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Published 29 Jul 2025, 09:21 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Supply And Delivery of Pre-Prepared Meals to the Education Authority

Official notice

Authority: the Education Authority (Central government)

GoodsOpen procedureAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: Food, beverages, tobacco and related products (15) Delivery: Northern Ireland (UKN)
Published estimate£335,000≈ £67k / year · £402,000 inc. VAT · 2 value updates
Submissions closed 7 Jul 2025
Contract term 5 yrsup to 7 yrs with extensions · starts 1 Sept 2025

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Education Authority invites tenders for the Supply and Delivery of Pre-Prepared Meals. The initial period will be for 60 months from the Start Date (anticipated to be August 2025) with options to extend for any additional period(s) of up to and including 24 months.

This Contract is established by the Education Authority and is open to the EA, including NI educational bodies as follows, who at some point, during the life of the Contract may wish to utilise the agreement and should have access at any point, with the permission of EA. This Contract is not intended to replace any current agreements that participating or nonparticipating institutions may already have in place.

Department of Education - Schools Plus https://www.educationni.gov.uk/services/schools-plus

Primary and Post Primary schools under the control of the EA, Catholic Maintained Schools

Independent Schools in NI, Irish Medium Schools in NI, both Controlled and Voluntary Grammar Schools, Nursery School for NI (both controlled, and Catholic Maintained), schoolmeals kitchens on-site at all of these schools, and Controlled Youth Centres.

Further Education Colleges in NI : https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/contacts/further-education-fe-colleges

NICIE - https://nicie.org/

Grant Controlled Integrated Education Schools in NI

Independent Schools in NI https://www.isc.co.uk/schools/northern-ireland/

EA Teachers' and Educational Centres

Council for the Curriculum, Examination and Assessment NI (CCEA)

Armagh Observatory and Planetarium

Middletown Centre for Autism

Controlled Schools Support Council (CSSC)

Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE)

Pre-Schools and Nurseries included within the EA's Pre-School Education Programme (PSEP)

  • Not divided into lots: Geographical lots were considered. However due to the anticipated volumes and number of locations expected to use the resulting contract over the duration of the term EA did not feel it proportionate to divide into lots.
  • The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 31 Jan 2032, 23:59 GMT.

CPV: Prepared meals · School meals

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1AwardedRenewal 5 yrsSMEVCSEPublished value£335,000
Contract period: 1 Sept 2025 — 31 Aug 2030 (5 yrs) · up to 7 yrs with extensionsEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleDelivery: Northern Ireland
Value
£335,000 exc. VAT · £402,000 inc. VAT
Extensions
Additional items may be added to the Contract throughout the Term with the agreement of both the Buyer and the Supplier. This may include any individual or bulk pre-prepared meals options that may be required throughout the duration of the Contract. Any items added to the Contract during the Term must be in line with the Pricing submitted with similar items at tender. · 2 options to extend for a further period of 12 months each.
15894200 Prepared meals15894210 School meals

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: 80%Price: 20%
Published sub-criteria (3)
  • Proposed Methodology — 20%
  • Quality of Samples – Product Characteristics — 60%
  • Total Contract Price — 20%
Published award criteria (3)
  • Proposed Methodology — Full details can be found in the CfT documents section on eTenderNI https://etendersni.g ov.uk/epps
  • Quality of Samples – Product Characteristics — Full details can be found in the CfT documents section on eTenderNI https://etendersni.g ov.uk/epps
  • Total Contract Price — Full details can be found in the CfT documents section on eTenderNI https://etendersni.g ov.uk/epps
Conditions of participation2
  • Economic & financial standing
    None
  • Technical & professional ability
    CoP 1 - Technical ability to perform the contract – Previous Experience
What this means for your bid
  • Price carries 20 of 100 points — a 10% discount moves about 2 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
Goods
Notice status
Cancelled
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Yes · next expected 31 Jan 2032
First published
29 Jul 2025, 09:21 BST
Last source update
29 Jul 2025, 09:21 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end — 22 Aug 2025, 23:59 BST
Authority reference
CAT-25-002
Latest notice
Procurement termination notice (UK12)
Classification (CPV)
Prepared mealsSchool meals
Delivery area
Northern Ireland (UKN)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04e889 Find a Tender
Contract terms summary
Full details can be found in the CfT documents section on eTenderN - Ihttps://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Review and risk notes
Risks
The Buyer cannot guarantee any particular level of business (volumes/values) within the Contract.

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: eTendersNI · Who buys & how to bid on eTendersNI
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free Northern Ireland registration
Submission deadline
7 Jul 2025, 15:00 BST
Clarification deadline
30 Jun 2025, 15:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via etendersni.gov.uk/epps ↗

Timeline

8 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Planning notice published
    28 Feb 2025, 10:25 GMT
  2. Market engagement
    10 Mar 2025, 23:59 GMTInterested participants should complete the questionnaire and upload by 3pm on 10 March 2025. Completed questionnaires must be returned via the eTendersNI Messaging function as an attachment or via email to [email protected].
  3. Tender notice published
    5 Jun 2025, 15:30 BST
  4. Clarification questions by
    30 Jun 2025, 15:00 BST
  5. Submission deadline
    7 Jul 2025, 15:00 BST
  6. Latest notice published
    29 Jul 2025, 09:21 BST
  7. Award decision expected by
    22 Aug 2025, 23:59 BST
  8. Contract starts
    1 Sept 2025, 00:00 BST

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics — not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded toValueDateStatus
supplier not published—18 Jul 2025CancelledNo compliant bids received

Notice history

14 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 28 Feb 2025
  1. Procurement termination notice published
    29 Jul 2025, 09:21 BSTUK12
  2. Published value updated
    29 Jul 2025, 09:21 BSTwas £335,000
  3. Status changed to complete
    29 Jul 2025, 09:21 BST
  4. Procurement method changed
    29 Jul 2025, 09:21 BST
  5. Deadline withdrawn
    29 Jul 2025, 09:21 BST
  6. Buyer details updated
    29 Jul 2025, 09:21 BST
  7. Tender notice published
    5 Jun 2025, 16:09 BSTUK4
  8. Deadline moved to 7 Jul 2025, 15:00 BST
    5 Jun 2025, 16:09 BST+4 days · was 3 Jul 2025, 15:00 BST
  9. Tender notice published
    5 Jun 2025, 15:30 BSTUK4
  10. Published value published: £335,000
    5 Jun 2025, 15:30 BST
  11. Status changed to active
    5 Jun 2025, 15:30 BST
  12. Procurement method changed
    5 Jun 2025, 15:30 BST
  13. Deadline published: 3 Jul 2025, 15:00 BST
    5 Jun 2025, 15:30 BST
  14. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    28 Feb 2025, 10:25 GMTUK2
Published amendments (1)

Modification of original information submitted by the contracting authority to submission details. Enquiry deadline [FRM03.N141] from 26 June 2025 to 30 June 2025. Tender submission deadline * [FRM03.N145] from 03 July 2025 to 07 July 2025.

Routine re-releases (4)
  • 2025-02: 1 release · 28 Feb 2025

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

the Education Authority

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central governmentNorthern Irish devolved regulations apply GB-PPON: PPHJ-6982-JPXY 40 Academy Street, BELFAST, Northern Ireland, BT12NQ

Official documents & specifications (5)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

  • Conflict of interest declarationtenderConflict of interest declarationNot published

Notices published for this procedure