Official UK procurement notice
SMG SECURITY SERVICES (Light Touch Regime)
Authority: Science Museum Group (Central government)
What is being bought3 lots · detail below
Published requirement descriptionThe Science Museum Group (“SMG”) is seeking the provision of security staffing services across its 6 sites. This procurement is being conducted in accordance with the Competitive Flexible Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023 (“PA23”). The Light Touch Regime also applies to this procurement, which specify the services qualifying as light touch services by description and by reference to the corresponding Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes.
You can find out more detail in the attached tender documents.
- How the procedure runs: Stage 1: PSQ Stage 2: ITT for shortlisted bidders
CPV: Security services
Lots and requirements (3)Procurement structure
3 lots · all with a published value (£42,920,000 together) · same evaluation weights on every lotLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£24,000,000
The source published no individual description for this lot.
Lot #2AwardedRenewalPublished value£4,920,000
The source published no individual description for this lot.
Lot #3AwardedRenewalPublished value£14,000,000
The source published no individual description for this lot.
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)
- Price
- Quality
- Price carries 25 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2.5 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
- Competitive flexible 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
- 2 Dec 2025, 17:08 GMT
- Last source update
- 26 Oct 2026, 11:57 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 12 May 2026
- Authority reference
SCM3940M- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-024735- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05ed68Find a Tender
- How it runs
Stage 1: PSQ
Stage 2: ITT for shortlisted bidders
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 22 Apr 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline
- 22 Apr 2026, 17:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 13 Apr 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
2 Dec 2025 → 1 Apr 2027 · 10 dates- Planning notice published328 days ago2 Dec 2025, 17:08 GMT
- Market engagement290 days ago9 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
We are looking to go out to market for security services in early 2026 for a start date of 1 April 2027.
The purpose of this engagement is to support SMG’s decision on the operating model moving forwards. We would welcome your views to aid the decision and are issuing this survey as part of our preliminary market engagement.
The aims of the survey are to:
- Support SMG’s understanding of the market appetite for contracting in a single or multiple lots.
- Support SMG’s understanding of the market capability for contracting with the Group, particularly from small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”).
- Support SMG’s understanding of the use of technology by companies.
The survey can be accessed using the following Microsoft Form link: forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx ↗
The survey will close on Friday 9th January 2026 so please submit your responses by this date.
Responses are for information only and will not be scored or influence future evaluation.
We will not share responses to this survey with any third parties except in an anonymised format. We have carried out a conflicts interest assessment for all individuals that will have sight of the responses received. To fulfil our duty under the Regulation 16(3) of the Procurement Act 2023 we will include in the tender pack an aggregated summary of all responses received once we go out to market for these services, but the summary will not contain any personally identifiable information.
SMG will also be holding a supplier webinar on Tuesday 16th December 2025 between 1:30PM and 2:30PM, where suppliers will be able to hear more about SMG and how we operate in relation to security. To join the webinar, please use this link: teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3am… ↗
Microsoft Teams
Meeting ID: 379 254 908 728 27
Passcode: sB6X3xC9
Suppliers are welcome to send any questions in advance using this Microsoft Form: forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx ↗
Please submit all your questions by 15th of December 2025 12:00PM.
We will also try and answer any questions on the day. Access to the questions and responses will be made available to potential bidders in the tender pack.
UPDATE!! You can also view the Supplier Webinar Recording here:
- Tender notice published222 days ago18 Mar 2026, 15:17 GMT
- Clarification questions by196 days ago13 Apr 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline187 days ago22 Apr 2026, 17:00 BST
- Award decision expected by167 days ago12 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent31h ago26 Oct 2026
- Latest notice published19h ago26 Oct 2026, 11:57 GMT
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Standstill endsin 8 days4 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 155 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
16 events · 9 releases on Find a Tender · since 2 Dec 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published2 Dec 2025, 17:08 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published2 Dec 2025, 17:11 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Dec 2025, 10:55 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published5 Jan 2026, 15:56 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published5 Jan 2026, 15:57 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published9 Jan 2026, 13:37 GMTUK2
- Tender notice published18 Mar 2026, 15:17 GMTUK4
- Published value updated to £5,365,00018 Mar 2026, 15:17 GMTwas £48,000,000
- Status changed to active18 Mar 2026, 15:17 GMT
- Procurement method changed18 Mar 2026, 15:17 GMT
- Tender notice published18 Mar 2026, 16:48 GMTUK4
- Published value updated to £42,920,00018 Mar 2026, 16:48 GMTwas £5,365,000
- Contract award notice published26 Oct 2026, 11:57 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete26 Oct 2026, 11:57 GMT
- Procurement method changed26 Oct 2026, 11:57 GMT
- Contract signature expected4 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
Routine re-releases (9)
- 2026-01: 3 releases · 5 Jan 2026, 9 Jan 2026
- 2025-12: 3 releases · 2 Dec 2025, 10 Dec 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lot 11 award | |||
| Carlisle Security Services LimitedLot 1 - Security provision for Science Museum (London)1 Apr 2027 – 31 Mar 2032 · up to 31 Mar 2035Extensions: The Agreement is intended to run for an initial period of 5 years with the option to extend for up to 1+1+1 additional years at SMG’s sole discretion | £20,501,051 | 26 Oct 2026standstill to 4 Nov 2026 | Standstill |
| Lot 21 award | |||
| Carlisle Security Services LimitedLot 2 - Security provision for Science and Innovation Park (Wiltshire)1 Apr 2027 – 31 Mar 2032 · up to 31 Mar 2035Extensions: The Agreement is intended to run for an initial period of 5 years with the option to extend for up to 1+1+1 additional years at SMG’s sole discretion | £5,075,406 | 26 Oct 2026standstill to 4 Nov 2026 | Standstill |
| Lot 31 award | |||
| Amulet (Churchill Security Solutions) LimitedLot 3 - Security provision for the National Railway Museum (York), Science and Industry Museum (Manchester), National Science and Media Museum (Bradford) and Locomotion (Shildon)1 Apr 2027 – 31 Mar 2032 · up to 31 Mar 2035Extensions: The Agreement is intended to run for an initial period of 5 years with the option to extend for up to 1+1+1 additional years at SMG’s sole discretion | £16,315,307 | 26 Oct 2026standstill to 4 Nov 2026 | Standstill |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Lot | Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lot 1 | 1final-stage tenders · 45 at stage one | 0 | 0 | — |
| Lot 2 | 1final-stage tenders · 45 at stage one | 0 | 0 | — |
| Lot 3 | 1final-stage tenders · 45 at stage one | 0 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- wonCarlisle Security Services Limited · East of England · Lot 1, Lot 2
- wonAmulet (Churchill Security Solutions) Limited · East of England · Lot 3
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
2 commercial parties on the notice- Amulet (Churchill Security Solutions) LimitedAwarded supplier
- Carlisle Security Services LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (12)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender 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
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Show 3 more notices
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender