Official UK procurement notice
School Meals Contract · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Reading Borough Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe objectives of this project are to have successfully procured a school meals service which meets the needs of governors, schools, pupils and their families by the deadline agreed with governors and schools.
Funding for this contract is made up as follows:
Paid Meals: Meal price collected from parents directly by contractor.
Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM): schools are allocated £2.61 per pupil/per day and calculations are based on census day uptake. Schools are invoiced directly by the contractor.
Pupil Premium Free School Meals (FSM): schools are allocated the meal price (currently £523.28 per pupil per annum), and calculations are based on census day uptake. Schools are invoiced directly by the contractor.
CPV: School meals · School-meal services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Reading Borough Council buys Catering services (CPV 5552), and who usually turns up
Reading Borough Council’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 South East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside 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 55 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 bid39% / 14%
2–316% / 23%
4–621% / 57%
7+24% / 6%
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 estimate25% / 9%
Within ±2%67% / 29%
Above estimate8% / 62%
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 1589Published estimate£15m
This lot is listed as CPV 1589. 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. The bar shows 21 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid33%
2–333%
4–614%
7+19%
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.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
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.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
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.
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
- Planned procurement
- 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
- 5 Oct 2026, 12:51 BST
- Last source update
- 5 Oct 2026, 12:52 BST
- Authority reference
26-S-046- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-093791- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0780b7Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
5 Oct 2026 → 1 Aug 2028 · 4 dates- Planning notice published21 days ago5 Oct 2026, 12:51 BST
- Market engagement7 days ago20 Oct 2026, 00:59 BST
Date: Monday 19th October 2026
Time: 9.30am – 12 noon
Location: Churchend Primary Academy, Usk Road, Tilehurst Reading RG30 4HP
This market engagement event is designed to introduce the strategy and aims for procurement of the next School Meals contract for Reading Schools. The contract will start in August 2028 and at this stage we are seeking feedback from providers on the proposed strategy and draft specification. There will be opportunity for a group Q&A session and networking on the day.
To book a place please contact Sian Slade, School Meals Operations Manager - sian.slade@reading.gov.uk Please note that places are limited to two people per company.
The closing date for booking spaces is 13:00 Monday 12th October 2026
Even if you are unable to attend, please still email to register your interest, as a summary will be shared with all interested parties after the event.
- Today26 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expected1 Dec 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts1 Aug 2028
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 5 Oct 2026- Pipeline notice published5 Oct 2026, 12:51 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published5 Oct 2026, 12:52 BSTUK2
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
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender