Official UK procurement notice
Invitation to Tender for the provision of Catering Services at Bishop Stopford School
Authority: BISHOP STOPFORD SCHOOL (Education)·On behalf of: RED BOX CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionDescription
Bishop Stopford School has decided to tender their catering services to investigate the
financial and qualitative benefits they could be offered through this process.
The contract will be awarded for a three-year duration with the option of two additional,
one-year extensions. This is subject to the satisfactory performance of the work. Their
preferred arrangement is for a guaranteed return of nil subsidy catering service, which
operates a special agreement for VAT, but the School are open to suggestions.
The quality of the service and the proposed budget for the second year 2027-28 will be
reviewed three months before the expiry of the first twelve months. The School at this
time reserves the right to terminate the contract should either the quality or future costs be
unacceptable.
Aims of the Service
Bishop Stopford School wish to be at the forefront of educational catering and as such
require a modern, branded offer that reflects the leading trends in the industry.
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At this time, the School's wish is to commence a catering contract, with a partner who
shares their vision for a customer-focused service that attracts the maximum number of
students. The meals that are to be provided must be appealing to customers, imaginative,
provide good value for money and be nutritionally balanced to encourage all students to
make an educated choice.
The service is currently managed by a contractor, where the catering team have delivered
a good service to the students for many years. The School now feel that it is time to
refresh the current contract, to allow the service to be taken to the next level, which will
deliver the latest catering concepts and an even better service for its students.
The School's objectives for the new contract are as follows: -
- A catering service that is well managed and requires minimal involvement from the
School's management team.
- A strong Contractor Area Manager who will develop and lead the team to deliver
exceptional customer service, a consistently high-quality food offer and spend a
substantial amount of time on site at the outset to undertake this.
- A Contractor who is proactive in their relationship management with the School.
- Investment in the School's Catering service through increased marketing in return for a
tenure of contract.
- A higher number of students and staff using the facilities by providing a high quality,
affordable and nutritious meal.
- A catering service that encourages students to take a heathy and balanced meal.
- Food and drinks that look appetising and are attractively presented.
- A hospitality service that will help showcase the School through events to parents and
visitors.
- A Contractor that adopts a flexible and proactive approach to all School activities.
- A service that is professionally merchandised and marketed with discretion and to the
mutual benefit of the School and the Contractor.
- A Contractor that operates using the optimum level of staffing.
CPV: School catering services · School meals
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£1,156,382
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)
- Quality: 50%
- Cost: 50%
Published award criteria (2)
- Cost
- Quality
- Price carries 50 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 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
- Services
- 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
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 10 Jan 2026, 08:11 GMT
- Last source update
- 22 Oct 2026, 15:09 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 1 May 2026
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-002079- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-060351Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 27 Feb 2026, 16:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 20 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Electronic submission
- Not allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
All questions raised will be logged and collated and written responses provided to all tendering organisations. The identity of tenderers raising any questions will remain confidential. A live clarification log of all questions and responses will be saved on the www.redboxportal.com ↗ website. This is accessible to all those who have expressed an interest in bidding.
Any questions raised where the information is already included in the document will be identified with a page number to refer to.
The deadline for the return of tender responses is 5pm 27th February 2026. All submissions should be made via the Red Box Portal at www.redboxportal.com ↗. This is accessible by the client. Maximum file size is 4.5MB. Any files larger than this should be re-saved with lower resolution. Portal administrators and clients are unable to access the bids until the deadline has passed. No attachments with be opened or downloaded until after the tender response deadline. Contractors should receive a confirmation email once files are accessed.
No We Transfer files will be accepted.
Please complete your intention to bid on the opportunity via the www.redboxportal.com ↗. This will enable both Red Box and the client to assess participation levels. If you intend to revoke your intention to bid, please log this on the portal and confirm via email that this is the case as a courtesy to the client.
Files are all available for download on the portal.
Timeline
10 Jan 2026 → 2 Nov 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published288 days ago10 Jan 2026, 08:11 GMT
- Clarification questions by246 days ago20 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Submission deadline240 days ago27 Feb 2026, 16:00 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent214 days ago25 Mar 2026
- Award decision expected by176 days ago1 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts54 days ago1 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published3 days ago22 Oct 2026, 15:09 BST
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Standstill endsin 9 days2 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
Notice history
4 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 10 Jan 2026- Tender notice published10 Jan 2026, 08:11 GMTUK4
- Contract award notice published22 Oct 2026, 15:09 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete22 Oct 2026, 15:09 BST
- Contract signature expected1 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cucina Restaurants Ltd1 Dec 2026 – 31 Aug 2029 · up to 31 Aug 2031Extensions: Description of possible extension: Page 4 to 7 The contract will be awarded for a three-year duration with the option of two additional, one-year extensions. This is subject to the satisfactory performance of the work. | £1,290,176 | 25 Mar 2026standstill to 2 Nov 2026 | Standstill |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6final-stage tenders | 6 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- RED BOX CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITEDProcess contact pointProcuring entityConsultants Managing the Tender Process
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- CUCINA RESTAURANTS LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender