Official UK procurement notice
Catering Services and Associated Goods
Authority: PERRY HALL MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST (Public body)·On behalf of: Altair Consultancy and Advisory Limited
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionReference: ACPHCS0001
Description: Perry Hall Multi-Academy Trust intends to procure a contract for the provision of catering services and associated goods across schools within the Trust.
The procurement is intended to support the continued delivery of high-quality, safe, nutritious and value-for-money school meals whilst promoting pupil wellbeing, healthy eating, inclusion and sustainability. The Trust currently operates across a number of schools and is reviewing its future catering arrangements in advance of the expiry of its current catering contract in July 2027
Perry Hall Multi-Academy Trust currently comprises 10 primary schools serving approximately 3500 pupils total, across Wolverhampton and surrounding areas. The Trust reserves the right to include additional schools that may join the Multi-Academy Trust during the lifetime of the contract.
The scope is expected to include:
• Daily meal preparation and service.
• Free School Meals (FSM), Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) and paid meal provision.
• Breakfast clubs, hospitality and special event catering.
• Menu planning and nutritional compliance.
• Food safety, allergen management and HACCP compliance.
• Staffing, recruitment, training and workforce management.
• Contract management, performance reporting and continuous improvement.
• Sustainability initiatives, food waste reduction and responsible sourcing.
• Engagement with pupils, parents, schools and Trust stakeholders.
• Supply of associated catering consumables and ancillary goods where required.
Suppliers will be expected to demonstrate:
• Strong experience delivering school catering services within the education sector.
• Robust safeguarding, food safety and allergen management arrangements.
• Ability to improve meal uptake, customer satisfaction and nutritional outcomes.
• Effective staffing resilience and mobilisation capability.
• Strong reporting and contract management processes.
• Commitment to social value, local employment opportunities and community benefits.
• Environmental sustainability and responsible supply chain management.
The Trust intends to use feedback received through its market engagement activity to help shape the final specification, performance framework, contract structure and evaluation methodology for the procurement.
Particular emphasis will be placed on:
• Food quality, nutritional standards and pupil experience.
• Allergen management and statutory compliance.
• Safeguarding and staff vetting requirements.
• Service reliability and workforce resilience.
• Contract performance management and continuous improvement.
• Social value and sustainability outcomes.
Perry Hall Multi-Academy Trust has appointed Altair Ltd to act as its official procurement agent for this tender. Altair Ltd will be managing market engagement responses, administrative queries, and tender communications on behalf of the Trust. All expressions of interest and engagement submissions should be directed to [email protected]
When the tender notice is published, the contracting authority will be using InTend as its eportal.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 18 Nov 2031, 23:59 GMT.
CPV: Catering services · School meals
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewalPublished value£5,500,000
- Value
- £5,500,000 exc. VAT · £6,600,000 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- As per the provisions as set out in the ITT complying with the Procurement Act 2023.
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
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 18 Nov 2031
- First published
- 8 Oct 2026, 15:59 BST
- Last source update
- 8 Oct 2026, 15:59 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end — 29 Jan 2027
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-095365- Latest notice
- Planned procurement notice (UK3)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07840dFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 18 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
6 published dates · Europe/London- Planning notice publishedearlier today8 Oct 2026, 15:42 BST
- Market engagementin 22 days30 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMTDetails of the Market Engagement • Purpose of Engagement: The purpose of this preliminary market engagement is to: Understand supplier capacity and capability within the education catering sector Seek feedback on the proposed service requirements and performance framework Explore innovation in menu development, sustainability and pupil engagement Understand approaches to increasing FSM and UIFSM uptake Test commercial and mobilisation assumptions Gather market insight to support specification development and contract design Inform the evaluation methodology and KPI framework Ensure the procurement approach remains proportionate, transparent and attractive to the market • Engagement Process Description: The engagement is expected to include: A Preliminary Market Engagement questionnaire A virtual supplier briefing session via Microsoft Teams – estimated dates Potential one-to-one discussions with interested suppliers at the sole discretion of the Contracting Authority Potential follow-up discussions with one or more potential suppliers (at the sole discretion of the Contracting Authority), covering: Mobilisation and transition arrangements Meal uptake improvement strategies Sustainability and social value delivery Food safety and allergen management Contract performance and KPI arrangements Altair Ltd is acting as the procurement agent managing market engagement and the tender process on behalf of the Trust. All feedback will be recorded and used to inform the final procurement documents, with a summary highlighted within the ITT Suite of Documents whilst ensuring equal treatment and transparency. • How to Participate: To participate in this market engagement: • Register interest Email: [email protected] with the subject line: “Perry Hall Catering Services PME” To attend the supplier briefing session, suppliers must provide: • Organisation name • Primary contact details • Further instructions and access to the PME questionnaire will be issued upon registration. • Participation is open to all interested suppliers and is free of charge. Engagement Questionnaires must be completed and returned to [email protected] by 1600 hours on the 27th of October 2026. The virtual supplier session will be held on Teams and will take place on the 30th of October 2026 at 1400 hours. All organisations that express an interest, will be invited to the session. • Engagement Deadline: (TBC)
- Tender notice expectedin 41 days18 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 71 days18 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 113 days29 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 296 days1 Aug 2027
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Notice history
6 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 8 Oct 2026- Planned procurement notice published8 Oct 2026, 15:59 BSTUK3
- Status changed to planned8 Oct 2026, 15:59 BST
- Procurement method changed8 Oct 2026, 15:59 BST
- Deadline published: 18 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT8 Oct 2026, 15:59 BST
- Preliminary market engagement notice published8 Oct 2026, 15:42 BSTUK2
- First planning notice published8 Oct 2026, 15:42 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
3 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- Altair Consultancy and Advisory LimitedBeneficiary authority
- ALTAIR CONSULTANCY AND ADVISORY SERVICES LIMITEDProcess contact pointProcuring entityAgent on behalf of the Authority
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender