Official UK procurement notice
Orbital South Colleges Catering Services: East Surrey College & John Ruskin College
Authority: East Surrey College (Central government)·On behalf of: PANACHE CREATIVE LIMITED
Orbital South Colleges (OSC) is a leading further education group comprising East Surrey College, John Ruskin College, Reigate School of Art and Orbital South Colleges University Centre. The Colleges provide an extensive range of vocational, technical and professional education, from entry level through to degree-level study, including apprenticeships, Higher National qualifications and professional courses. The contract being tendered for is to start from 1st April 2027 for an initial three-year term with the option to extend for up to two further one-year periods.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionOrbital South Colleges (OSC) is a leading further education group comprising East Surrey College, John Ruskin College, Reigate School of Art and Orbital South Colleges University Centre.
The Colleges provide an extensive range of vocational, technical and professional education, from entry level through to degree-level study, including apprenticeships, Higher National qualifications and professional courses. Teaching is delivered by experienced, industry-qualified staff and is supported by strong links with employers, careers services and local communities.
OSC is undertaking this tender exercise to source a flexible and best value catering contractor with whom they can partner with to achieve service excellence through the provision of a great tasting food, made with authentic recipes and ingredients. Healthy eating, service innovation and added value through food education and sustainability initiatives are equally as important.
The successful contractor is to provide healthy and competitively priced meals for all students, staff and visitors, and always ensure that the outcome will provide best value to the Colleges. OSC is seeking a contractor who has a proactive approach to service development and innovation and will propose practical enhancements to the services as well as innovative ideas to develop and improve the services for all stakeholders.
The contract being tendered for is to start from 1st April 2027 for an initial three-year term with the option to extend for up to two further one-year periods.
Experience of similar large education-based multi-site operations is preferable.
TUPE will apply.
- How the procedure runs: The procurement process follows a two stage 'Competitive Flexible' approach, beginning with a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) stage followed by an Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage after shortlisting. This process is managed under the Light Touch Regime and the College reserves the right to refine the award criteria throughout.
CPV: Catering services for other enterprises or other institutions · School catering services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£1,900,000
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 (3)
- Quality: 60%
- Clarifications/Presentations: 10%
- Cost: 30%
Published award criteria (3)
- Quality
- Cost
- Clarifications/Presentations
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £1,265,511 (twice the annual value).
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula. Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How East Surrey College buys Catering services (CPV 5552), and who usually turns up
East Surrey College has little published record in this market. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Catering services (CPV 5552) →
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 21% 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. The market figure counts awards delivered in South East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Across this market, 56% 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 76 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 19% 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 bid14%
2–323%
4–657%
7+6%
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.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate9%
Within ±2%29%
Above estimate62%
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 5552Published estimate£1.9m
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 81 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid14%
2–323%
4–657%
7+6%
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- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Requests to participate open
- 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
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 2 Nov 2026, 12:57 GMT
- Last source update
- 2 Nov 2026, 12:57 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 15 Feb 2027
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-103717- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07958fFind a Tender
- How it runs
The procurement process follows a two stage 'Competitive Flexible' approach, beginning with a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) stage followed by an Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage after shortlisting. This process is managed under the Light Touch Regime and the College reserves the right to refine the award criteria throughout.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via portal- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 27 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Tender submission deadline
- 27 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 22 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Submission instructions are included in the PSQ; all completed PSQ submissions are to be sent to [email protected] by the deadline stipulated.
Timeline
2 Nov 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published11h ago2 Nov 2026, 12:57 GMT
- Today3 Nov 2026
- Clarification questions byin 19 days22 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 24 days27 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 104 days15 Feb 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 148 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published2 Nov 2026, 12:57 GMTUK4
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- PANACHE CREATIVE LIMITEDProcess contact pointProcuring entityPanache Consultancy, catering services consultants, are assisting the College with the facilitation of this tender exercise, as a supporting role only.
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications Interested parties are to complete a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ), which can be accessed via the dropbox link provided. If you have any queries, please contact [email protected]
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender