Official UK procurement notice
Catering Services Contract for the University of Chichester
Authority: University of Chichester (Education)·Procurement run by: PANACHE SOUTH LIMITED
The University of Chichester is a top 30 UK University situated on the south coast, with two closely located campuses at Chichester and Bognor Regis. The University's mission is to provide outstanding education, advance knowledge and benefit the world; its vision is to be internationally recognised as a beacon of good practice for high-quality, student-centred higher education within a supportive community of learning. The new contract will be on a 5-year (plus possible 2yr extension) basis.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe University of Chichester is a top 30 UK University situated on the south coast, with two closely located campuses at Chichester and Bognor Regis. The University's mission is to provide outstanding education, advance knowledge and benefit the world; its vision is to be internationally recognised as a beacon of good practice for high-quality, student-centred higher education within a supportive community of learning.
The University is seeking to appoint a professional and experienced catering contractor capable of delivering a student-focused, high-quality and innovative catering and hospitality service across both campuses.
The student experience is central to the University's mission, and the successful contractor will be expected to bring innovation, experience, and sector expertise to develop the service, maximising both customer experience and financial performance, as well as the ability to maximise the potential of the facilities and deliver a service the University can be proud of.
The University aims to provide catering at minimal or no cost and wishes to source creative, commercially viable proposals based on reduced-cost, cost-neutral or profit-share models, achieving best value while meeting the evolving needs of its diverse customer groups.
The current outsourced catering contract is due to end on 31st August 2027. The new contract will be on a 5-year (plus possible 2yr extension) basis.
- How the procedure runs: The procurement process follows a two stage 'Competitive Flexible' approach, beginning with a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) stage followed by an Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage after shortlisting. This process is managed under the Light Touch Regime, and the University reserves the right to refine the award criteria throughout.
CPV: Catering services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£9,800,000
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 award criteria (2)
- Quality
- Price
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
- Price carries 25 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £3,915,709 (twice the annual value).
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula. Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How University of Chichester buys Catering services (CPV 5552), and who usually turns up
University of Chichester’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Catering services (CPV 5552) →
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.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in South East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 31 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% / 13%
2–310% / 23%
4–630% / 57%
7+60% / 6%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Awards below, close to or above the estimate, per lot. The buyer side adds below-threshold contracts with a pre-award estimate; an award inside a published range counts as close.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate14% / 9%
Within ±2%29% / 29%
Above estimate57% / 62%
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 5552Published estimate£9.8m
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 82 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid13%
2–323%
4–657%
7+6%
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 and Contracts Finder), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly. Contracts Finder appears in live search, the Retender Radar, contract pages, organisation counts, the earlier contracts and past suppliers on a tender's competition panel, the buyer's decision figure and its award against estimate; the other analytical figures are built from Find a Tender notices.
- 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- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Requests to participate open
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 12 Nov 2026, 12:39 GMT
- Last source update
- 12 Nov 2026, 12:39 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 17 May 2027
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-107522- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07ba79Find a Tender
- How it runs
The procurement process follows a two stage 'Competitive Flexible' approach, beginning with a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) stage followed by an Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage after shortlisting. This process is managed under the Light Touch Regime, and the University reserves the right to refine the award criteria throughout.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via portal- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 17 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Tender submission deadline
- 17 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- —
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Submission instructions are included in the PSQ; all completed PSQ submissions are to be sent to [email protected] by the deadline stipulated.
Timeline
12 Nov 2026 → 1 Sept 2027 · 4 dates- Tender notice published1h ago12 Nov 2026, 12:39 GMT
- Today12 Nov 2026
- Submission deadlinein 34 days17 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 186 days17 May 2027, 23:59 BST
- Contract startsin 292 days1 Sept 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published12 Nov 2026, 12:39 GMTUK4
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
2 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- PANACHE SOUTH LIMITEDProcess contact pointProcuring entityPanache South, as independent catering consultants, are assisting the University of Chichester with the facilitation of this procurement in a supporting role only.
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications Interested parties are to complete a Procurement Specific Questionnaire, which can be accessed via the dropbox link provided. If you have any queries, please contact [email protected]
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender