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RBGKEW1530 - Catering Services Wakehurst

Royal Botanic Gardens

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

25 Aug 2026 at 16:16

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

06 Mar 2026 at 10:09

UK4 - Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew procured day-visitor catering services at Wakehurst in Sussex. The requirement covers the operation of three fixed catering outlets—Seeds Café, Stables Kitchen and Stables Pantry—together with mobile catering within the Wakehurst grounds. This is a commercial concession rather than a conventional catering supply contract: the appointed caterer operates the outlets and mobile service, pays the client a percentage of sales turnover as commission, and provides a fixed annual minimum guaranteed sum. The work is a public visitor-facing food and beverage operation, including outlet management, mobile service delivery and the associated staffing, service quality, customer experience and commercial management needed across the Wakehurst site.

This completed procurement used an open competitive flexible procedure for a concession. The tender closed on 5 May 2026, evaluation was due to finish by 3 August 2026, and the award was dated 25 August 2026. Four bids were received, with one reaching the final stage. Company of Cooks (CH&Co) was selected for the single lot, with an awarded value of £4,829,000 excluding VAT (£5,795,000 including VAT). The estimated tender value was £17,000,000. The standstill period ends on 4 September 2026; signature is scheduled for 29 October 2026. The contract runs from 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2033, with possible extensions of up to three years, to 31 October 2036. Evaluation covered visitor offer and inclusivity, quality, demand management, staffing, experience, sustainability, social value, governance, partnership working, guaranteed return, concession and capital investment.

This award shows sustained demand from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew for a substantial, multi-outlet visitor catering operation delivered through a commercial concession. A credible future supplier would need experience running public-facing cafés, kitchens and pantries, alongside mobile catering in a visitor attraction or similarly busy site. The successful operating model would need to manage peak demand and customer flow, maintain consistent food and service quality, recruit and deploy sufficient staff, and demonstrate business continuity. Strong proposals would also need an inclusive visitor offer, environmental sustainability, measurable improvement, effective governance and partnership working. Commercial capability is important: suppliers must be able to structure a sustainable turnover-based return, support a minimum guaranteed payment and fund required capital investment. The opportunity was identified as suitable for SMEs and VCSEs, although the final-stage bid came from a large supplier.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

RBGKEW1530 - Catering Services Wakehurst

Notice Description

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is seeking Tenders for the provision of our Day Visitor Catering at Wakehurst which comprises the operation of three fixed catering outlets, namely Seeds Cafe, Stables Kitchen and Stables Pantry, together with provision of mobile catering within the grounds of Wakehurst. The contract will operate on a fully commercial concession basis wherein the appointed Caterer shall pay a percentage of sales turnover to the Client by way of a turnover-based commission supported by a fixed annual minimum guaranteed sum

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: Contract term 7 years with potential extensions up to 3 years

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0663c8
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/080982-2026
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, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

55 - Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services

CPV Codes

55520000 - Catering services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£17,000,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
£17,000,000 £10M-£100M
Awards Value
£4,829,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
25 Aug 2026Yesterday
Submission Deadline
5 May 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
25 Aug 20262 days ago
Contract Period
1 Nov 2026 - 31 Oct 2033 Over 5 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
Royal Botanic Gardens
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
SUSSEX,
Postcode
RH17 6TN
Postcode Area
Redhill
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLJ South East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLJ2 Surrey, East and West Sussex
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLJ28 West Sussex (North East)
Delivery Location
TLJ27 West Sussex (South West), TLJ28 West Sussex (North East)
Local Authority
Mid Sussex
Electoral Ward
Ardingly, Balcombe & Turners Hill
Westminster Constituency
East Grinstead and Uckfield

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Company of Cooks (CH&Co)

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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