Find a TenderAwardedContract details notice

Published 21 Oct 2025, 08:45 BST

Official UK procurement notice

AHDB Health Care Professional communications Agency requirements

Official notice

Authority: AHDB

ServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdSME suitable

Sectors: Business Services & Consultancy (79) Delivery: UK

Published estimate£375,000≈ £375k / year · £450,000 inc. VAT

Submissions closed 24 Nov 2025awarded 10 Dec 2025

Awarded to HRS Communications2 awards

Contract term 1 yrends 31 Mar 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2029 with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

AHDB were seeking a specialist healthcare communication partner to help shape our health and nutrition strategy, providing credible evidence-based nutrition expertise to support our health care communications and stakeholder engagement plan. The contract award was announced on the 5th January 2026 Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-05d057

No preliminary market engagement: AHDB are aware this is a niche market with limited suppliers/agencies. The successful agency should have experience of specialist health care communications, with a particular focus on nutrition, and be able to provide a vast depth of healthcare professional experience within their team, focusing on red meat and dairy.

CPV: Public relations consultancy services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published

Lot #1AwardedRenewal 1 yrSMEPublished value£375,000

Contract period: 1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2027 (1 yr) · up to 31 Mar 2029 with extensionsValue: £375,000 exc. VAT · £450,000 inc. VAT

Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible

Extensions: 1+1 after initial 1 year contract

79416200 Public relations consultancy services

What it takes to win
i
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 more

How bids were scored

Quality: 90%Price: 10%

Published sub-criteria (2)

Quality/Technical: 90%
Commercial Costings/Price: 10%

Published award criteria (2)

Commercial Costings/Price: 10% weightings
Quality/Technical: 90% Quality/Technical

What this means for your bid

Price carries 10 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 1 point. 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: 21 Oct 2025, 08:45 BST
Last source update: 6 Feb 2026, 09:24 GMT
Award evaluation window: Submission end – 9 Feb 2026
Authority reference: 2025-780
FTS notice number: 2025/S 000-066937
Latest notice: Contract details notice (UK7)
Classification (CPV): Public relations consultancy services
Delivery area: UK
Official registry OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-05d057 Find a Tender
Contract terms summary: As per AHDB terms and conditions

How it was run

Official notice

Run through: Defra Group eSourcing

Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN

Access & registration note: Free

Submission deadline: 24 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
Clarification deadline: 14 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
Submission channel: Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission: Allowed
Accepted languages: en

Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome ↗

Timeline

21 Oct 2025 → 1 Apr 2026 · 8 dates

Tender notice published366 days ago
21 Oct 2025, 08:45 BST
Clarification questions by342 days ago
14 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
Submission deadline332 days ago
24 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
Assessment summaries sent290 days ago
5 Jan 2026
Standstill ends280 days ago
14 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
Latest notice published258 days ago
6 Feb 2026, 09:24 GMT
Award decision expected by254 days ago
9 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
Contract starts204 days ago
1 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

6 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 21 Oct 2025

Tender notice published
21 Oct 2025, 08:45 BST
UK4
Contract award notice published
5 Jan 2026, 09:42 GMT
UK6
Status changed to complete
5 Jan 2026, 09:42 GMT
Contract details notice published
27 Jan 2026, 13:17 GMT
UK7
Contract signature expected
30 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
scheduled
Contract details notice published
6 Feb 2026, 09:24 GMT
UK7

Routine re-releases (4)

2025-10: 1 release · 21 Oct 2025

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast

Awards 2

Awarded value £375,0001 award exc. VAT · 1 repeated publication of the same award counted once

Bids received 44 from SMEs

Contracts signed 2latest 28 Jan 2026

Awarded to	Value	Date	Status
HRS CommunicationsSME1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2029Extensions: 1+1 after initial 1 year contract	£375,000	10 Dec 2025	Awarded
HRS CommunicationsSME	£375,000 †same award published again · counted once	—	Awarded

Contracts

AHDB Health Care Professional communications Agency requirements · HRS CommunicationsSME
Signed
28 Jan 2026
Value
£375,000
Period
1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2029 with extensions
Status
active
Extensions
1+1
AHDB Health Care Professional communications Agency requirements · HRS CommunicationsSME
Signed
27 Jan 2026
Value
£375,000
Period
1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2027 · up to 31 Mar 2029 with extensions
Status
active
Extensions
1+1 options to extend
No agreed KPIs: Not over £5 million and therefore not advertised

Bid statistics published by the authority

Bids	SME	VCSE	Valid bid range
4final-stage tenders	4	0	—

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE DEVELOPMENT BOARD

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PBHX-8363-MBBV Middlemarch Business Park, Coventry, West Midlands, CV3 4SUContact name, email

Bidders & participating suppliers

2 commercial parties on the notice

HRS COMMUNICATIONS LTDAwarded supplierGB-COH: 12360981GB-PPON: PZDW-4749-LYZR 56 St Williams Way, Norwich, East of England, NR7 0APContact email
HRS Communications LtdAwarded supplierGB-PPON: PZDW-4749-LYZR 56 St Williams Way, Norwich, East of England, NR7 0APContact email

Official documents & specifications (4)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

Contract details notice contractContract details noticeUK7Contract details notice on Find a Tender6 Feb 2026, 09:24 GMT
Contract details notice contractContract details noticeUK7Contract details notice on Find a Tender27 Jan 2026, 13:17 GMT
Contract award notice awardContract award noticeUK6Contract award notice on Find a Tender5 Jan 2026, 09:42 GMT
Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender21 Oct 2025, 08:45 BST