Official UK procurement notice
Cleaning Contract - Direct Award following mutual contract termination
Authority: Southborough Church of England Primary School (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSouthborough CE Primary school has awarded a direct award contract for cleaning services with a justification of extreme urgency.
CPV: School cleaning services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 23 Mar 2026, 16:42 GMT
- Last source update
- 23 Mar 2026, 16:42 GMT
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-026470- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0671e9Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority/entity and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive
- Published justification
Cleaning Services - Direct Award under Regulation 32(2)(c) PCR 2015
Short Description -
The School has awarded a contract for the provision of cleaning services through the negotiated procedure without prior publication, in accordance with Regulation 32(2)(c) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
Description of the Procurement -
This contract provides essential daily cleaning services required to maintain statutory health, safety, and hygiene standards across the School site.
The previous cleaning contract ended unexpectedly by mutual termination, creating an urgent operational need for immediate continuity of cleaning services. Due to the essential nature of cleaning for the safe functioning of an educational environment, the School was required to secure replacement service provision without delay.
Justification for Use of the Negotiated Procedure Without Prior Publication (Reg. 32) -
The School relied on Regulation 32(2)(c) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, which permits a contracting authority to award a contract without prior publication where:
The need for services is extremely urgent,
The urgency has been brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority,
The circumstances are not attributable to the contracting authority, and
The time limits for a standard procurement procedure cannot be complied with.
The previous cleaning contract was mutually terminated, which constitutes an unforeseeable event not caused by the School. This resulted in an immediate and critical requirement to maintain legally compliant hygiene standards to ensure the safety of pupils, staff, and visitors.
Government guidance confirms that direct awards made under Regulation 32 require a contract award notice but may be lawfully awarded without prior publication of a contract notice.
Given the operational urgency and statutory duties of the School, there was no time to run a competitive tendering process, even on accelerated timescales. Accordingly, the use of Regulation 32(2)(c) was lawful and necessary.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kent Gurkha Company LtdSME | £212,520 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 026470-2026-1 · Kent Gurkha Company LtdSME
- Signed
- 2 Mar 2026
- Value
- £212,520
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- High Court of England and WalesReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Kent Gurkha Company LtdAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.