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Published 15 Oct 2026, 13:35 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Catering Provision Review · UK public procurement notice

Authority: NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM (Charity / VCSE)

ServicesBelow threshold - open competitionBelow thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Published estimate£20,000£24,000 inc. VAT
Submission deadline 4 Nov 202610:00 GMT · 19d 9h left
Clarification cut-off 2 Nov 202614:00 GMT · questions to the authority
Contract term 7 moends 30 Jun 2027 · extension options published · starts 23 Nov 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Museum wishes to review its current onsite catering offer and is seeking to appoint a specialist catering advisor to help deliver the Museum's wider vision for supporting commercial development and improving the visitor experience.

CPV: Catering services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1 7 moSMEVCSEPublished value£20,000
Contract period: 23 Nov 2026 – 30 Jun 2027 (7 mo)Value: £20,000 exc. VAT · £24,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: LondonEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleTurnover guideline: ~£40,000/yr≈ 2× annual value
Extensions: Phase 1 - Professional support, carry out service appraisal and provide recommendations. Phase 2 - Provide procurement support. Phase 2 will only be commissioned if the Museum decides to proceed following completion of Phase 1. The Museum is under no obligation to commission Phase 2, and no fees relating to Phase 2 will be payable unless that phase is formally authorised by the Museum.

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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 are scored

Lot awarding rule: Methodology 40% Relevant Experience and Capability 35% Overall Price 25% Total 100% Scoring methodology is included in the tender brief document.

No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.

What this means for your bid
  • Turnover usually expected at this size: about £40,000 (twice the annual value).

Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.

Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid

Catering services (CPV 5552) in Greater London, and who usually turns up

NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM has too little published record in this market to describe on its own. Published market evidence for the same work stands beside whatever it has. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Catering services (CPV 5552) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
The marketCatering services (CPV 5552) · Greater London
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Market: CPV 5552 · Greater London, n=54
20%

Across this market, small firms won 20% of awards with a known supplier size.

How often do local suppliers win?
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 registered in Greater London.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Market: CPV 5552 · Greater London, n=108
31%

Across this market, 31% of winners were registered in the delivery region.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Market: CPV 5552 · Greater London, n=45
92 days

Half of these awards were announced within 92 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Market: CPV 5552 · Greater London, n=88
14%

Across this market, at least 14% of awarded procurements had no recorded rival.

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.

Last 36 months.

The market105 lots with bid counts · CPV 5552 · Greater London
9% had one bid
Market · select a colour for counts
1 bid9%
Market: 9 of 105 lots with published bid counts.
2–343%
Market: 45 of 105 lots with published bid counts.
4–645%
Market: 47 of 105 lots with published bid counts.
7+4%
Market: 4 of 105 lots with published bid counts.

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.

Last 36 months.

The market70 lots with estimate and award · CPV 5552 · Greater London
20% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate20%
Market: 14 of 70 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%23%
Market: 16 of 70 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate57%
Market: 40 of 70 lots with an estimate and award.
2

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.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 55527 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£20k
Expected competition
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 105 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet9% single-bid risk
Past bids on 105 similar lots
1 bid9%
9 of 105 similar past lots received 1 bid (9%).
2–343%
45 of 105 similar past lots received 2–3 (43%).
4–645%
47 of 105 similar past lots received 4–6 (45%).
7+4%
4 of 105 similar past lots received 7+ (4%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 bids.
Commercial price forecast
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.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £20k, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

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.

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.

No supplier with a record in this category fits this lot yet.

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 match score 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
Procedure method
Below threshold - open competition
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Open for tender
Procurement threshold
Below threshold
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
15 Oct 2026, 13:35 BST
Last source update
15 Oct 2026, 13:35 BST
Authority reference
K-17-1-4-1
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-097483
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Catering services
Delivery area
London (UKI)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07888b Find a Tender

How to participate & submission route

Official notice
Requests to participate (first stage)
—
Tender submission deadline
4 Nov 2026, 10:00 GMT
Clarification deadline
2 Nov 2026, 14:00 GMT
Electronic submission
Allowed
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Published estimate £20,000 excludes VAT (£24,000 including VAT).

Timeline

15 Oct 2026 → 23 Nov 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Tender notice published1 day ago
    15 Oct 2026, 13:35 BST
  2. Today
    16 Oct 2026
  3. Clarification questions byin 18 days
    2 Nov 2026, 14:00 GMT
  4. Submission deadlinein 19 days
    4 Nov 2026, 10:00 GMT
  5. Contract startsin 38 days
    23 Nov 2026

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Tender notice published
    15 Oct 2026, 13:35 BST
    UK4

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Nothing awarded yet
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

NATIONAL ARMY MUSEUM

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-COH: RC000359 · GB-PPON: PVHX-3953-ZJTZ Royal Hospital Road, London, London, SW3 4HTContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender