Official UK procurement notice
NEPO407 - Food and General Provisions
Authority: The Association of North East Councils Limited (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNEPO is seeking to establish a multi-supplier, multi-lot framework for the provision of Food and General Provisions.
The solution will provide for the supply and distribution of food and general provisions to a variety of Contracting Authority establishments on behalf of NEPO Member Authorities, including but not limited to, schools and other public sector catering premises.
This preliminary market engagement notice provides advance notice to the marketplace of the tendering opportunity and NEPO's intention to undertake market consultation activities with suppliers to help shape the future framework.
CPV: Food, beverages, tobacco and related products
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 4 yrs from 1 Aug 2027
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedWhat 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).
- “NEPO407 - Food and General Provisions” 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 The Association of North East Councils Limited buys Food, drink, tobacco (CPV 15), and who usually turns up
The Association of North East Councils Limited’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Food, drink, tobacco (CPV 15) →
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Here, local means registered in North East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside North East England.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 118 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.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
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 bid16% / 11%
2–343% / 25%
4–619% / 34%
7+22% / 30%
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 notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.
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 #1Published estimate£200m
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 217 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid11%
2–325%
4–634%
7+30%
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
- Goods
- 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
- 18 Jun 2026, 12:21 BST
- Last source update
- 18 Jun 2026, 12:21 BST
- Authority reference
NEPO407- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-057527- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06b7f9Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
18 Jun 2026 → 1 Aug 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published126 days ago18 Jun 2026, 12:21 BST
- Market engagement83 days ago31 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
NEPO intend to publish a preliminary market engagement questionnaire via Open eTendering system (www.open-uk.org ↗). The questionnaire responses will help NEPO design the framework by providing the level of market interest and provide insight from suppliers on the shaping of the future provision.
The questionnaire will be made accessible via the Open eTendering system on 18 June 2026 with a submission deadline of 12 noon Friday 10 July 2026.
Suppliers wishing to access and complete the questionnaire must first register on the Open eTendering system using the following link www.open-uk.org ↗. For guidance on how to create an account or submit your questionnaire response through Open, please visit www.open-hub.org/training ↗ to access the available Training Guides. If you need technical assistance from the Open Support team, this can be requested via [email protected].
PLEASE NOTE: Open is accessible 24/7 however, technical support is available Monday to Thursday 08:30 - 17:00 and Friday 08:30 - 16:30.
NEPO also intends to hold virtual market consultation sessions for interested suppliers between 14 July and 28 July 2026. These sessions will include a presentation and provide an opportunity for suppliers to ask questions. Suppliers wishing to register attendance should access Microsoft Bookings via the link provided within the market engagement questionnaire on Open, by 12:00 noon on Friday 10 July.
Attendance at the Microsoft Teams meetings is optional and does not provide suppliers with an advantage in any future related procurement. Presentations and Q&A from the session will
be published as part of the procurement process. Attendance also does not constitute as an intention to tender for any future related procurement.
Please note the above information may be subject to change.
- Tender notice expected31 days ago21 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 282 days1 Aug 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 Jun 2026, 12:21 BSTUK2
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