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Market Engagement Event - School Presenter Tender

Historic Royal Palaces

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

PlanningUpdate

16 Jul 2026 at 14:04

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

13 Jul 2026 at 17:06

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Historic Royal Palaces is planning to procure school presenter services across its heritage sites in England and Northern Ireland. The work covers curriculum-aligned, interactive learning sessions delivered by presenters in historical costume, with content linked to the history of the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, the Banqueting House and associated sites. Sessions will take place at Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London, with occasional delivery at the Banqueting House, in palaces and on-site learning centres. History and English are the main subject areas. The service will cover pupils from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 5, including SEND learners, alongside occasional community, home educator, special school and teacher-training sessions. This is an education and heritage interpretation service.

This procurement is at the planning stage: Historic Royal Palaces has stated an intention to run a tender, but it is not yet an invitation to tender. The expected tender process begins in August 2026, with contract award intended for early 2027. The contract is expected to start in mid-2027, run for three years and include an option to extend by two years; the stated lot period is 1 May 2027 to 31 August 2030, with a possible extension to 31 August 2032. The estimated value is £2,000,000 excluding VAT and £2,400,000 including VAT. A market engagement event is planned for 29 July 2026 at Hampton Court Palace, with expressions of interest for attendance requested by 20 July 2026. The future tender is expected to use Delta e-Sourcing.

The requirement is suited to an established education, museum or heritage learning organisation that can deliver engaging, historically informed interactive sessions in period dress. Suppliers should be able to co-develop schools content with the HRP Schools Team and work confidently across history and English provision for a wide age range, including SEND learners. The buyer is looking for a strong record of consistently high-quality learning sessions, inclusive practice for diverse audiences and robust safeguarding policies and procedures. The programme demands reliable operational capacity across multiple sites, with the ability to manage several sessions each day and deliver at significant scale. Agencies and consortium bids will not be eligible for contract award, although subcontracting may be permitted with Historic Royal Palaces’ agreement.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Market Engagement Event - School Presenter Tender

Notice Description

Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) is a registered charity, responsible for the care, conservation, and presentation of HM Tower of London (TOL), Hampton Court Palace (HCP), Kensington Palace State Apartments, (KP) the Banqueting House at Whitehall (BH), Kew Palace (KEW) and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens, (HCG) the official residence of HM The King in Northern Ireland and residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The palaces are the setting for the stories that shapes us all, and we're bringing them to people in ways that mean more to them. We want everyone to find themselves in the spaces and stories we share. HRP derives its income principally from admissions, retail, licensing, commercial events, sponsorship and support from donors and members. You can find out more about us on our website (www.hrp.org.uk). We will be running a tender process for the provision of School Presenter Services, commencing in August 2026 with the intention of awarding a contract early 2027. The contract will commence in mid 2027 and is anticipated to be for a period of three years with the option to extend for an additional two years. The services in this tender include the following: *Delivery of curriculum aligned, interactive sessions delivered by presenters in historical costume, relevant to the history of HRP sites *Delivery of c.3000 individual sessions p/a, reaching over 100k pupils per year *Co-development of schools content with HRP Schools Team *Interactive schools sessions are held at KP, HCP at TOL and occasionally at BH. Sessions are held both in the palaces and in on site learning centres *Range of topics covered, History and English being the main focus *Sessions are delivered to Key Stage 1 - Key Stage 5, as well as SEND *Occasional delivery of community sessions (for people of all ages), home educator sessions, special school projects, and teacher training days We would like to invite organisations that: *have experience in delivering engaging, historically informed interactive schools sessions by presenters in period dress -- for school groups within a heritage or museum setting *have the organisational structure and capacity to run a demanding programme reliably across multiple sites *have the ability to deliver at scale, i.e. managing multiple sessions across multiple sites on a daily basis *have a strong record of delivering consistently high quality learning sessions *are committed to inclusive practice for diverse audiences *have robust safeguarding policies and procedures. Please note that agencies and consortium bids will not be considered eligible for contract award, however sub-contracting is permitted with the agreement of HRP. In preparation for this tender, we will be holding a Market Engagement Event. This event will provide the opportunity for suppliers to: *hear about HRP's requirements and this opportunity *understand the tender process and timelines that will be followed *ask any questions regarding the contract *meet the Project Team.

Planning Information

In preparation for this tender, we will be holding a Market Engagement Event. This event will provide the opportunity for suppliers to: •hear about HRP’s requirements and this opportunity •understand the tender process and timelines that will be followed •ask any questions regarding the contract •meet the Project Team. The event will be held 29 July 2026 at Hampton Court Palace from 15:00-16:30. Suppliers who would like to attend should email tess.nowlan@hrp.org.uk by Wednesday 20 July and provide the name of their organisation and the full names of attendees. Attendees are limited to two per organisation. Full details and joining instructions will be provided to interested suppliers closer to the time. The tender process will be run through HRP’s e-tendering system, Delta e-Sourcing. Suppliers will need to register on Delta in order to participate in the tender process and can register here https://www.delta-esourcing.com/register/ We hope to see you at the Market Engagement Event.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06c9f7
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/067291-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

80 - Education and training services

92 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services

CPV Codes

80100000 - Primary education services

80200000 - Secondary education services

80340000 - Special education services

92312100 - Theatrical producers', singer groups', bands' and orchestras' entertainment services

92312110 - Theatrical producer entertainment services

92312240 - Services provided by entertainers

92340000 - Dance and performance entertainment services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£2,000,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
16 Jul 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
9 Sep 2026Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 May 2027 - 31 Aug 2030 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Historic Royal Palaces
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
EAST MOLESEY
Postcode
KT8 9AU
Postcode Area
Kingston upon Thames
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI7 Outer London - West and North West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI75 Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Richmond upon Thames
Electoral Ward
Hampton
Westminster Constituency
Twickenham

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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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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