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Venue Hire - Market engagement event

Ministry of Justice

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

03 Sep 2026 at 13:38

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Ministry of Justice is planning a UK-wide venue hire and accommodation service for the Ministry, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and other associated bodies. The service will find, secure and pay for venues for conferences, meetings, training, regional events, judicial and prison officer training, additional court capacity and tribunal hearings. It will also manage booking changes, cancellations and refunds. The supplier will provide an accessible online booking system, maintain booking records and deliver live management information and reporting dashboards. Venues may need to be close to courts, prisons, probation sites and transport links, and include secure, accessible or high-capacity spaces. The relevant service classification is hotel, restaurant and retail trade services (CPV 55000000).

This procurement is at the planning stage and the buyer has announced preliminary market engagement rather than an invitation to tender. Suppliers are being asked to give a 45-minute presentation about their business, venue-booking experience, operating model, technology, coverage and approach to sourcing. Requests for presentation slots are due by 21 September 2026 at 23:59. The listed sessions are on 28, 29 and 30 September 2026. The buyer currently expects to release the procurement to the market on 26 February 2027. One lot is planned, with an estimated contract period from 27 February 2028 to 26 February 2032. The estimated value is £46.2 million excluding VAT, or £57.75 million including VAT. The value and contract length remain under review.

The engagement will suit venue-finding agencies, accommodation and event-booking providers, conference-management businesses and technology-enabled venue marketplaces with UK-wide coverage. Relevant suppliers should be able to demonstrate experience securing and managing venues at scale, including relationships with venues near public-sector sites and transport links. The buyer is interested in robust end-to-end booking technology that is easy to use and accessible, preserves data integrity, supports approval routes, policy controls and approved exceptions, and provides dynamic management information and dashboards. Strong candidates will also be able to explain account management, escalation and business-continuity arrangements for offline bookings. The presentation should address innovation and automation, including any use of artificial intelligence, and experience serving public-sector or similarly complex organisations.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Venue Hire - Market engagement event

Notice Description

Venue Hire contract is accessible to all directly employed staff within the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Arm's Length Bodies (ALB's) & Agencies, facilitating venue hire to enable staff to perform their duties and obligations for various services such as finding, securing, and paying for event locations This notice is for Information only and the Authority reserves the right to not proceed to tender. Additionally the Authority reserves the right to discontinue the tender process and not to award the contract.

Planning Information

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) would like to invite suppliers to provide a 45 minute presentation on an upcoming project for Venue Solutions. Suppliers are requested to prepare and deliver a presentation covering the information outlined below. The purpose of these sessions is to provide MoJ with a greater understanding of the market, supplier capabilities, innovative approaches, and potential solutions relevant to the requirement. Suppliers wishing to present should select one of the available presentation slots below. Appointments will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, therefore suppliers are encouraged to express their preferred slots as early as possible and provide a number of suitable options in order of preference: • Monday 28th September at 10:00am - 10:45am • Monday 28th September at 11:30am - 12:15pm • Monday 28th September at 13:30pm - 14:15pm • Tuesday 29th September at 10:30am - 11:15am • Tuesday 29th September at 13:00pm - 13:45pm • Tuesday 29th September at 14:15pm - 15:00pm • Wednesday 30th September at 09:15am - 10:00am • Wednesday 30th September at 13:00pm - 13:45pm • Wednesday 30th September at 14:00pm - 14:45pm To request a slot, please respond via the Jaggaer portal, identifying your preferred dates and times. MoJ will confirm allocation of presentation slots based on availability. If none of the advertised slots are suitable, suppliers should submit a message through the Jaggaer portal outlining their availability. While alternative arrangements cannot be guaranteed, MoJ will endeavour to accommodate reasonable requests where possible. Introduction – The Ministry of Justice (MoJ), including His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), His Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), and other Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) utilise contracted suppliers to manage venue bookings and accommodation services for larger events and conferences, servicing circa 100,500 staff. The service requirement includes finding, securing and paying for event locations for various events such as conferences, meetings, training or wider projects. This will include booking amendments, cancellations and refund solutions. The MoJ require the supplier to operate and maintain appropriate online booking systems, processes and records and require live management information reporting tools. Some examples of where venue hire services are required are as follows: • Judicial College training • Prison Officer training • Regional Meetings • Resident Judges conferences • Additional capacity courts • Tribunal hearings The MoJ operates within government controls governing away days and conferences, however certain approved exceptions fall within the scope of this service. Reliable delivery of venue hire services is essential to supporting MoJ operations, and any disruption or failure in service could result in reputational risk to the department. Presentation MoJ are seeking a presentation of the supplier’s offering which includes a focus on the following high-level requirements: Overview of supplier’s business and operations • Background and scale of the business • Experience delivering venue hire or event booking services • Operating model • Account management and escalation routes • Experience supporting public sector or similar complex organisations Technology – • A robust end to end online booking system which is easy to use and accessible. • Dynamic management information reporting and dashboards • Online booking portal to ensure high performance and MoJ data integrity • How can your system be tailored to support policy controls, approval routes and exceptions • How offline bookings and processes can be managed as part of business continuity arrangements • Approach to system innovation and automation including any use of AI Coverage - • UK-wide venue coverage and supplier relationships • Ability to source venues close to courts, prisons, probation sites and transport links • Approach to sourcing specialist venues, including secure, accessible or high-capacity spaces • Approach to securing indicative costs, price comparisons and best-value options Additional Information The presentation will not form part of a procurement process and is only being used to form part of our market research. The above examples of where venue hire services are currently used by MoJ and may be subject to change and/or may not be included in any future procurement exercise. The estimated release to the market is currently February 2027. Details of contract values and length are currently under review.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f14e
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/083478-2026
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
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

55 - Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services

CPV Codes

55000000 - Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£46,200,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
3 Sep 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
26 Feb 20276 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
27 Feb 2028 - 26 Feb 2032 4-5 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
Ministry of Justice
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1H 9AJ
Postcode Area
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

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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