Official UK procurement notice
Venue Hire - Market engagement event
Authority: Ministry of Justice (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionVenue Hire contract is accessible to all directly employed staff within the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Arm's Length Bodies (ALB's) & Agencies, facilitating venue hire to enable staff to perform their duties and obligations for various services such as finding, securing, and paying for event locations
This notice is for Information only and the Authority reserves the right to not proceed to tender. Additionally the Authority reserves the right to discontinue the tender process and not to award the contract.
CPV: Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Ministry of Justice buys Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services (CPV 55), and who usually turns up
Ministry of Justice’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services (CPV 55) →
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
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 56 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.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
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 bid7% / 16%
2–357% / 34%
4–623% / 42%
7+14% / 8%
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 estimate56% / 19%
Within ±2%30% / 44%
Above estimate15% / 37%
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 55Published estimate£46m
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 55. The comparison uses that group.
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 476 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid16%
2–334%
4–642%
7+8%
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- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- 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
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 3 Sept 2026, 13:38 BST
- Last source update
- 3 Sept 2026, 13:38 BST
- Authority reference
Prj_17834- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-083478- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f14eFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
3 Sept 2026 → 27 Feb 2028 · 4 dates- Planning notice published52 days ago3 Sept 2026, 13:38 BST
- Market engagement34 days ago21 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) would like to invite suppliers to provide a 45 minute presentation on an upcoming project for Venue Solutions.
Suppliers are requested to prepare and deliver a presentation covering the information outlined below. The purpose of these sessions is to provide MoJ with a greater understanding of the market, supplier capabilities, innovative approaches, and potential solutions relevant to the requirement.
Suppliers wishing to present should select one of the available presentation slots below. Appointments will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, therefore suppliers are encouraged to express their preferred slots as early as possible and provide a number of suitable options in order of preference:
- Monday 28th September at 10:00am - 10:45am
- Monday 28th September at 11:30am - 12:15pm
- Monday 28th September at 13:30pm - 14:15pm
- Tuesday 29th September at 10:30am - 11:15am
- Tuesday 29th September at 13:00pm - 13:45pm
- Tuesday 29th September at 14:15pm - 15:00pm
- Wednesday 30th September at 09:15am - 10:00am
- Wednesday 30th September at 13:00pm - 13:45pm
- Wednesday 30th September at 14:00pm - 14:45pm
To request a slot, please respond via the Jaggaer portal, identifying your preferred dates and times. MoJ will confirm allocation of presentation slots based on availability.
If none of the advertised slots are suitable, suppliers should submit a message through the Jaggaer portal outlining their availability. While alternative arrangements cannot be guaranteed, MoJ will endeavour to accommodate reasonable requests where possible.
Introduction –
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), including His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), His Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), and other Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) utilise contracted suppliers to manage venue bookings and accommodation services for larger events and conferences, servicing circa 100,500 staff.
The service requirement includes finding, securing and paying for event locations for various events such as conferences, meetings, training or wider projects. This will include booking amendments, cancellations and refund solutions.
The MoJ require the supplier to operate and maintain appropriate online booking systems, processes and records and require live management information reporting tools.
Some examples of where venue hire services are required are as follows:
- Judicial College training
- Prison Officer training
- Regional Meetings
- Resident Judges conferences
- Additional capacity courts
- Tribunal hearings
The MoJ operates within government controls governing away days and conferences, however certain approved exceptions fall within the scope of this service. Reliable delivery of venue hire services is essential to supporting MoJ operations, and any disruption or failure in service could result in reputational risk to the department.
Presentation
MoJ are seeking a presentation of the supplier’s offering which includes a focus on the following high-level requirements:
Overview of supplier’s business and operations
- Background and scale of the business
- Experience delivering venue hire or event booking services
- Operating model
- Account management and escalation routes
- Experience supporting public sector or similar complex organisations
Technology –
- A robust end to end online booking system which is easy to use and accessible.
- Dynamic management information reporting and dashboards
- Online booking portal to ensure high performance and MoJ data integrity
- How can your system be tailored to support policy controls, approval routes and exceptions
- How offline bookings and processes can be managed as part of business continuity arrangements
- Approach to system innovation and automation including any use of AI
Coverage -
- UK-wide venue coverage and supplier relationships
- Ability to source venues close to courts, prisons, probation sites and transport links
- Approach to sourcing specialist venues, including secure, accessible or high-capacity spaces
- Approach to securing indicative costs, price comparisons and best-value options
Additional Information
The presentation will not form part of a procurement process and is only being used to form part of our market research.
The above examples of where venue hire services are currently used by MoJ and may be subject to change and/or may not be included in any future procurement exercise.
The estimated release to the market is currently February 2027. Details of contract values and length are currently under review.
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 124 days26 Feb 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts27 Feb 2028
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published3 Sept 2026, 13:38 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender