Provision of Foods and Beverages: Ambient, Chilled, and Frozen

What the buyer is asking for

Norse Commercial Services are completing a procurement process for the supply of ambient, chilled, and frozen foods and beverages across the East of England, the South East, and the South West regions for Norse catering establishments, which includes education, non-education, the workplace, corporate, hospitality, leisure, and healthcare - the majority of Norse catering establishments within the education sector. The Contract is planned to commence 15th February 2027.

How this is scored

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

• 10%qualitySOCIAL VALUEMSQ
• 30%qualitySERVICE DELIVERYMSQs
• 60%pricePRICING SCHEDULE AND ON-COSTCOST

What you must already have

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

• economic

  - CreditSafe score of 40 or above - Insurance levels as below; a. Employer’s (Compulsory) Liability Insurance* = £10,000,000 b. Public Liability Insurance = £10,000,000 c. Product Liability Insurance = £10,000,000

• technical

  FULL MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS CONTRACT ARE DETAILED WITHIN THE ITT INFORMATION PACK AND RELEVANT APPENDICES. CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION FOR THIS CONTRACT INCLUDE THE BELOW; - Third party certification in respect of food safety and/or for the storage and distribution of food. For example, BRC Global Standard for Food Safety/Storage & Distribution, STS Public Sector Code of Practice/Code of Practice for Small & Regional Suppliers, Safe and Local Supplier Approval (SALSA), or equivalent. - HACCP based formal, documented quality system specifically in respect of food safety and the storage and distribution of food. - Norse Catering in the East of England and the South West require all delivery personnel of the Successful Supplier(s) in relation to this Contract to have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check completed or if enhanced DBS checks are not currently completed for delivery personnel, should your Tender Submission be successful, enhanced DBS checks will be completed ahead of the Contract Commencement Date.

2 lots

You can usually bid for one lot without bidding for all of them.

• OPTION 1 = 5 LOTS / OPTION 2 = 3 LOTS / OPTION 3 = 2 LOTS

  AS DETAILED BELOW AND WITHIN THE TENDER DOCUMENTATION; OPTION ONE: LOT ONE - East of England - Ambient, chilled, and frozen LOT TWO - East of England - Fresh Meat LOT THREE - South West - Ambient, chilled, and frozen LOT FOUR - South West - Fresh Meat LOT FIVE - South East - Ambient, chilled, and frozen OPTION TWO: LOT ONE - East of England - Ambient, chilled, and frozen (including fresh meat) LOT TWO - South West - Ambient, chilled, and frozen (including fresh meat) LOT THREE - South East - Ambient, chilled, and frozen OPTION THREE: LOT ONE - East of England and South West - Ambient, chilled, and frozen (including fresh meat) LOT TWO - South East - Ambient, chilled, and frozen

• PLEASE REFER TO DETAIL ABOVE (LOT NO. 1) ON VARIOUS OPTIONS AND LOT STRUCTURE

  PLEASE REFER TO DETAIL ABOVE (LOT 1) ON VARIOUS OPTIONS AND LOT STRUCTURE FULL DETAIL STATED WITHIN TENDER DOCUMENTATION

How contested is this?

Buyers publish how many bids they received. Across 55 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 published23 days ago

   15 Oct 2026, 09:03 BST
2. Clarification questions by11 days ago

   26 Oct 2026, 12:00 GMT
3. Submission deadlinein 6 days

   12 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
4. Award decision expected byin 35 days

   11 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT

Commercial outcome and contract awards

Nothing awarded yet

Notice history

7 events · 7 releases on Find a Tender

1. Pipeline or early engagement notice23 Jun 2026, 16:51 BST059151-2026
2. Pipeline or early engagement notice7 Aug 2026, 14:04 BST075327-2026
3. Notice published26 Aug 2026, 14:59 BST081410-2026
4. Notice published16 Sept 2026, 11:42 BST087685-2026
5. Notice published6 Oct 2026, 16:25 BST094425-2026
6. Tender notice12 Oct 2026, 12:37 BST096039-2026
7. Tender updated15 Oct 2026, 09:03 BST097262-2026

Payment terms

Please refer to the ITT Pack

Documents

• Tender notice on Find a Tender