Official UK procurement notice
ID 5831917 - DfE - The Provision of Catering and Vending Services To Belfast Metropolitan College
Authority: Belfast Metropolitan College (BMC) (Central government)·On behalf of: CPD
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionBelfast Metropolitan College (the Buyer) is the largest of the six Further and Higher Education Colleges in Northern Ireland. There are campuses located at Titanic Quarter, Millfield, Springvale and Castlereagh. The Buyer is seeking to appoint a Supplier with the relevant skills and experience to deliver and manage the catering and vending services in an effective and professional manner. The catering operation is regarded as an important
element of the Buyer's business operation and will need to reflect the high standards and public profile of the Client. Suppliers should refer to the Specification Schedule and CfT documents for further details.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Feb 2030, 23:59 GMT.
CPV: Catering services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£1,650,000
- Technical & professional ability
Refer to CfT documents
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 sub-criteria (2)
- Qualitative Criteria: 40%
- Quantitative Criteria: 60%
Published award criteria (2)
- Qualitative Criteria: As per Tender documentation.
- Quantitative Criteria: As per Tender Documentation.
- Technical & professional ability
Refer to CfT documents
- Price carries 60 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 6 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
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- 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
- Yes · next expected 1 Feb 2030
- First published
- 17 Apr 2025, 16:07 BST
- Last source update
- 5 Aug 2025, 15:05 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 18 Jun 2025
- Authority reference
ID 5831917- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-016028- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-050524Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
Contract Value
The estimated value figure indicated in the Scope Section represents an overall estimated contract value. This value reflects the potential scale of the contract and takes into account potential optional extension periods and the uptake of potential optional services as detailed in the tender documents. This figure does not however take into account the application of indexation or increases to charges due to increases in the Real Living Wage. Neither CPD nor the contracting Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. The Contracting Authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any tender. Suppliers remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third party acting under instructions from the Supplier in connection with taking part in this procurement process regardless of whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the Contracting Authority at any time. No legally binding contract shall arise (and a Supplier shall have no legitimate expectation that a contract will be entered into) until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the Contracting Authority.
- Risks
Exclusions
If at any time during the procurement, or post award, it comes to the attention of the Contracting Authority (CA) or CPD, by whatever means, that a Supplier has become ‘excluded’ or ‘excludable’ as per Sec 57 of the PA 2023, the CA, after compliance with its obligations under the PA 23, reserves the right to exclude said Supplier from the procurement procedure or terminate any contract they have been awarded.
The Contracting Authority expressly reserves the rights:
(I). not to award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice;
(II). to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the tendering Competition;
(III). to award (a) contract(s) in respect of any part(s) of the services covered by this notice; and
(IV). to award contract(s) in stages.
and in no circumstances will the Authority be liable for any costs incurred by candidates.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 21 May 2025, 15:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 12 May 2025, 15:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Tenders must be submitted electronically via the relevant Call for Tender (CfT) opportunity on eTendersNI, website details immediately below.
Paper submissions will not be accepted or considered and will be rejected by the Contracting Authority / Buyer.
The tender documents are available with unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: URL etendersni.gov.uk/epps ↗
Timeline
17 Apr 2025 → 5 Aug 2025 · 7 dates- Tender notice published17 Apr 2025, 16:07 BST
- Clarification questions by12 May 2025, 15:00 BST
- Submission deadline21 May 2025, 15:00 BST
- Award decision expected by18 Jun 2025, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent23 Jun 2025, 00:00 BST
- Contract starts1 Aug 2025, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published5 Aug 2025, 15:05 BST
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 17 Apr 2025- Tender notice published17 Apr 2025, 16:07 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published23 Jun 2025, 16:22 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete23 Jun 2025, 16:22 BST
- Contract signature expected23 Jun 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published5 Aug 2025, 15:05 BSTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| CaterLink Limited (Trading as Caterlink), Caterlinkjoint award1 Aug 2025 – 31 Jul 2028 · up to 31 Jul 2030Extensions: Two optional extension periods of up to 12 months each. | £150,000 | 23 Jun 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
ID 5831917 - DfE - The Provision of Catering and Vending Services To Belfast Metropolitan College · CaterLink Limited (Trading as Caterlink), Caterlink
- Signed
- 23 Jun 2025
- Value
- £150,000
- Period
- 1 Aug 2025 – 31 Jul 2028 · up to 31 Jul 2030 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- Two optional extension periods of up to 12 months each.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders | 0 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
3 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- CPDBeneficiary authority
- CPD - Supplies & Services DivisionProcess contact pointProcuring entityConstruction and Procurement Delivery - Supplies and Services Division, is a Centre of Procurement Expertise and provides a central procurement function for central government in Northern Ireland.
Bidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the notice- CATER LINK LIMITEDAwarded supplier
- CATER LINK LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices 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