Official UK procurement notice
School Catering Services for East Sussex County Council
Authority: East Sussex County Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionEast Sussex County Council Council is seeking to appoint a qualified and suitable service provider for the provision of school meal services to educational establishments in the East Sussex area.
The current contract expires on 31st July 2026.
The County Council is legally required to provide access to a free school meal service for maintained schools (including provision of Key Stage 1 meals currently funded through Universal Infant Free School Meal funding from the DfE); therefore, arrangements will need to be made to continue to provide this service from 1st August 2026. The contracts are worth approximately £10.4 million per annum and currently used by 138 schools, serving approximately 15,000 meals per day.
The objectives of this procurement are to put in place a high quality, value for money service provision whilst also gaining commitment from the provider to undertake continuous improvement and offer environmental and social value initiatives, to further enhance the service.
CPV: School catering services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£72,800,000
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 award criteria (2)
- Quality: Including Social Value
- Price
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
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
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 29 Apr 2025, 10:54 BST
- Last source update
- 4 Mar 2026, 09:37 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 23 Mar 2026
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-062398- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0508ebFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 17 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
29 Apr 2025 → 1 Aug 2026 · 9 dates- Planning notice published29 Apr 2025, 10:54 BST
- Market engagement31 Jul 2025, 23:59 BST
We will be sending out a survey on Monday 30th June for providers to complete by Friday 18th July. Once we have received your feedback, we will ask you to attend a meeting to discuss our requirements further on either Wednesday 23rd July or Tuesday 29th July. These will be held virtually with individual providers.
Please register your interest by providing your email to [email protected] by Friday 27th June and we will contact you with the survey on Monday 30th June.
- Tender notice published381 days ago6 Oct 2025, 10:15 BST
- Next notice expected380 days ago6 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
- Submission deadline339 days ago17 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent233 days ago3 Mar 2026
- Latest notice published232 days ago4 Mar 2026, 09:37 GMT
- Award decision expected by212 days ago23 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts82 days ago1 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
10 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 29 Apr 2025- Pipeline notice published29 Apr 2025, 10:54 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 Jun 2025, 10:53 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published6 Oct 2025, 10:15 BSTUK4
- Published value published: £72,800,0006 Oct 2025, 10:15 BST
- Status changed to active6 Oct 2025, 10:15 BST
- Procurement method changed6 Oct 2025, 10:15 BST
- Deadline published: 17 Nov 2025, 12:00 GMT6 Oct 2025, 10:15 BST
- Contract award notice published4 Mar 2026, 09:37 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete4 Mar 2026, 09:37 GMT
- Contract signature expected1 Apr 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2025-04: 1 release · 29 Apr 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compass Contract Services (U.K.) Limited, trading as ESS Government Services1 Aug 2026 – 31 Jul 2031 · up to 31 Jul 2033Extensions: Optional extension period of 1+1 years | £72,800,000 | 2 Mar 2026 | Awarded |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders · 4 at stage one | 0 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- wonCOMPASS CONTRACT SERVICES (U.K.) LIMITED · West Midlands
- did not winCATER LINK LIMITED · South East England
- did not winHERTFORDSHIRE CATERING LIMITED · East of England
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
3 commercial parties on the notice · 1 awarded- CATER LINK LIMITEDBidder / tenderer
- COMPASS CONTRACT SERVICES (U.K.) LIMITEDAwarded supplier
- HERTFORDSHIRE CATERING LIMITEDBidder / tenderer
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender