Official UK procurement notice
2026-821 Social for Campaign Media Buying
Authority: AHDB
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionAwarded - AHDB is seeking an experienced social media planning and buying agency to develop, deliver, implement and optimise paid social campaigns across its Beef & Lamb, Pork and Dairy sectors. Campaign activity will support and integrate with AHDB's broader always on marketing programme, ensuring a coordinated and impactful approach across campaign bursts and key periods. They will work alongside the current social media agency who develop the creative content for campaigns and manage paid advertising outside of campaign bursts.
The successful agency will act as a partner to AHDB, working collaboratively to maximise the campaign performance, audience engagement and return on investment.
The agency will bring proven expertise in delivering high-performing consumer food and drink campaigns, leveraging audience insight, data-driven planning and platform-specialist knowledge to achieve both awareness, reach and behavioural change objectives, while delivering measurable business outcomes.
The successful agency should demonstrate:
- Strong experience planning and buying large-scale paid social campaigns.
- Experience within food or drink
- Strong understanding of health-conscious and family audiences.
- Expertise across Meta, TikTok, Pinterest and future social platforms.
- A proven track record of delivering measurable improvements in campaign performance and return on investment
- Excellent analytical capability, reporting and insight generation.
CPV: Advertising and marketing services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£5,000,000
- Economic & financial standing
As per tender documents
- Technical & professional ability
As per tender documents
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 sub-criteria (3)
- Technical: 70%
- Pricing/Cost: 20%
- Social Value: 10%
Published award criteria (3)
- Pricing/Cost: 20%
- Technical: 70% Technical
- Social Value: Social Value 10%
- Economic & financial standing
As per tender documents
- Technical & professional ability
As per tender documents
- Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 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
- Open 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
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 10 Aug 2026, 09:28 BST
- Last source update
- 21 Oct 2026, 10:12 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 9 Nov 2026
- Authority reference
2026-821- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-075543- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06dfafFind a Tender- Contract terms summary
30 days from receipt of invoice
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 16 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 9 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome ↗
Submissions will not be accepted outside of the eSourcing portal
Timeline
10 Aug 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 8 dates- Tender notice published76 days ago10 Aug 2026, 09:28 BST
- Clarification questions by46 days ago9 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission deadline39 days ago16 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent5 days ago21 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published4 days ago21 Oct 2026, 10:12 BST
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Standstill endsin 5 days30 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 15 days9 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 157 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
4 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 10 Aug 2026- Tender notice published10 Aug 2026, 09:28 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published21 Oct 2026, 10:12 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete21 Oct 2026, 10:12 BST
- Contract signature expected9 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lux Illuminating Brands LtdSME1 Mar 2027 – 28 Feb 2029 · up to 28 Feb 2032Extensions: 1+1+1 | £5,000,000 | 20 Oct 2026standstill to 30 Oct 2026 | Standstill |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1final-stage tenders · 6 at stage one | 1 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- wonLux Illuminating BrandsSME · Scotland
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
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Lux Illuminating BrandsAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender