Official UK procurement notice
T1170 Advertising and Marketing
Authority: University of Essex (Education)·Consortium: 2 public authorities
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe University of Essex runs numerous advertising campaigns each year to attract students to study with us. These are run through the Marketing and Student Recruitment office who are responsible for the University's student recruitment marketing. Focus of this marketing is across UK and international priority markets, for attracting undergraduate and postgraduate taught students.
The appointed agency will work closely with the marketing team at the University of Essex to deliver activity which contributes to our recruitment growth objectives and is in-line with all other student recruitment activity. This work will need to be in-line with our brand identity and annual recruitment campaign guidelines.
- How the procedure runs: Competitive Flexible Procedure PSQ stage with shortlisting ITT Stage Presentation Stage Notification of Outcome / Assessment Summary stage (Please see associated documentation linked to this procurement for further detail and predicted timelines)
- No preliminary market engagement: On the 9th September 2024 we initiated a restricted procurement procedure under public contract regulations 2015 and published a contract notice (2024/S 000-028708) for the same requirement. Unfortunately, following the procurement process the contract was not able to continue in the way we had planned and therefore we are reaching back out to the market and conducting a new process under the procurement act 2023 regulations. However, as the previous process was just over one year ago we feel that the contract notice allowed a wide array of the market to submit interest and we evaluated fifteen supplier SQ submissions so feel we have a good knowledge of the market already but are more than happy for new entrants to also respond to this new tender notice if the requirements fit their services.
CPV: Advertising and marketing services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£8,333,333
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).
- Quality: ITT Quality evaluation is estimated to utilise 70% (ITT Stage weighting subject to change prior to commencement of ITT stage)
- Price: ITT Price evaluation is estimated to utilise 30% (ITT Stage weighting subject to change prior to commencement of ITT stage)
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
- Awarded
- 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
- 7 Nov 2025, 11:14 GMT
- Last source update
- 2 Jun 2026, 10:47 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 30 Mar 2026
- Authority reference
T1170- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-071936- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05dc88Find a Tender
- How it runs
Competitive Flexible Procedure
PSQ stage with shortlisting
ITT Stage
Presentation Stage
Notification of Outcome / Assessment Summary stage
(Please see associated documentation linked to this procurement for further detail and predicted timelines)
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 10 Dec 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 1 Dec 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
7 Nov 2025 → 1 Oct 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published355 days ago7 Nov 2025, 11:14 GMT
- Clarification questions by331 days ago1 Dec 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadline322 days ago10 Dec 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent215 days ago27 Mar 2026
- Award decision expected by211 days ago30 Mar 2026, 23:59 BST
- Standstill ends201 days ago9 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Latest notice published148 days ago2 Jun 2026, 10:47 BST
- Contract starts27 days ago1 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
12 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 7 Nov 2025- Tender notice published7 Nov 2025, 11:14 GMTUK4
- Tender notice published18 Nov 2025, 11:18 GMTUK4
- Procurement method changed18 Nov 2025, 11:18 GMT
- Tender notice published8 Dec 2025, 10:41 GMTUK4
- Deadline moved to 10 Dec 2025, 12:00 GMT8 Dec 2025, 10:41 GMT+2 days · was 8 Dec 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Contract award notice published27 Mar 2026, 12:09 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete27 Mar 2026, 12:09 GMT
- Procurement method changed27 Mar 2026, 12:09 GMT
- Contract signature expected19 Apr 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published2 Jun 2026, 10:47 BSTUK7
- Procurement method changed2 Jun 2026, 10:47 BST
- Buyer details updated2 Jun 2026, 10:47 BST
Published amendments (2)
Retitled 18.11.25
Amended the submission deadline date to 10th December 12.00 2025 due to e-sourcing portal technical issues on 8th December 2025
Routine re-releases (5)
- 2025-11: 2 releases · 7 Nov 2025, 18 Nov 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hybrid News LimitedSME1 Oct 2026 – 30 Sept 2029 · up to 30 Sept 2033Extensions: 3 year initial contract with 2 optional 24 month extensions available | £8,333,333 | 27 Mar 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · Hybrid News LimitedSME
- Signed
- 14 May 2026
- Value
- £8,333,333
- Period
- 1 Oct 2026 – 30 Sept 2029 · up to 30 Sept 2033 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- Possibility to extend for 4 years and a 2 plus 2 basis
3 agreed KPIs: Post campaign reports · Account management · Uptime plans
- Post campaign reports, Post campaign reports should be submitted within 10 working days of the campaign closing date and a de-brief call scheduled by the agency with us to run through.
- Account management, Confirmation of no less than a two-week handover between account managers if our account manager leaves.
- Uptime plans, The supplier must inform the University of any uptime plans for updates ect to the dashboard, no less than 48 hours in advance.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1final-stage tenders · 10000000 at stage one | 1 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- wonHybrid News LtdSME · South West England
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeBidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the notice- HYBRID NEWS LIMITEDAwarded supplier
- Hybrid News LtdAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (6)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender