Official UK procurement notice
Castle School Education Trust & The Priory Learning Trust ~ Catering Tender
Authority: Castle School Education Trust (Education)·Consortium: 2 public authorities
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe successful Supplier will be required to provide catering services for Castle School Education Trust (CSET) & The Priory Learning Trust ( TPLT).
The two separate contracts and ‘lots’ cover the scope for the provision of all catering services within the schools, which also includes free issue requirements.
Contract value for the schools is circa £1.2m per annum at CSET and £1.3m per annum at TPLT.
Whilst both Trusts are currently independently operated, they have strategic intent to join at some stage during the period of the tender project or subsequent catering contract, consequently both organisations intend to award this catering contract to the same contractor, as two separate lots.
The Castle School Education Trust and The Priory Learning Trust are expected to grow, with a number of additional schools becoming part of the Trust/s during this contract period and the provision of catering services at these schools when they have joined the Trust/s will fall under the scope of these contracts. Similarly, any Trust Schools with alternative catering provisions currently in place could fall into scope of this contract as their current catering arrangements end. The successful Supplier will be expected to provide this service at these additional schools using the same costing model applied to the successful tender submission. The duration of contract for these schools will not be increased, and they will join the contract for the remaining contract period that exists at the point of entry into the Trust/s.
Due to the scale of the contract, and to enable an effective mobilisation period, it has been decided to stagger the mobilisation dates with each Trust commencing at a slightly different time.
Contractors are required to bid for both Lots, and the contract award shall be made at the same time.
The contracts are being awarded based on an initial three year, with the opportunity to extend by a further period of up to two years at the discretion of the relevant governing body.
•The CSET contract shall commence on 01.04.27 until 31.03.30.
•The TPLT contract shall commence on 01.08.27 until 31.07.30.
Please see PSQ Document for more information.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Delta eSourcing portal at:
litmustms.co.uk/tenders/UK-UK-Bristo… ↗
To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
- How the procedure runs: Please see PSQ Documents for more information.
CPV: School catering services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£12,500,000
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 (2)
- Criterion 1: 70%
- Criterion 2: 30%
Published award criteria (2)
- Criterion 1
- Criterion 2
- 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
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Closed
- 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
- 26 Jan 2026, 16:05 GMT
- Last source update
- 26 Jan 2026, 16:05 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 16 Nov 2026
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-006799- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-060eebFind a Tender
- How it runs
Please see PSQ Documents for more information.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 14 Aug 2026, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 20 Mar 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Not allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
26 Jan 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published273 days ago26 Jan 2026, 16:05 GMT
- Clarification questions by220 days ago20 Mar 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadline73 days ago14 Aug 2026, 12:00 BST
- Today26 Oct 2026
- Award decision expected byin 21 days16 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 156 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published26 Jan 2026, 16:05 GMTUK4
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeConsortium members and other public bodies
- The Priory Learning TrustContracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender