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Published 6 Oct 2026, 15:17 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Research Partners Framework contracts

Official notice

Authority: ARMED FORCES COVENANT FUND TRUSTEE LIMITED (Central government)

Framework agreementServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: Research & Development (R&D) (73) Delivery: UK
Framework ceiling (notional)£400,000framework ceiling, not attributable revenue · 1 value update
Submissions closed 23 Jan 2026awarded 4 Feb 2026
Awarded to ALMA ECONOMICS LIMITED +4 more5 awards
Framework period 4 yrsstarts 23 Feb 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust Research Partners Framework provides access to specialist research, evaluation, analytical and evidence synthesis services. The framework supports the commissioning of research and evaluation activities to inform grant-making, programme design, organisational learning and strategic decision-making across the Trust's portfolio of work supporting the Armed Forces community.

CPV: Research consultancy services

How this framework works

From the published notice
Type
Closed framework
Call-offs
call-offs may be awarded directly or by further competition
Places
up to 5 suppliers · 17 bids received (3.4 per place) · 5 appointed — full
Framework period
4 yrs from 23 Feb 2026
Published description of the framework

The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust Research Partners Framework provides access to specialist research, evaluation, analytical and evidence synthesis services. The framework supports the commissioning of research and evaluation activities to inform grant-making, programme design, organisational learning and strategic decision-making across the Trust's portfolio of work supporting the Armed Forces community. Proposals are requested from Partners as required to deliver strategic objectives, either on a solicited or competition basis, and all are assessed against published criteria. The budget available for each commission is determined by agreement with Trustees and other stakeholders.

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1Awarded 4 yrsSMEVCSEPublished value£400,000
Contract period: 23 Feb 2026 — 22 Feb 2030 (4 yrs)Eligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleDelivery: UK
Value
£400,000 exc. VAT · £500,000 inc. VAT
73210000 Research consultancy services

What it takes to win
i

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 more
How bids were scored
Quality: 90%Price: 10%
Published sub-criteria (6)
  • Relevant experience and capabilities — 30%
  • Team capacity and specialist expertise — 30%
  • Methodological approach — 10%
  • Quality assurance — 10%
  • Engagement, ethics and safeguarding — 10%
  • Rate Card/Commercial — 10%
Published award criteria (6)
  • Relevant experience and capabilities — Please set out your organisation's experience of delivering services of the type and scale envisaged under this framework, as outlined in the Service Specification, over the last three years. Provide up to three examples of previous relevant projects.
  • Team capacity and specialist expertise — Please provide details of your organisational capacity and key personnel relevant to this framework and the Service Specification. Outline the typical size and composition of your research and evaluation team (roles, FTEs). Provide short profiles of the core team who would lead and deliver work under this framework, highlighting experience with research and evaluation in the armed forces community or similar contexts. Explain how you will ensure continuity of personnel and manage peaks in demand across multiple Call-Offs.
  • Methodological approach — Describe your organisation's standard approaches to designing impact and economic evaluations of grant-funded programmes, conducting evidence reviews and mapping the needs of specific communities, as outlined in the Service Specification. Explain how you select and justify methods (qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods), ensure data quality, and manage bias and limitations.
  • Quality assurance — Provide an overview of your internal quality assurance processes for research and evaluation outputs (e.g. peer review, sign-off).
  • Engagement, ethics and safeguarding — Describe your approach to engaging with members of the armed forces community in research and evaluation activities, including veterans, serving personnel, families and other groups who may be vulnerable or have experienced trauma. Explain your arrangements for research ethics, informed consent, confidentiality, data protection, and safeguarding, including how you would manage distress or risk during fieldwork. Provide examples of how you have adapted methods to be inclusive and safe for participants.
  • Rate Card/Commercial — The Rate Card (template) calculates the day rates for each member of the team across a total number of days working on a hypothetical project. As not all of these roles will be relevant for every bidder, the average cost across the team (total overall cost ÷ number of members in the team) will be used to score the commercial criteria.
What this means for your bid
  • Price carries 10 of 100 points — a 10% discount moves about 1 point. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
  • “Research Partners Framework contracts” is a framework — the contest is a place on its panel, up to 5 suppliers, not a single contract — call-offs may be direct or by further competition.

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
Framework agreement
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
No (one-off requirement)
First published
6 Oct 2026, 15:17 BST
Last source update
6 Oct 2026, 15:17 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end — 9 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
Authority reference
2025-000007
FTS notice number
2025/S 000-083501
Latest notice
Contract details notice (UK7)
Classification (CPV)
Research consultancy services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05f70b Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
23 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
Clarification deadline
16 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
Electronic submission
Not allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Tenders shall be submitted via [email protected] by answering all of the required questions in the ITT document and attaching any necessary documents as instructed. More information on the required form and structure of Tenders is provided alongside the relevant questions in the ITT.

Timeline

8 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Tender notice published296 days ago
    16 Dec 2025, 15:58 GMT
  2. Clarification questions by265 days ago
    16 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
  3. Admission / appointment period ends258 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown
    23 Jan 2026, 12:00 GMT
  4. Award decision expected by240 days ago
    9 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
  5. Assessment summaries sent240 days ago
    10 Feb 2026, 00:00 GMT
  6. Standstill ends229 days ago
    20 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
  7. Contract starts227 days ago
    23 Feb 2026, 00:00 GMT
  8. Latest notice published2 days ago
    6 Oct 2026, 15:17 BST

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics — not a forecast
Suppliers appointed 55 awards · see the list ↓
Bids received 1713 from SMEs
Contracts signed 5latest 23 Feb 2026

£400,000 is the framework's published maximum, restated by the publisher on 5 award rows. It is one ceiling, not 5 separate sums, and no share per lot is published — those rows read “ceiling above”.

Awarded toValueDateStatus
ALMA ECONOMICS LIMITEDSMEResearch Partners Framework23 Feb 2026 — 22 Feb 2030ceiling above4 Feb 2026Awarded
Edge Health LtdSMEResearch Partners Framework23 Feb 2026 — 22 Feb 2030ceiling above4 Feb 2026Awarded
International Organisation Development Ltd (trading as IOD PARC)SMEResearch Partners Framework23 Feb 2026 — 22 Feb 2030ceiling above4 Feb 2026Awarded
MEL Research LtdSMEResearch Partners Framework23 Feb 2026 — 22 Feb 2030ceiling above4 Feb 2026Awarded
RAND Europe Community Interest CompanySMEVCSEResearch Partners Framework23 Feb 2026 — 22 Feb 2030ceiling above4 Feb 2026Awarded

Contracts

All 5 of these contracts carry the same published figure, £400,000 — the framework's maximum for the whole notice, not each contract's own value. They are not eleven separate sums.

  • Research Partners Framework contracts · ALMA ECONOMICS LIMITEDSME

    Signed
    23 Feb 2026
    Value
    ceiling above
    Period
    23 Feb 2026 — 22 Feb 2030
    Status
    active
    5 agreed KPIs: Delivery of agreed milestones, on time and within the agreed budget · Quality of outputs, including adherence to agreed methods and meet quality assurance standards · Responsiveness to queries and ability to meet agreed response times …
    • Delivery of agreed milestones, on time and within the agreed budget
    • Quality of outputs, including adherence to agreed methods and meet quality assurance standards
    • Responsiveness to queries and ability to meet agreed response times
    • Participant safety and ethical compliance
    • Satisfaction of the Trust and key stakeholders with the process and the outputs

  • Contract 2 · Edge Health LtdSME

    Signed
    23 Feb 2026
    Value
    ceiling above
    Period
    23 Feb 2026 — 22 Feb 2030
    Status
    active
    5 agreed KPIs: Delivery of agreed milestones, on time and within the agreed budget · Quality of outputs, including adherence to agreed methods and meet quality assurance standards · Responsiveness to queries and ability to meet agreed response times …
    • Delivery of agreed milestones, on time and within the agreed budget
    • Quality of outputs, including adherence to agreed methods and meet quality assurance standards
    • Responsiveness to queries and ability to meet agreed response times
    • Participant safety and ethical compliance
    • Satisfaction of the Trust and key stakeholders with the process and the outputs

  • Contract 3 · International Organisation Development Ltd (trading as IOD PARC)SME

    Signed
    23 Feb 2026
    Value
    ceiling above
    Period
    23 Feb 2026 — 22 Feb 2030
    Status
    active
    5 agreed KPIs: Delivery of agreed milestones, on time and within the agreed budget · Quality of outputs, including adherence to agreed methods and meet quality assurance standards · Responsiveness to queries and ability to meet agreed response times …
    • Delivery of agreed milestones, on time and within the agreed budget
    • Quality of outputs, including adherence to agreed methods and meet quality assurance standards
    • Responsiveness to queries and ability to meet agreed response times
    • Participant safety and ethical compliance
    • Satisfaction of the Trust and key stakeholders with the process and the outputs

  • Contract 4 · MEL Research LtdSME

    Signed
    23 Feb 2026
    Value
    ceiling above
    Period
    23 Feb 2026 — 22 Feb 2030
    Status
    active
    5 agreed KPIs: Delivery of agreed milestones, on time and within the agreed budget · Quality of outputs, including adherence to agreed methods and meet quality assurance standards · Responsiveness to queries and ability to meet agreed response times …
    • Delivery of agreed milestones, on time and within the agreed budget
    • Quality of outputs, including adherence to agreed methods and meet quality assurance standards
    • Responsiveness to queries and ability to meet agreed response times
    • Participant safety and ethical compliance
    • Satisfaction of the Trust and key stakeholders with the process and the outputs

  • Contract 5 · RAND Europe Community Interest CompanySMEVCSE

    Signed
    23 Feb 2026
    Value
    ceiling above
    Period
    23 Feb 2026 — 22 Feb 2030
    Status
    active

Bid statistics published by the authority

BidsSMEVCSEValid bid range
17final-stage tenders131—

Notice history

9 events · 7 releases on Find a Tender · since 16 Dec 2025
  1. Contract details notice published
    6 Oct 2026, 15:17 BSTUK7
  2. Contract details notice published
    6 Oct 2026, 15:16 BSTUK7
  3. Contract details notice published
    6 Oct 2026, 15:15 BSTUK7
  4. Contract signature expected
    23 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
  5. Contract award notice published
    11 Feb 2026, 17:08 GMTUK6
  6. Published value updated
    11 Feb 2026, 17:08 GMTwas £400,000
  7. Status changed to complete
    11 Feb 2026, 17:08 GMT
  8. Deadline withdrawn
    11 Feb 2026, 17:08 GMT
  9. Tender notice published
    16 Dec 2025, 15:58 GMTUK4
Routine re-releases (7)
  • 2026-10: 2 releases · 6 Oct 2026 — 6 Oct 2026
  • 2026-02: 1 release · 11 Feb 2026
  • 2025-12: 1 release · 16 Dec 2025

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

ARMED FORCES COVENANT FUND TRUSTEE LIMITED

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-COH: 11185188 · GB-PPON: PLHN-1877-WRDN 3rd Floor, 3 Wellington Place, Leeds, Yorkshire & Humber, LS1 4AP [email protected]

Framework contractors & participating bidders

5 commercial parties on the notice

Official documents & specifications (13)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

Notices published for this procedure

Show 3 more notices
  • Contract award notice awardContract award noticeUK6Contract award notice on Find a Tender
  • Contract award notice awardContract award noticeUK6Contract award notice on Find a Tender
  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender