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Catering for STEAM - Museum of The Great Western Railway

Swindon Borough Council

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

28 Aug 2026 at 13:04

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Swindon Borough Council is exploring catering services for STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway in Swindon. The requirement covers food and beverage provision across the museum’s three core business segments: conferencing, special events and banqueting, and café services. The council is considering either one catering partner or multiple operators. This is a service contract for canteen and catering services, including the operational delivery needed to support museum events, conferences, hospitality and café activity. The council is seeking supplier views on how these services should be specified and commercially structured, with the aim of achieving suitable outcomes for STEAM and the council. The work is therefore suited to catering businesses able to operate across several hospitality settings within a visitor attraction and events venue.

This procurement is at the planning stage and the current process is preliminary market engagement, not an invitation to tender. The council is using a questionnaire to understand supplier interest and help shape a future specification and commercial model; responses are expected by 28 September 2026 at 15:00 UK time. The anticipated contract is planned to start on 1 April 2027 and run to 31 March 2032, with renewal options extending the maximum end date to 31 March 2034. The estimated spend is £2.4 million for the initial five-year term and £3.6 million for the potential seven-year term, with a recorded gross estimate of £4.32 million. The council is considering a single-operator or multi-operator arrangement.

The engagement will suit established catering and hospitality suppliers with the operational capacity to deliver several service types at the same museum: café catering, conference hospitality, special-event catering and banqueting. Businesses with experience of running food and beverage services in visitor attractions, cultural venues, conference facilities or event spaces are likely to be well placed to contribute. The buyer is specifically looking for views that can improve the eventual service specification and commercial model, so suppliers should be prepared to explain delivery models, staffing, menu and service capability, event operations, café management and quality control. Both a lead catering partner capable of covering the full requirement and specialist operators able to provide particular service areas may be relevant when the future procurement reaches the market.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Catering for STEAM - Museum of The Great Western Railway

Notice Description

Swindon Borough Council is seeking to explore future options for the delivery of conferencing, banqueting, special events and cafe catering at STEAM - Museum of the Great Western Railway, Swindon. The Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) questionnaire have been produced to enable Swindon Borough Council to engage with potential suppliers and to understand the market and the potential interest in this opportunity. Any information provided will only be used for research purposes. The supporting questionnaire does not constitute an Invitation to Tender process, and will not be judged against any criteria, nor will it inform any potential tender process in the future, and no award of any contract will be made as part of this process.

Planning Information

Catering for STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway Swindon Borough Council invites you to contribute to preliminary market engagement in relation to catering for STEAM – Museum of the Great Western Railway and would welcome the views of suppliers on the questions set out in the questionnaire. The intention is to invite supplier feedback to help shape the final specification and commercial model to ensure the tender delivers the optimum outcomes for the Council. STEAM is considering either appointing a single catering partner or multiple operators to deliver high-quality food and beverage services to the museum’s three core business segments: • Conferencing • Special Events & Banqueting • Café The initial contract term will be for 60 months with an option to extend for a further 24 months (2 periods of 12 months) for a potential total contract term of 7 years. Estimated contract spend is £2.4m across the initial 5 year contract term and £3.6m across the potential total 7 year contract term. Engagement Process Description To participate in the Preliminary Market Engagement Suppliers will need to Register as a Supplier with ProContract, www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk, then Register an Interest before obtaining access to the Preliminary Market Engagement documents. Responses to the Preliminary Market Engagement Questionnaire are required to be submitted no later than 28th September 2026, 15:00 hrs UK Local time via ProContract tender portal - https://www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk/

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06ee83
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/082173-2026
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

55 - Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services

CPV Codes

55500000 - Canteen and catering services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£3,600,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
28 Aug 20264 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
28 Sep 20264 weeks to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Apr 2027 - 31 Mar 2032 Over 5 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
Swindon Borough Council
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
SWINDON
Postcode
SN1 2JH
Postcode Area
Swindon
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK7 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK71 Swindon
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Swindon
Electoral Ward
Eastcott
Westminster Constituency
Swindon South

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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