Market Engagement Event - School Presenter Tender

Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) is a registered charity, responsible for the care, conservation, and presentation of HM Tower of London (TOL), Hampton Court Palace (HCP), Kensington Palace State Apartments, (KP) the Banqueting House at Whitehall (BH), Kew Palace (KEW) and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens, (HCG) the official residence of HM The King in Northern Ireland and residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The palaces are the setting for the stories that shapes us all, and we’re bringing them to people in ways that mean more to them. We want everyone to find themselves in the spaces and stories we share.

HRP derives its income principally from admissions, retail, licensing, commercial events, sponsorship and support from donors and members.

You can find out more about us on our website (www.hrp.org.uk ↗).

We will be running a tender process for the provision of School Presenter Services, commencing in August 2026 with the intention of awarding a contract early 2027. The contract will commence in mid 2027 and is anticipated to be for a period of three years with the option to extend for an additional two years.

The services in this tender include the following:

•Delivery of curriculum aligned, interactive sessions delivered by presenters in historical costume, relevant to the history of HRP sites

•Delivery of c.3000 individual sessions p/a, reaching over 100k pupils per year

•Co-development of schools content with HRP Schools Team

•Interactive schools sessions are held at KP, HCP at TOL and occasionally at BH. Sessions are held both in the palaces and in on site learning centres

•Range of topics covered, History and English being the main focus

•Sessions are delivered to Key Stage 1 – Key Stage 5, as well as SEND

•Occasional delivery of community sessions (for people of all ages), home educator sessions, special school projects, and teacher training days

We would like to invite organisations that:

•have experience in delivering engaging, historically informed interactive schools sessions by presenters in period dress — for school groups within a heritage or museum setting

•have the organisational structure and capacity to run a demanding programme reliably across multiple sites

•have the ability to deliver at scale, i.e. managing multiple sessions across multiple sites on a daily basis

•have a strong record of delivering consistently high quality learning sessions

•are committed to inclusive practice for diverse audiences

•have robust safeguarding policies and procedures.

Please note that agencies and consortium bids will not be considered eligible for contract award, however sub-contracting is permitted with the agreement of HRP.

In preparation for this tender, we will be holding a Market Engagement Event. This event will provide the opportunity for suppliers to:

•hear about HRP’s requirements and this opportunity

•understand the tender process and timelines that will be followed

•ask any questions regarding the contract

•meet the Project Team.