Official UK procurement notice
Cafe Operation: Earlestown Town Hall
Authority: St Helens Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSt Helens Borough Council is undertaking soft market testing to understand market interest in operating a new café facility within the recently refurbished Earlestown Town Hall. As part of the wider regeneration programme for Earlestown, the Grade II listed Town Hall has undergone extensive restoration and refurbishment to bring this landmark building back into civic, cultural, and community use.
A new extension has been constructed to the north of the Town Hall to accommodate the café. This purpose‑built space has been designed to act as an inviting, vibrant focal point within the building, offering a high‑quality and welcoming environment for residents, visitors, families, and those working locally. The café will provide approximately 40 internal covers within a seating area of 36.15m², with potential for additional outdoor seating within the Town Hall Courtyard.
We would like to take the opportunity to do some `soft market testing', to determine current interest levels in the market.
THIS IS NOT A CALL FOR COMPETITION
This Soft Market Test is intended to allow interested organisations with relevant experience to outline their views and provide information with no commitment to themselves or the Council.
CPV: Canteen and catering services · Restaurant and food-serving services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How St Helens Council buys Restaurant and food-serving services (CPV 5530), and who usually turns up
St Helens Council’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Restaurant and food-serving services (CPV 5530) →
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Here, local means the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in North West England.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 37 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.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
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 bid0% / 20%
2–367% / 60%
4–625% / 20%
7+8% / 0%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate46% / 35%
Within ±2%21% / 35%
Above estimate33% / 31%
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 5530Estimate not published
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. The bar shows 50 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid30%
2–328%
4–628%
7+14%
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.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
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.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- 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- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- Regulatory regime
- Concession
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 6 Mar 2026, 09:53 GMT
- Last source update
- 6 Mar 2026, 09:53 GMT
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-020217- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0663beFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
6 Mar 2026 → 3 Aug 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published228 days ago6 Mar 2026, 09:53 GMT
- Market engagement213 days ago20 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
The Soft Market Test document will be issued via The Chest (project ID DN809048). Further details of the requirements can be found in the documents attached to the opportunity. To register interest in the opportunity and respond, suppliers will need to register on The Chest www.the-chest.org.uk ↗
Interested suppliers are required to complete the company information form and a short questionnaire (Appendix 1). Suppliers who complete and return the questionnaire may be invited to meet with Council representatives to discuss its requirements.
The questionnaire should be returned via The Chest - www.the-chest.org.uk ↗ by Friday 20th March 2026 12pm.
If Suppliers have any questions about this soft market test, such questions should be submitted to the Council using the 'Question and Answer' facility within the opportunity advertised on The Chest.
A copy of the question and a copy of the written reply may be circulated to all Suppliers, with anonymity of the Supplier preserved. Suppliers must not raise questions through any other channels, including emails direct to the Council or to STAR Procurement. No questions will be responded to, other than those raised through The Chest as described above.
We encourage your participation in this soft market testing exercise, but must emphasise that your involvement in this exercise will not carry any commercial advantage in any ensuing procurement process.
No information provided in response to this soft market testing exercise will be used in any evaluation of any subsequent response to a procurement exercise.
- Contract starts79 days ago3 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published6 Mar 2026, 09:53 GMTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender