Official UK procurement notice
Temporary Hospitality, Catering and Events Staff for ACE
Authority: University Of Edinburgh (Education)
What is being bought3 lots · detail below
Published requirement descriptionThe University's Accommodation, Catering and Events (ACE) service operates a range of essential catering facilities that support students, staff, visitors and commercial activities across the University. To ensure continuity of these critical services, the University supplements its permanent workforce with temporary agency staff during periods of increased demand, seasonal peaks, planned events and where unforeseen staffing shortages arise.
Agency workers are engaged only where the existing permanent workforce is insufficient to meet operational requirements, helping to maintain service continuity, customer experience and contractual commitments.
The purpose of this procurement is to establish a Framework Agreement with suitably experienced staffing providers that have the capacity and capability to supply high-quality catering personnel at short notice, as and when required. The Framework value is indicative and non-committal.
This project is looking to establish a new framework agreement with suppliers who have the resource and capacity to work with the University to provide catering staffing resources as and when required.
CPV: Supply services of personnel including temporary staff
How this framework works
From the published notice- Places
- up to 9 suppliers · 13 bids on the busiest of 3 lots (1.4 per place) · 6 appointed
Lots and requirements (3)Procurement structure
3 lots · all with a published value · same evaluation weights on every lotLot #1Hospitality and EventsCancelledRenewalPublished value£1,600,000
ACE operates across the city of Edinburgh. There are multiple venues and location across this wide geographical area, where agency staff will be required to attend for work. All locations may require staff at any one date and time.
The volume and type of staff required will be dependent on business needs. Historical data highlights the roles where the highest volume of staff is required are:
- Catering Assistants – estimate 15+ on very busy days; and
- Plate Waiters/Silver Service Staff – estimate 50+ on very busy days.
Please be aware that these figures are given in good faith but may not be representative of future demand.
Lot #2Domestic ServicesCancelledRenewalPublished value£800,000
ACE operates across the city of Edinburgh. There are multiple venues and location across this wide geographical area, where agency staff will be required to attend for work. All locations may require staff at any one date and time.
The volume and type of staff required will be dependent on business needs. Historical data highlights the roles where the highest volume of staff is required are:
- Hotel Bedroom Attendants;
- Hotel Public Area Cleaners
- Student Property Domestic Cleaning Staff
Lot #3Kitchen StaffCancelledRenewalPublished value£1,200,000
ACE operates across the city of Edinburgh. There are multiple venues and location across this wide geographical area, where agency staff will be required to attend for work. All locations may require staff at any one date and time.
The volume and type of staff required will be dependent on business needs. Historical data highlights the roles where the highest volume of staff is required are:
- Head Chef – Rare but maybe required for interim periods of up to 3 months;
- Chef – estimate of up to 10+ on busier days;
- Kitchen Assistants – estimate 15 + on very busy days; and
- Kitchen Porter – estimate of up to 5+ on busier days.
Please be aware that these figures are given in good faith but may not be representative of future demand.
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)
- Technical: 80%
- price: 20%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical: 80
- Price: 20
- Staff
- Names and qualifications of delivery staff must be submitted
- Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- “Temporary Hospitality, Catering and Events Staff for ACE” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, up to 9 suppliers, not a single contract.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 9 Sept 2025, 13:40 BST
- Last source update
- 21 Jul 2026, 13:22 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 10 Oct 2025 – …
- Authority reference
EC1019- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-068698- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0596b2Find a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
Publisher note: (SC Ref:837643)
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- 10 Oct 2025, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bids opened
- 10 Oct 2025, 12:00 BST
Timeline
10 Oct 2025 → 21 Jul 2026 · 3 dates- Admission / appointment period ends377 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown10 Oct 2025, 12:00 BST
- Bids opened377 days ago10 Oct 2025, 12:00 BST
- Notice published93 days ago21 Jul 2026, 13:22 BST
Notice history
1 event · 2 releases on Find a Tender- Status changed to complete21 Jul 2026, 13:22 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast3 suppliers are admitted to this framework without individual award values or dates, see the supplier list below.
Contracts
Hospitality and Events
- Signed
- 6 Jul 2026
- Value
- £1,600,000
- Status
- active
Domestic Services
- Signed
- 6 Jul 2026
- Value
- £800,000
- Status
- active
Kitchen Staff
- Signed
- 6 Jul 2026
- Value
- £1,200,000
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Lot | Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Hospitality and Events | 9bids · 9 electronic | 5 | — | — |
| 2 · Domestic Services | 13bids · 13 electronic | 7 | — | — |
| 3 · Kitchen Staff | 10bids · 10 electronic | 7 | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Edinburgh Sheriff CourtReview body
Framework contractors & participating bidders
6 commercial parties on the notice- Axis recruitment LtdFramework contractor
- Blue ArrowFramework contractor
- BrightworkFramework contractor
- Navolio Limited T/A Off To WorkFramework contractor
- Reed RecruitmentFramework contractor
- Search ConsultancyFramework contractor
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Economic and financial selection criteria
- Technical selection criteria