Official UK procurement notice
Staffordshire University Academies Trust - Catering Services Tender
Authority: Staffordshire University Academies Trust (Education)·On behalf of: CORE Education Trust
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionStaffordshire University Academies Trust was formed in 2011. The Trust set itself four core objectives, in order to equip their pupils with outcomes and real-life skills that prepare them for the digital world whilst giving them the resilience to adapt to their circumstances and lived experiences.
The Trust are seeking Catering service providers to tender for the provision of all catering services presently offered within the Schools outlined in the PSQ document, including breakfast, morning break, lunch and all hospitality and free issue requirements.
The contract will be for three years in duration, with the option to extend for a further one period of up to two years and with a commencement date of 01 August 2027.
Full details will be included in the Invitation to Tender.
TUPE regulations apply to this contract, which involves the transfer of existing catering staff, of which some may be members of the Local Government Pension Scheme, requiring arrangements to be made for 'Admitted Body' status with the relevant pension fund.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the eSourcing portal at:
invictus-inport.com/tenders/UK-UK-Stoke-… ↗
To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
- How the procedure runs: This procurement will be a multi-stage tender process. The PSQ will be followed by an initial shortlisting, with successful suppliers invited to the next stage of the process. The ITT will follow, with a second shortlisting and the top scoring bidders will be invited to the presentation stage.
CPV: School catering services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£3,080,400
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 (2)
- Operational Response: 85%
- Financial Response: 15%
Published award criteria (2)
- Financial Response
- Operational Response
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
- Price carries 15 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 1.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £2,051,726 (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 Staffordshire University Academies Trust buys Catering services (CPV 5552), and who usually turns up
Staffordshire University Academies Trust 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 7% 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 West Midlands.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Across this market, 45% 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 108 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 5% 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 bid2%
2–323%
4–660%
7+16%
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 estimate21%
Within ±2%55%
Above estimate24%
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£3.1m
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 57 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid2%
2–323%
4–660%
7+16%
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, CPTPP)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 28 Oct 2026, 16:43 GMT
- Last source update
- 28 Oct 2026, 16:43 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 10 May 2027
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-102291- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0792d4Find a Tender
- How it runs
This procurement will be a multi-stage tender process. The PSQ will be followed by an initial shortlisting, with successful suppliers invited to the next stage of the process. The ITT will follow, with a second shortlisting and the top scoring bidders will be invited to the presentation stage.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via portal- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 4 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Tender submission deadline
- 4 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 4 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
28 Oct 2026 → 1 Aug 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published6h ago28 Oct 2026, 16:43 GMT
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Clarification questions byin 36 days4 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 36 days4 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 193 days10 May 2027, 23:59 BST
- Contract startsin 275 days1 Aug 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published28 Oct 2026, 16:43 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
3 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- CORE Education TrustBeneficiary authority
- Invictus Partnership LimitedProcuring entityProcurement Consultancy
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender