Official UK procurement notice
Education Recruitment Advertising and Resourcing Services (NERARS)
Authority: Southern Universities Management Services (SUMS) (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Education Recruitment Advertising and Resourcing Services Framework Agreement supports the public sector with education recruitment advertising and resourcing as well as student recruitment advertising. The current framework is made up of 2 lots as described below; Lot 1 - Education Recruitment Advertising & Resourcing Education Recruitment Advertising and Resourcing which range from all types of advertising services including recruitment of staff, advertisement creation and production, type setting and copy writing, media buying, art direction, brand management and where required full creative services for new advertising campaigns. Lot 2 - Student Recruitment Marketing Student Recruitment Advertising marketing to attract UK and overseas students and is focussed on media buying and advertisement placement.
CPV: Advertising and marketing services · Advertising campaign services · Advertising consultancy services · Advertising management services · Advertising services · Aeral advertising services · Auction services · Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security · Composition services · Customer satisfaction survey · Customer services · Customer survey services · +19 more
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 3 yrs · up to 4 yrs from 1 Mar 2027
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
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).
- “Education Recruitment Advertising and Resourcing Services (NERARS)” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Southern Universities Management Services (SUMS) buys Advertising and marketing services (CPV 7934), and who usually turns up
Southern Universities Management Services (SUMS) has little published record in this market. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Advertising and marketing services (CPV 7934) →
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.
Across this market, small firms won 67% of awards with a known supplier size.
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.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Across this market, 47% of winners were registered in the delivery region.
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 67 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.
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.
Across this market, at least 10% 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.
1 bid2%
2–39%
4–628%
7+62%
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.
On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Not comparable on a framework or DPS: the price is set later, on each call-off.
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 79Published estimate£120m
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 79. The comparison uses that group.
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 1,185 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid4%
2–314%
4–621%
7+61%
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), 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 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- 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
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 11 Feb 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Last source update
- 11 Feb 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Authority reference
PFB4064 SU- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-012604- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-064e5bFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
11 Feb 2026 → 1 Mar 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published255 days ago11 Feb 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Market engagement176 days ago30 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
SUPC are looking to conduct Pre Market Engagement for the re-tender of the Education Recruitment Advertising and Resourcing Services (NERARS) Framework Agreement. The framework supports the public sector with education recruitment advertising and Resourcing as well as student recruitment advertising. The purpose of the PME is to understand different commercial models that we could use to make informed decisions to assist the pricing model and specification for the new iteration of the framework. We would like feedback to gain a better understanding of how you manage your prices, what you think works well, what you have seen that works well on other tenders/frameworks and what you would like to see on the new iteration of the framework. A market engagement questionnaire has been created for all who are interested to express interest, provide feedback on the current structure and provide valuable insights that will help shape the next framework. The link for the survey can be found at; forms.office.com/e/EfVpuqWGk9 ↗ (alternatively the link to the survey can be found in the document attached to this notice) If required, SUPC might request a follow up meeting with the supplier to discuss their survey response in more detail. The deadline for responses to the survey is 27th February 2026. Disclaimer This Pre-Market Engagement is intended solely to gather market insights and inform future scoping for the potential framework. It does not represent a solicitation, request for proposal, or commitment to proceed with any procurement process. No contractual or financial obligations arise from participation in this engagement. All decisions remain subject to internal approvals and applicable policies. Non-Commitment: This is not a tender and does not guarantee a future procurement. No Advantage/Disadvantage: Engagement (or lack of) does not influence any subsequent tender evaluation. Engagement also does not guarantee participation in the procurement process. Accuracy Liability: The information provided is for market research only Rights Reserved: SUPC reserve the right to change the process or abandon the procurement altogether, should they wish to.
- Tender notice expected129 days ago16 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today24 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 128 days1 Mar 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published11 Feb 2026, 17:00 GMTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender