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Published 26 Mar 2026, 15:02 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Public Relation/Communication Support - Key Projects

Official notice

Authority: West of England Combined Authority (Local council)

3 lotsServicesCompetitive flexible procedureAbove thresholdSME suitableMax 2 lots to bidMax 2 lots per supplier
Sectors: Business Services & Consultancy (79) Delivery: South West (UKK1)
Published estimate£1,500,000total for 3 lots · £1,800,000 inc. VAT
Submissions closed 4 Aug 2026
Lots 3max 2 won per supplier · max 2 to bid
Contract term 2 yrs 8 moends 31 May 2029 · up to 31 May 2030 with extensions · starts 21 Sept 2026

What is being bought3 lots · detail below

Published requirement description

The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) is seeking to engage the market to help design and develop its scope of the provision of public relation/ communication support for key projects being delivered by the MCA, including: West Innovation Arc, Mass Transit and the Spatial Development Strategy.

The nature of these projects is highly political with various key stakeholders both internally and externally within the community. They will require support for public consultation.

Please register interest using our procurement system by registering below:

weca-atamis.my.site.com/ProSpend__eSourcing_… ↗

  • How the procedure runs: This competitive flexible procedure will consist of two phases. The first stage of this opportunity will consist of a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ). All suppliers, who wish to bid will be required to complete and return the PSQ to the Authority via the e-procurement system, before the deadline. All PSQ responses, received before the deadline, PSQ will be evaluated by officers of the Authority. The PSQ evaluation criteria is found in Attachment 2b of the ITT documents. The top five (5) scoring PSQ responses for each lot will be invited to proceed to the second phase. The 15 highest scoring suppliers, across the three lots, will proceed to the next stage of Invitation to Tender (“ITT”).

CPV: Public relations services

Lots and requirements (3)Procurement structure

3 lots · all with a published value (£1,500,000 together) · a supplier may bid for at most 2 and win at most 2 of them · same conditions of participation on every lot · same evaluation weights on every lot
Lot #1West Innovation ArcRenewal 2 yrs 8 moSMEPublished value£500,000

Comms/PR Support for the West Innovation Arc. See Attachment 1 - Specification for more details.

Contract period: 21 Sept 2026 – 31 May 2029 (2 yrs 8 mo) · up to 31 May 2030 with extensionsValue: £500,000 exc. VAT · £600,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: South WestEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: The lotting of this opportunity is as follows: Lot 1 – West Innovation Arc Lot 2 – Mass Transit Lot 3 – Spatial Development Strategy This contract will allow for an extension of time (1 x One-Year). · 1 x One-Year Extension permissibleSecond stage: up to 5 candidates invited to tender
79416000 Public relations services
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)1
  • Condition of participation

    Please see Attachment 2a - PSQ

    shortlisting
Lot #2Mass TransitRenewal 2 yrs 8 moSMEPublished value£500,000

Comms/PR Support for Mass Transit. See Attachment 1 - Specification for more details.

Contract period: 21 Sept 2026 – 31 May 2029 (2 yrs 8 mo) · up to 31 May 2030 with extensionsValue: £500,000 exc. VAT · £600,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: South WestEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: The lotting of this opportunity is as follows: Lot 1 – West Innovation Arc Lot 2 – Mass Transit Lot 3 – Spatial Development Strategy This contract will allow for an extension of time (1 x One-Year). · 1 x One-Year Extension permissibleSecond stage: up to 5 candidates invited to tender
79416000 Public relations services
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)1
  • Condition of participation

    Please see Attachment 2a - PSQ

    shortlisting
Lot #3Spatial Development StrategyRenewal 2 yrs 8 moSMEPublished value£500,000

Comms/PR Support for the SDS. See Attachment 1 - Specification for more details.

Contract period: 21 Sept 2026 – 31 May 2029 (2 yrs 8 mo) · up to 31 May 2030 with extensionsValue: £500,000 exc. VAT · £600,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: South WestEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: The lotting of this opportunity is as follows: Lot 1 – West Innovation Arc Lot 2 – Mass Transit Lot 3 – Spatial Development Strategy This contract will allow for an extension of time (1 x One-Year). · 1 x One-Year Extension permissibleSecond stage: up to 5 candidates invited to tender
79416000 Public relations services
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)1
  • Condition of participation

    Please see Attachment 2a - PSQ

    shortlisting

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 · same split on all 3 lots
Quality: 60%Price: 30%Social value: 10%
Published sub-criteria (3)
  • Quality: 60%
  • Price: 30%
  • Social Valule: 10%
Published award criteria (3)
  • Quality
  • Social Valule
  • Price
Lot distribution rule: The lotting of this opportunity is as follows: Lot 1 – West Innovation Arc Lot 2 – Mass Transit Lot 3 – Spatial Development Strategy The Authority intends to award up to three tasking contracts through this opportunity in line with lots described below. Suppliers are required to clearly identify which lot(s) they are bidding for. Due to natural conflicts of interest within the programmes, it is not permissible for suppliers to bid for all three lots. Suppliers are able to bid for a sole lot or a maximum of two lots. Combinations are as follows: Lot 1 & 2 Lot 2 & 3 Combination not permissible: Lot 1 & 3
Conditions of participation · identical on every lot1
  • Condition of participation

    Please see Attachment 2a - PSQ

    shortlisting
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
Closed
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
26 Mar 2026, 15:02 GMT
Last source update
10 Jul 2026, 17:18 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 11 Sept 2026
Authority reference
UPN-00379
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-065362
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Public relations services
Delivery area
South West (UKK1)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06756d Find a Tender
How it runs

This competitive flexible procedure will consist of two phases.

The first stage of this opportunity will consist of a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ). All suppliers, who wish to bid will be required to complete and return the PSQ to the Authority via the e-procurement system, before the deadline.

All PSQ responses, received before the deadline, PSQ will be evaluated by officers of the Authority. The PSQ evaluation criteria is found in Attachment 2b of the ITT documents.

The top five (5) scoring PSQ responses for each lot will be invited to proceed to the second phase. The 15 highest scoring suppliers, across the three lots, will proceed to the next stage of Invitation to Tender (“ITT”).

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: Atamis Health Family Portal · Who buys & how to bid on Atamis
Electronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Requests to participate (first stage)
4 Aug 2026, 12:00 BST
Submission deadline
4 Aug 2026, 12:00 BST
Clarification deadline
22 Jul 2026, 12:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

This competitive flexible procedure will consist of two phases.

The first stage of this opportunity will consist of a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ). All suppliers, who wish to bid will be required to complete and return the PSQ to the Authority via the e-procurement system, before the deadline.

All PSQ responses, received before the deadline, PSQ will be evaluated by officers of the Authority. The PSQ evaluation criteria is found in Attachment 2b of the ITT documents.

The top five (5) scoring PSQ responses for each lot will be invited to proceed to the second phase. The 15 highest scoring suppliers, across the three lots, will proceed to the next stage of Invitation to Tender (“ITT”).

Please register interest using our procurement system by registering below:

weca-atamis.my.site.com/ProSpend__eSourcing_… ↗

Timeline

26 Mar 2026 → 21 Sept 2026 · 8 dates
  1. Planning notice published214 days ago
    26 Mar 2026, 15:02 GMT
  2. Market engagement185 days ago
    24 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST

    The MCA is planning to conduct pre-market engagement in two phases.

    The first phase will include a presentation from project leads and the commercial team to outline the current approach to this procurement. This presentation will be held online via Microsoft Teams on 15th April 2026 from 9am to 10am. Please note, this presentation will be recorded and available to all bidders as part of the ITT pack, once the ITT is published, in line with the Procurement Act 2023.

    The second phase will be a questionnaire following the presentation in phase one. This questionnaire will speak to the issues and rationale raised in the presentation and will aide the MCA in further developing a final scope and commercial model for this procurement. The market will have until Friday 24th April 2026 to respond to the questionnaire.

    We requested all companies interested in participating in phase one to register using the following link.

    forms.cloud.microsoft/e/Sc9zjL0tkd ↗

  3. Next notice expected175 days ago
    4 May 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Tender notice published108 days ago
    10 Jul 2026, 17:18 BST
  5. Clarification questions by96 days ago
    22 Jul 2026, 12:00 BST
  6. Submission deadline83 days ago
    4 Aug 2026, 12:00 BST
  7. Award decision expected by45 days ago
    11 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
  8. Contract starts36 days ago
    21 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

4 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 26 Mar 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    26 Mar 2026, 15:02 GMT
    UK2
  2. Tender notice published
    10 Jul 2026, 17:18 BST
    UK4
  3. Status changed to active
    10 Jul 2026, 17:18 BST
  4. Procurement method changed
    10 Jul 2026, 17:18 BST

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

The West of England Combined Authority

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PGWR-9284-XMRY 70 Redcliff Street, Bristol, South West, BS1 6ALContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure