Official UK procurement notice
The Woodroffe School - Catering Tender
Authority: The Woodroffe School (Education)·Procurement run by: RIVA Partnership Ltd
Our ‘Together We Succeed’ motto emphasises the important role all members of our community play in ensuring that students receive the best that education has to offer whilst, achieving the highest academic standards, irrespective of starting point. At The Woodroffe School, we are committed to ensuring that diversity is celebrated, tolerance is promoted, and everyone is respected, appreciated, and valued equally. The successful tenderer will be required to provide excellent catering services to The Woodroffe School, which has 838 pupils of which approximately 19.7% are eligible for free school meals, and has approximately 125 teaching and support staff. There is an option for a further extension period for up to two additional years to 31st July 2032. Here a minimum of 5 candidates (or less, in the event less than 5 meet the minimum criteria) and a maximum of 10 candidates, will progress to stage 2.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionOur ‘Together We Succeed’ motto emphasises the important role all members of our community play in ensuring that students receive the best that education has to offer whilst, achieving the highest academic standards, irrespective of starting point.
At The Woodroffe School, we are committed to ensuring that diversity is celebrated, tolerance is promoted, and everyone is respected, appreciated, and valued equally.
Further information regarding The Woodroffe School can be obtained here: woodroffeschool.org ↗
Tender information:
The successful tenderer will be required to provide excellent catering services to The Woodroffe School, which has 838 pupils of which approximately 19.7% are eligible for free school meals, and has approximately 125 teaching and support staff.
The contract term being tendered is for three years, 1st August 2027 – 31st July 2030. There is an option for a further extension period for up to two additional years to 31st July 2032.
The contract offers an excellent opportunity to review and propose enhancements to the current catering services. This includes but is not limited to; breakfast, morning break, lunchtime and after school services, over the academic year, plus hospitality services upon request.
The Client is keen to secure a high quality catering service including fresh locally sourced ingredients prepared on site, with a menu design that is flexible to suit the requirements of the specific students. The Client is proud of their ‘family ethos’ and expects both a tightly managed service and a management style delivered by the successful contractor that supports, encourages and develops the catering staff.
The client is seeking a partner that will work with the school to drive their sustainability goals, including the reduction of single use plastics.
The Client is not obliged to accept the lowest price submitted for this tender, rather they are keen to secure ‘best value’ from this contract and to deliver ‘best value’ to the students. Innovative and creative ideas as to how the services can be developed and value added, will be welcomed. The Client seeks a contractor that is keen to work in partnership and who will deliver to its highest abilities, at all times.
Competitive Flexible Procedure
This procurement will be run under the Competitive Flexible Procedure. This will follow a two stage approach, with stage 1 being the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ). Here a minimum of 5 candidates (or less, in the event less than 5 meet the minimum criteria) and a maximum of 10 candidates, will progress to stage 2. Any selection of tenderers will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement and a minimum score of 60% must be achieved. For clarity - a score of 60% does not guarantee selection, rather, the highest scoring candidates will be selected.
Selected tenderers will then be invited to stage 2, the Invitation To Tender (ITT). Here, the evaluation of tender response will be set as 35% price and 65% quality.
Value of contract:
The annual value of the current contract is £266,672
Therefore, the value of this contract is £1,333,360
The contract shall be a guaranteed performance contract with any hospitality requirements billed separately.
Additional requirements and information:
•The Client has a minimum requirement for a contractor’s employers' liability and public liability insurances of £5 million
•The minimum annual turnover that your company must have achieved to be considered for this opportunity is £1 million
•This is a minimum wage contract
•There are not incumbent catering staff currently within the Local Government Pension Scheme
•The catering services are currently contracted to Aspens
•The client reserves the right not to appoint in conclusion of this project.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the eSourcing portal at:
www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Dorset… ↗
To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
- How the procedure runs: This procurement will be run under the Competitive Flexible Procedure. This will follow a two stage approach, with stage 1 being the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ). Here a minimum of 5 candidates (or less, in the event less than 5 meet the minimum criteria) and a maximum of 10 candidates, will progress to stage 2. Any selection of tenderers will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement and a minimum score of 60% must be achieved. For clarity - a score of 60% does not guarantee selection, rather, the highest scoring candidates will be selected. Selected tenderers will then be invited to stage 2, the Invitation To Tender (ITT). Here, the evaluation of tender response will be set as 35% price and 65% quality.
CPV: School catering services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£1,333,360
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 (2)
- Quality
- Price
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
- Price carries 35 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £888,096 (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 The Woodroffe School buys Catering services (CPV 5552), and who usually turns up
The Woodroffe School has little published record in this market. 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.
Across this market, small firms won 26% of awards with a known supplier size.
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 West England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Across this market, 20% of winners were registered in the delivery region.
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 73 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.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Across this market, at least 15% of awarded procurements had no recorded rival.
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 bid11%
2–330%
4–652%
7+7%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Awards below, close to or above the estimate, per lot. The buyer side adds below-threshold contracts with a pre-award estimate; an award inside a published range counts as close.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate29%
Within ±2%47%
Above estimate24%
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 5552Published estimate£1.3m
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 bid6%
2–329%
4–662%
7+3%
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 51 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%£1.3m–£1.4m
Estimate£1.3m
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £505m51 awards in 36m · last 1 month ago | 27 live · £318m 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=36 | |
| £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 | |
Cater Link LimitedLarge | £157m35 awards in 36m · last 1 month ago | 20 live · £74m 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=34 |
CaterlinkLarge | £31m13 awards in 36m · last this month | 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. | 17% above n=7 |
abm catering limitedLarge | £43m31 awards in 36m · last 1 month ago | 35 live · £58m 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=44 |
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, the earlier contracts and past suppliers on a tender's competition panel, the buyer's decision figure and its award against estimate; 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
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Requests to participate open
- 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, CPTPP)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 6 Nov 2026, 12:03 GMT
- Last source update
- 6 Nov 2026, 12:03 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 26 Apr 2027
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-105650- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07b657Find a Tender
- How it runs
This procurement will be run under the Competitive Flexible Procedure. This will follow a two stage approach, with stage 1 being the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ). Here a minimum of 5 candidates (or less, in the event less than 5 meet the minimum criteria) and a maximum of 10 candidates, will progress to stage 2. Any selection of tenderers will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement and a minimum score of 60% must be achieved. For clarity - a score of 60% does not guarantee selection, rather, the highest scoring candidates will be selected.
Selected tenderers will then be invited to stage 2, the Invitation To Tender (ITT). Here, the evaluation of tender response will be set as 35% price and 65% quality.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via Delta eSourcing- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 11 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Tender submission deadline
- 11 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 11 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
6 Nov 2026 → 1 Aug 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published4 days ago6 Nov 2026, 12:03 GMT
- Today11 Nov 2026
- Clarification questions byin 30 days11 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 30 days11 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 166 days26 Apr 2027, 23:59 BST
- Contract startsin 262 days1 Aug 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published6 Nov 2026, 12:03 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
2 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- RIVA Partnership LtdProcuring entityProcurement Consultancy supporting the Contracting Authority
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender