Official UK procurement notice
3-18 Education Trust TEnder for Catering Services
Authority: The 3-18 Education Trust (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe 3-18 Education Trust is a multi-academy trust based in Shropshire. The Trust is seeking a catering contractor to provide catering services to 10 schools (4 x Secondary, 5 x Primary and 1 x All Through School). The contract will be awarded for a period of 3 years commencing 1st August 2026 with an option to extend for a further one plus one years, which will be measured on the achievement of agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), from Day One of the contract.
The Trust is seeking a partnership to continue to maximise the opportunity of the catering facilities and to further enhance the dining experience for both staff and students. There is an opportunity to consider investment proposals which can be used to update the current facilities.
CPV: School catering services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£5,149,310
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 (6)
- Customer Experience And Innovation: 15%
- Food Quality & Variety of Healthy Meal Choices: 20%
- Clarification Meeting: 10%
- Relationship Management and Support: 15%
- Price: 30%
- Corporate, Social Responsibility & Added Value: 10%
Published award criteria (6)
- Corporate, Social Responsibility & Added Value
- Price
- Customer Experience And Innovation
- Food Quality & Variety of Healthy Meal Choices
- Clarification Meeting
- Relationship Management and Support
- 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
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 22 Oct 2025, 15:57 BST
- Last source update
- 12 May 2026, 16:56 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 1 Aug 2026
- Authority reference
CA16644- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-067578- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05d1d8Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 24 Nov 2025, 10:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 17 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
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Timeline
22 Oct 2025 → 1 Aug 2026 · 7 dates- Tender notice published366 days ago22 Oct 2025, 15:57 BST
- Clarification questions by340 days ago17 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadline333 days ago24 Nov 2025, 10:00 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent175 days ago1 May 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published164 days ago12 May 2026, 16:56 BST
- Contract starts83 days ago1 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
- Award decision expected by82 days ago1 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
Notice history
4 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 22 Oct 2025- Tender notice published22 Oct 2025, 15:57 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published12 May 2026, 16:56 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete12 May 2026, 16:56 BST
- Contract signature expected31 Jul 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| OCS Group UK Limited1 Aug 2026 – 31 Jul 2029 · up to 31 Jul 2031Extensions: Extensions allowed: Yes (2 x 12 months) | £6,713,862 | 1 May 2026 | Awarded |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5final-stage tenders | 0 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- did not winInnovate Services Ltd · South East England
- did not winAspens Services Ltd · West Midlands
- did not winCaterlink · South East England
- did not winEdwards and Ward Ltd · South East England
- wonOCS Food Co trading as Catering Academy · East of 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
Bidders & participating suppliers
5 commercial parties on the notice · 1 awarded- Aspens Services LtdBidder / tenderer
- CaterlinkBidder / tenderer
- Edwards and Ward LtdBidder / tenderer
- Innovate Services LtdBidder / tenderer
- OCS Food Co trading as Catering AcademyAwarded 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