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Association of Leading Visitor Attractions Benchmarking Survey

Historic Environment Scotland

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

21 Oct 2026 at 08:54

Award Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Historic Environment Scotland commissioned a market research service: the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) benchmarking survey. It benchmarks three of Historic Environment Scotland’s leading attractions against leading visitor attractions across the UK. The attractions covered are Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle and Urquhart Castle. The work is connected to Historic Environment Scotland’s membership of ALVA, a national framework representing tourism bodies. The survey is intended to provide comparative performance data for the three castles against other major UK attractions, supporting an understanding of their position within the visitor attractions sector.

The procurement is complete and the contract was awarded to Ipsos (market research) Ltd. Historic Environment Scotland used a limited procedure without prior publication of a competition, on the stated grounds that competition was absent for technical reasons: no other economic operator provides the ALVA benchmarking survey. The award was made on 21 October 2026, and the contract was signed that day. The contract is active and is valued at £40,000. It covers one lot for the benchmarking survey. No evaluation criteria are stated beyond the technical-reasons basis for selecting the supplier.

For this requirement, a credible supplier needs to provide the ALVA benchmarking survey itself: the buyer’s rationale for selecting Ipsos was that no other economic operator provided it. This makes access to the survey’s established benchmarking scope and ability to compare major visitor attractions across the UK central to competing for the same work. Relevant capability would include market research and producing comparative evidence for heritage visitor attractions, with the capacity to cover multiple prominent sites and benchmark them against leading attractions nationally. Historic Environment Scotland’s purchase also demonstrates demand for external benchmarking of Edinburgh, Stirling and Urquhart Castles through its ALVA membership. Suppliers offering adjacent tourism research without the specific ALVA survey would not match the stated basis for this award.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Association of Leading Visitor Attractions Benchmarking Survey

Notice Description

ALVA (Association of Leading Visitor Attractions) Benchmarking Survey

Lot Information

Lot 1

HES are members of ALVA (the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions). ALVA is a national framework representing tourism bodies across the country. ALVA benchamrking survey which benchmarks our 3 top attractions against the leading attractions within the UK.

Procurement Information

HES intends to award to the Supplier on the basis that competition is absent for technical reasons as per Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 33.1.b (ii) No other economic operator provides the ALVA benchmarking survey

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-078c63
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/099246-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Limited
Procurement Method Details
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

CPV Codes

79310000 - Market research services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£40,000 Under £100K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
21 Oct 20266 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Historic Environment Scotland
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
EDINBURGH
Postcode
EH9 1SH
Postcode Area
Edinburgh
Country
Scotland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLM Scotland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLM1 East Central Scotland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLM13 City of Edinburgh
Delivery Location
TLM Scotland
Local Authority
City of Edinburgh
Electoral Ward
Southside/Newington
Westminster Constituency
Edinburgh South

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Ipsos MORI

Further Information

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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