Outsourced Catering Tender - Ivy Education Trust

What the buyer is asking for

The Trust is seeking a Contractor to provide a high-quality outsourced catering service, whilst delivering value for money for the school, parents and pupils using the Services. The Contract will include all food and staff provision to support the delivery of the service requirement.

How this is scored

Published by the buyer. A winning response is written to these weightings, not to the question.

• 60%qualityQuality QuestionsSet of Quality Questions 1 Catering service offer 2 Innovation 3 Meal Uptake 4 Weekly Menu Offer 5 Menu Planning and Development 6 Food Supply Chain 7 Allergy Management 8 Contractor staff 9 Contract Management 10 Complaint Management 11 Contract Mobilisation and Risk Management 12.1 Sustainability – Organisational Net Zero Strategy 12.2 Sustainability – Food miles and carbon footprint 12.3 Sustainability – Energy use in production
• 40%costCommercial ModelCommercial Model – The model shows that the service will operate at net zero cost to the Academy Trust. The Trust is not required to provide any subsidy. - Pass/Fail Requirement Further set of Cost Written Questions in response to the Commercial Model Submitted: 2 Overall Structure and Clarity 3 Commercial Viability 4 Free School Meal Equity of Access 5 Paid Pupil and Menu Item Pricing & Uptake 6 Labour Model 7 Risk Management

What you must already have

Conditions of participation. These are pass or fail, so check them before writing anything.

• economic

  Financial Capacity Tenderers must demonstrate their economic and financial standing in accordance with the following: Due diligence checks will be undertaken on the preferred Tenderer’s accounts to determine a Tenderer’s financial standing. This will incorporate credit checks and a financial appraisal. Please refer to Appendix A of Document 1 Instructions & Information for the financial assessment process. Insurance requirements to be in place for the start of the Contract: Minimum employer's liability insurance: £10 million. Minimum public liability insurance: £5 million. Minimum professional indemnity insurance: £1 million. Minimum Product liability Insurance: £2m

• technical

  To constitute a pass, the contract examples provided shall be relevant to the requirement, with a sufficient level of detail that provides confidence in the Tenderer’s established past experience in similar and relevant projects/contracts. The contracts must be within the education sector and similar complexity in delivering a managed catering service in a multi-site environment across a geographical area. Tenderers must provide a minimum of two and a maximum of three examples of contracts delivered within the last three years which demonstrate experience relevant to the requirement. Where a Tenderer cannot provide a relevant contract example, or cannot provide the requested number of examples, alternative evidence demonstrating equivalent technical capability may be submitted and will be assessed by the Authority.

How contested is this?

Buyers publish how many bids they received. Across 27 comparable procurements we can tell you the typical field size, how often one of these goes uncontested, and whether the buyer awards on price or on quality.

Timeline

4 published dates · Europe/London

1. Tender notice published14 days ago

   7 Sept 2026, 13:28 BST
2. Clarification questions byin 24 days

   16 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
3. Submission deadlinein 24 days

   16 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
4. Award decision expected byin 85 days

   15 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT

Commercial outcome and contract awards

Nothing awarded yet

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender

1. Tender notice7 Sept 2026, 13:28 BST084410-2026

Payment terms

One Trustinvoice per month, Invoicing for UIFSM & FSM based on actual meals taken, broken down by school

Documents

• Tender notice on Find a Tender