Official UK procurement notice
Soft Drinks 075-2025 - Supply of Soft Drinks at Manchester Central Convention Complex Limited
Authority: MANCHESTER CENTRAL CONVENTION COMPLEX LIMITED (Public body)
Sectors: Food, beverages, tobacco and related products (15) Delivery: North West (UKD3)
Published estimate£552,000≈ £276k / year · £552,000 inc. VAT
Submissions closed 30 Nov 2025awarded 3 Feb 2026
Awarded to Dunsters Farm Limited
Contract term 2 yrsends 31 Jan 2028 · up to 31 Jan 2029 with extensions · starts 1 Feb 2026
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionManchester Central is currently looking for a supplier to supply soft drinks to Manchester Central Convention Complex, Junction, Central Library, Runway Visitors Park and any other associated sites.
Estimated annual spend is circa £184k. The Contract will be for a period of two (2) years from the commencement date of services with the option to extend for up to an additional twelve (12) months (Manchester Central only option) with an anticipated Contract start
date of February 2026.
As a world-class international convention centre, Manchester Central requires products of the highest quality. The successful supplier will provide soft drinks for all onsite retail operations and hospitality events. Given the dynamic nature of the events industry, the supplier will be expected to respond to orders as required, potentially with a last minute or same day delivery, including Saturday and Sunday orders.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Nov 2028, 23:59 GMT.
CPV: Non-alcoholic beverages
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£552,000
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).
How bids were scored
Published sub-criteria (3)
- Quality: 25%
- Price: 55%
- Sustainability/Social Impact: 20%
Published award criteria (3)
- Quality: Weighted scores will be calculated by multiplying the score for each quality criteria by its weighting. The weighted scores will be totalled for each tender. The totals will be normalised so that the normalised highest total will attract the highest quality score i.e. (25%). There is an un-weighted quality threshold of (17%). This means that if a tenderer's quality score does not reach the un-weighted quality threshold the weighting will not be applied to the quality criteria and the tender will no longer be considered.
- Sustainability/Social Impact: Weighted scores will be calculated by multiplying the score for each Sustainability criteria by its weighting. The weighted scores will be totalled for each tender. The totals will be normalised so that the normalised highest total will attract the highest quality score i.e. (20%).
- Price: With regards to the price evaluation, the lowest price tenderer will be awarded the maximum price score (55%) and tenderers will thereafter be ranked and scored in accordance with how much more expensive their prices are compared to the lowest price, e.g., if tenderer X is 50% more expensive than the lowest price it will be awarded 50% less price points than the lowest price tender. If 125% is more expensive it will be awarded 125% less price score making this a minus score. Only the top 30 products based on annual volumes will be weighted and subjects to review. However, a full price list is required for all products.
What this means for your bid
- Price carries 55 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 5.5 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Awarded
- 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 1 Nov 2028
- First published
- 5 Nov 2025, 15:24 GMT
- Last source update
- 18 Mar 2026, 14:21 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 20 Jan 2026
- Authority reference
075-2025- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-071331- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05db25Find a Tender
How it was run
Official noticeRun through: ProContract (Due North) · Who buys & how to bid on ProContract
Access & registration note: Free · short registration with manual review; public opportunity list
- Submission deadline
- 30 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 24 Nov 2025, 16:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
- Tenderers submissions must be responded to as instructed and returned. Manchester Central reserves the right to disqualify a company if the Tender is not submitted as instructed.
- Tenderers submissions must be uploaded via procontract.due-north.com ↗ using the reference number number DN796454 no later than: 28th November 2025 at 12pm Noon
Until the above closing date, you will have the chance to upload a new Tender, should you wish to amend your submission.
- If your Tender response is received late, it may not be accepted.
- Tenders' responses submitted by post, fax or other electronic means will not be accepted.
- Failure to comply with the above may invalidate your tender response.
Timeline
5 Nov 2025 → 18 Mar 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published346 days ago5 Nov 2025, 15:24 GMT
- Clarification questions by327 days ago24 Nov 2025, 16:00 GMT
- Submission deadline321 days ago30 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected by269 days ago20 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts258 days ago1 Feb 2026
- Assessment summaries sent256 days ago3 Feb 2026
- Standstill ends246 days ago12 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Latest notice published213 days ago18 Mar 2026, 14:21 GMT
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 5 Nov 2025- Tender notice published5 Nov 2025, 15:24 GMTUK4
- Contract award notice published3 Feb 2026, 14:03 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete3 Feb 2026, 14:03 GMT
- Contract signature expected13 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract details notice published18 Mar 2026, 14:21 GMTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecastAwards 1
Awarded value (inc. VAT) £552,0001 award inc. VAT; no net value published
Bids received 53 from SMEs
Contracts signed 1latest 18 Mar 2026
| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dunsters Farm LimitedSMEDunsters Farm Limited - Soft Drinks -MCCC - T&Cs - 20261 Mar 2026 – 29 Feb 2028 · up to 28 Feb 2029Extensions: The Contract will be for a period of two (2) years from the commencement date of services with the option to extend for up to an additional twelve (12) months (Manchester Central only option) with an anticipated Contract start date of February 2026. | £552,000 inc. VAT | 3 Feb 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Dunsters Farm Limited - Soft Drinks - MCCC - TCs - 2026 · Dunsters Farm LimitedSME
- Signed
- 18 Mar 2026
- Value
- £552,000 inc. VAT
- Period
- 18 Mar 2026 – 29 Feb 2028 · up to 28 Feb 2029 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- The Contract will be for a period of two (2) years from the commencement date of services with the option to extend for up to an additional twelve (12) months (Manchester Central only option) with an anticipated Contract start date of February 2026.
No agreed KPIs: Agreed that the contracting authority considers that performance could not appropriately be assessed using KPIs on this particular contract.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5final-stage tenders | 3 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- DUNSTERS FARM LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (9)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications
- Bidding documents and specifications
- Signed contract
- Bidding documents and specifications
- Technical specifications 1. Tenderers submissions must be responded to as instructed and returned. Manchester Central reserves the right to disqualify a company if the Tender is not submitted as instructed. 2. Tenderers submissions must be uploaded via https://procontract.due-north.com using the refere…
- Bidding documents and specifications
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender