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Cotham School ~ Catering Tender

Cotham School

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

16 Jul 2026 at 14:06

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

10 Dec 2025 at 12:05

UK4 - Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Cotham School procured school catering and hospitality services across its secondary school and sixth-form centre, including Cotham School on Cotham Lawn Road and Cotham Learning Community at Charnwood House, Bristol. The appointed contractor is expected to provide all catering operations across both sites, including food service, hospitality and free-school-meal provision. The requirement includes consistent service standards, customer and parental engagement through digital platforms and social media, and an environmentally sensitive service aligned with the school’s environmental policies. The work also covers staffing arrangements for catering operatives, with progressive employment terms intended to support a complete staffing establishment and low turnover. This is a services contract for a school and sixth-form setting, delivered in Bristol.

The procurement is complete and Innovate Services Ltd was selected on 11 June 2026 following an open competitive flexible procedure. Three bids reached the final stage. The award is pending, with a standstill period ending on 27 July 2026 and a scheduled signature date of 28 July 2026. The award value is £1,760,000 gross. The contract runs from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2029, with two possible one-year extensions, giving a maximum end date of 31 August 2031. The current annual sales revenue across both locations is approximately £352,000. Bids were evaluated on quality at 70% and price at 30%. The requirement was suitable for SMEs and was above the relevant threshold.

This requirement indicates demand for established school catering operators able to manage food service across multiple education sites and maintain consistent day-to-day standards. A credible competitor would need experience delivering catering and hospitality in schools, including free-school-meal administration and hospitality charged on a net food-cost basis, together with the operational capacity to keep staffing fully established. Strong proposals would demonstrate service innovation, effective pupil, parent and customer engagement through digital channels, and robust management reporting. Environmental capability is central: suppliers should be able to evidence significant progress towards carbon neutrality, set measurable targets, report sustainability and social value through management reviews, and align delivery with a school’s environmental policies. Progressive employment practices and staff-retention measures would also be important.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Cotham School ~ Catering Tender

Notice Description

The successful Supplier will be required to provide catering and hospitality services for Cotham School. Two sites listed below of the school are included in the tender, and we are seeking tender submissions for the whole contract. Cotham School has an excellent reputation in Bristol built upon its results and student performance ranked one of the best. The successful contractor will be required to deliver a service and meet the requirements of the specification at each site from the contract commencement. 1 - Secondary Schools 1 - Sixth form centre The process is to be inclusive of the requirements for the following locations: *Cotham School, Cotham Lawn Road, Cotham, Bristol, BS6 6DT *Cotham Learning Community, Charnwood House, 30 Cotham Park, Bristol, BS6 6BU The contract being tendered is for 3 years in duration from 1st September 2026 until 31st August 2029, with the option to extend for further terms of 1 +1 years on the same terms and conditions excluding the right to further extend. The contract will be guaranteed performance in nature. The tender project is seeking to appoint a Contractor whose Initiative and innovation will be welcomed for the provision of all catering services within the school. The high-quality service levels proposed, should maintain excellent standards throughout, resulting in a new food service offer with consistent high standards of food operations across the sites. Regular customer and parental engagement (using digital platforms and social media) will be required to ensure this is the case moving into the contract term. These new standards of operation should meet the needs of pupil's moving forward into this contract term. The contract will operate on a guaranteed basis (return or subsidy) with free school meals being charged to the client monthly at net food cost only. All hospitality is to be charged on a net food cost basis. The approximate current revenue (sales) within the contract annually is in the region of PS352,000 across both locations. The successful contractor will be expected to put forward both innovation and their proposals for making this contract more environmentally sensitive and carbon neutral moving into this contract term both by way of contract delivery and within the successful contractor's organisation, while working to deliver the Cotham School environmental policies. Your approach to sustainability should mirror that of the school's. The successful contractor should be able to evidence significant steps towards carbon neutrality as well as demonstrable plans to achieve their targets throughout the contractual term. It will be expected that sustainability as well as social value be reported through the management review meetings. The terms and conditions of employment and recognition offered to the catering operatives should be both progressive and forward thinking ensuring that the staffing establishment is always complete, and staff turnover is kept to a minimum. Please see PSQ Document for more information.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: 1+1 See PSQ Document for more information.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05f2a8
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/067294-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

55 - Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services

CPV Codes

55524000 - School catering services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£1,760,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£1,760,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£1,760,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
16 Jul 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
27 Mar 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
11 Jun 20262 months ago
Contract Period
1 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2029 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Cotham School
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
BRISTOL
Postcode
BS6 6DT
Postcode Area
Bristol
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK5 West of England
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK51 Bristol, City of
Delivery Location
TLK1 Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bristol/Bath area
Local Authority
Bristol, City of
Electoral Ward
Cotham
Westminster Constituency
Bristol Central

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Innovate Services Ltd

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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