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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

Strategic Catering Partner for Catering Venues across County Durham

Durham County Council · Tender notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 3 Oct 2026, 13:17.

Opportunity overview

Durham County Council (DCC) is seeking to secure a strategic partner, following a corporate wide catering review, to deliver catering services across a wide range of public facing venues. The Council currently has 15 customer-facing venues across a diverse portfolio of leisure, cultural, heritage and visitor locations. Existing operational arrangements include internally managed sites and third-party operated venues. This has resulted in a wide range of service approaches and financial profiles, presenting opportunities to enhance service alignment, scale efficiencies and elevate customer experience. The Council has developed a strong vision for this Procurement. Bidders will be invited to propose solutions, throughout the various stages of the procurement process, which align with this vision: 'To deliver a modern, financially sustainable and customer‑focused catering service that enhances the experience of residents and visitors, champions local suppliers and ensures high‑quality and nutritious, venue-appropriate food across in-scope venues.' The procurement exercise is being run as a multiple stage Competitive Flexible procedure pursuant to the section 20 2(b) of PA23. This procurement exercise is also being undertaken to award a light touch contract, that is, a contract that is wholly or mainly for the supply of services as specified in Procurement Regulations 2024, Schedule 1. The Council reserves the right to amend the procurement exercise in line with PA23, s31 and/or refine the evaluation criteria in accordance with PA23, s24.

Classification

  • CPV55520000 — Catering services

Lots

  • Lot 1£20m

Documents and notices

  • Tender notice on Find a TenderOpen source ↗
  • Tender documents can be accessed free of charge by registering on the Open Portal at www.open-uk.orgOpen source ↗

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
OPEN20251840
Status
active
Procurement Method
open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Main Procurement Category
services
Above Threshold
Yes
How to submit
Tender submissions must be made via the Open Portal at www.open-uk.org

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Special regime

lightTouch

Submission terms

Electronic Submission Policy
allowed

Languages

en

Tender Period

Ends
20 Apr 2026, 10:00

Enquiry period

Ends
15 Apr 2026, 10:00

Expected award period

Ends
6 Oct 2026, 23:59

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
active
Has Renewal
Yes

Value

Including VAT
24,000,000
Amount
20,000,000
Currency
GBP

Award criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Type
quality
Name
Operational Plan
Description
This section must also include, as a minimum: • Overarching programme of activities to support the Vision and Outcomes • Development strategy, including your proposed phasing sequence. • Sales and marketing strategy taking into account approach to branding including a view on PR. • Stakeholder and communications strategy • Asset management approach • Social value measures and strategy • Mobilisation timeline for each venue

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
25
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 2
Type
quality
Name
Market Positioning
Description
Your response must include, as a minimum: • External market factors • Understanding of the local area and local demographics • Venue-specific offering including a coherent approach with venue-specific services.

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
5
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 3
Type
quality
Name
Resourcing
Description
Your response must include, as a minimum: • Diagram showing how your core team and wider team will be structured, showing lines of responsibility and authority. • Clear articulation of all roles and their responsibilities • Recruitment and selection process • Consideration of TUPE as part of the mobilisation process • Training • Career Opportunities • How resourcing will be adapted based on external variables

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
15
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 4
Type
quality
Name
Governance and management reporting:
Description
Your response must include, as a minimum: • Clear decision-making hierarchy • Escalation pathway for minor and major complaints. Please define examples of each. • Designated authority levels and examples of decisions • Compliance and Assurance including: Legal and regulatory requirements, Industry standards, Internal policies and procedures and Audit arrangements (internal or external) • Performance reporting framework and mechanism e.g. dashboards, internal milestone sign-off, variance monitoring • Monitoring and Continuous Improvement

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
10
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 5
Type
quality
Name
Risk Management
Description
Your response should set out the extent to which key risks have been identified and will be managed by appropriate mitigation measures which will demonstrate how the proposed solution will achieve the four Outcomes. The response should include a comprehensive risk register setting out: • Identification of risk • Likelihood and impact • Risk owner • Risk mitigation • Post mitigation likelihood and impact

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
15
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 6
Type
quality
Name
Financial Planning
Description
Your response must include, as a minimum: • Breakdown of financial forecast for each venue, throughout the contract period • Assumptions made for these finances • Committed investment throughout contract term • Financial model and the implications on the Council

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
20
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 7
Type
quality
Name
Assessment of Legal Position
Description
Stage 2 - Bidders must confirm that they accept the non-negotiable provisions of the Key Legal Principles without amendment. Failure to confirm acceptance of the non-negotiable provisions of the Key Legal Principles without amendment will result in a score of 0 and therefore your bid will be removed from the process. Acceptance of all non-negotiable provisions will result a full score of 10% for stage 2. At Stage 3 and 4, where amendments are proposed they should be stated within a legal commentary table, in the form of a template to be provided. The Council will assess any comments or amendments to determine whether the proposed amendments materially alter the balance of risk between the Bidder or the Council and its counterparties and scored accordingly.

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
10
Weight
percentageExact

Selection criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Type
economic
Description
The bidder must have a turnover in last complete financial year of £30 million or more and have a Financial credit score of ≤ 51.
Criterion 2
Type
technical
Description
Bidders must demonstrate proven experience in mobilising and managing a comparable catering service to Durham County Council's requirements. Bidders are required to provide details of two nominated reference sites which must include: - A minimum of 10 catering venues under 1 contract - Live contracts - Experience operating in public‑facing environments. For the purposes of this requirement, 'public‑facing' includes venues that are regularly accessed by members of the public or large user groups, such as universities, museums, libraries, leisure centres, hospitals or similar facilities - Mobilisation of new venues, including newly constructed sites or locations where no catering provision previously existed - Public facing catering venues, include a range of venue types - Appropriate infrastructure, including stock management systems, allergen tracking tools and food traceability. The purpose is to ensure that the catering provider is already fully operational within a comparable setting and therefore has the knowledge, expertise and supply chain to effectively mobilise and manage this contract.

Contract period

Starts
1 Apr 2027, 00:00
Ends
31 Mar 2033, 23:59
Max Extent Date
31 Mar 2037, 23:59

Renewal

Description
The maximum Contract period will be 10 years, with an initial term to be discussed with Bidders during the procurement process and an option for the Council to extend for a further period to bring the term to a maximum of 10 years from the contract start date, subject to performance and review of the Council's estate and ongoing catering requirements.

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Scheme
CPV
Id
55520000
Description
Catering services

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UKC14
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Published documents

Entry 1
Id
conflictOfInterest
Document Type
conflictOfInterest
Description
Not published
Entry 2
Id
L-1
Document Type
biddingDocuments
Description
Tender documents can be accessed free of charge by registering on the Open Portal at www.open-uk.org
Url
www.open-uk.org
Entry 3
Id
026938-2026
Document Type
tenderNotice
Notice Type
UK4
Description
Tender notice on Find a Tender
Published
24 Mar 2026, 15:24
Format
text/html

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Name
Durham County Council
Id
GB-PPON-PMPB-8772-VYWM

Identifier

Scheme
GB-PPON
Id
PMPB-8772-VYWM

Address

Street Address
Corten House, Dunholme Close
Locality
Durham
Postal Code
DH1 5WB
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Region
UKC14

Contact

Roles

buyer

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Scheme
UK_CA_TYPE
Id
publicAuthoritySubCentralGovernment
Description
Public authority - sub-central government

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · Durham · UKC14 · DH1 5WB · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKC14 · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

2 published notice versions reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

2 VERSIONS
  1. 023758-2026Pipeline notice on Find a Tender ·
  2. 026938-2026Tender notice on Find a Tender ·