Official UK procurement notice
Recruitment Services for Deliberative Engagement
Authority: Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe SPCB require a Contractor to provide recruitment services to randomly select and recruit members of the public to participate in deliberative engagement events delivered to support the work of the Scottish Parliament.
- Recurrence: Estimated timing for further notices to be published: 5 years
CPV: Recruitment services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Renewal
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 award criteria (2)
- Quality: 70
- Price: 70
- Suitability
In relation to the SPD:
4A.1 not used
4A.2 not used
- Economic & financial standing
The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) uses Creditsafe, an independent provider of online business credit reports, to assess the financial standing of tenderers. We highly recommend that tenderers review their financial performance on Creditsafe to understand their credit score rating which will be used by the SPCB to evaluate the financial standing of the tenderer and that they read the information about how that data is collected and used prior to submitting a tender. Information and the opportunity to run a free report can be found at www.creditsafe.com/products/business-cr… ↗
Minimum: The SPCB requires tenderers to have a Creditsafe Risk Score of 40 or higher to demonstrate satisfactory financial standing. If a tenderer has a lower credit risk score than 40 on Creditsafe and has the backing of a parent company with a credit risk score of 40 or higher, then the… - Technical & professional ability
For SPD question 4C.1 - Not used
For SPD question 4C.1.2 - Please provide details of one contract completed within the last three years that demonstrate your relevant experience in delivering recruitment services for deliberative engagement, citizens' assemblies, citizens' panels, people's panels, public participation exercises or similar projects.
Please provide:
- Client name and organisation;
- A description of the services provided;
- The methodology used to recruit participants, including any random selection, sortition or stratified sampling approaches;
- The steps taken to achieve a representative sample of the target population;
- Any challenges encountered and how these were addressed;
- The outcomes achieved, including evidence of successful recruitment against agreed demographic targets; and
- Contact details for a referee who may be approached for verification.
Bidders should demonstrate experience of recruiting participants from diverse demographic groups and delivering recruitment exercises that support deliberative engagement and informed public participation.
Failure to provide an example which demonstrate the relevant experience will result in the bidder’s submission being rejected.
Minimum: In relation to the SPD: 4C.2 - 4C.12 Not Used 4D.1 - 4D.2 Not Used
- Price carries 70 of 140 points: a 10% discount moves about 7 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.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body runs Recruitment services (CPV 7960) tenders for its clients, and who usually turns up
Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body procures on behalf of other bodies; its record below covers every client it has tendered for, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Recruitment services (CPV 7960) →
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 the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in Scotland.
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 60 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.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.
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 bid0% / 0%
2–329% / 40%
4–657% / 0%
7+14% / 60%
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 estimate27%
Within ±2%73%
Above estimate0%
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 7960Estimate not published
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.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid6%
2–331%
4–628%
7+35%
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| APS Group (Scotland) LtdWorked for this buyer | Headed Stationery and Fulfilment Servicenotice published Jun 2024 | — | — | Similar wording and category |
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
Penna plcLarge | £6.4m26 awards in 36m · last this month | 5 live · £1.8m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 15% below n=2 |
| £5.3m46 awards in 36m · last this month | 10 live · £1.3m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=4 | |
| £9.5m54 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago | 16 live · £47m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 17% above n=1 | |
| £944k2 awards in 36m · last 7 months ago | 1 live · £799k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 3% below n=1 | |
| £750k2 awards in 36m · last 19 months ago | 1 live · £150k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=3 |
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 · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Open for tender
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · Estimated timing for further notices to be published: 5 years
- First published
- 5 Jun 2026, 15:10 BST
- Last source update
- 1 Oct 2026, 16:40 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 2 Nov 2026 – …
- Authority reference
SPCB-0523- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-093024- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06aef5Find a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
- Performance terms
In order to ensure the highest standards of service quality in this contract the SPCB requires the contractor to take a positive approach to fair work practices. Full details of all performance conditions are set out in the procurement documents.
Publisher note: Please note there are minimum requirements concerning Cyber Security for this contract to which a pass/fail marking will attach. Tenderers will be required to complete a Supplier Cyber Assurance Questionnaire. The questionnaire will be aligned to a Cyber Risk Profile that has been established for the contract, based on the Contracting Authority’s assessment of cyber risk. For this contract, minimum requirements also include the holding of Cyber Essentials certification (or suitable equivalent). Further details will be set out in the procurement documents. A contract condition for this procurement requires the Tenderer to comply with the minimum security requirements. Covered by CPTPP The buyer is using PCS-Tender to conduct this ITT exercise. The Project code is 32885. For more information see: http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/info/InfoCentre.aspx?ID=2343 Community benefits are included in this requirement. For more information see: https://www.gov.scot/policies/public-sector-procurement/community-benefits-in-procurement/ A summary of the expected community benefits has been provided as follows: While not a mandatory requirement, the Contractor should consider what community benefits it can achieve as part of the delivery of the Services. The SPCB will work with the Contractor to help develop a Community Benefits Action Plan setting out specific objectives and outcomes to be achieved to support the delivery of specific community benefits throughout the Contract Period. (SC Ref:844441)
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via Public Contracts Scotland- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 2 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- —
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bids opened
- 2 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
Timeline
1 Jul 2026 → 2 Nov 2026 · 4 dates- Next notice expected112 days ago1 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
- Notice published19 days ago1 Oct 2026, 16:40 BST
- Today20 Oct 2026
- Submission deadlinein 13 days2 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Bids openedin 13 days2 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
Notice history
3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 1 Oct 2026- Status changed to active1 Oct 2026, 16:40 BST
- Procurement method changed1 Oct 2026, 16:40 BST
- Deadline published: 2 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT1 Oct 2026, 16:40 BST
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
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Edinburgh Sheriff Court HouseReview body
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice; the tender pack is on the portal.