025, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 Mar 2025, 21:12 GMTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- PHP Law LLPProcuring entityProcurement Consultant
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender