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Temporary Hospitality, Catering and Events Staff for ACE

University Of Edinburgh

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

21 Jul 2026 at 01:00

OJEU - F3 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

09 Sep 2025 at 01:00

OJEU - F2 - Contract Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The University of Edinburgh’s Accommodation, Catering and Events service procured temporary agency staffing across its Edinburgh estate. The requirement covers three service areas: hospitality and events staff, including catering assistants and plate waiters or silver-service staff; kitchen staff, including head chefs, chefs, kitchen assistants and kitchen porters; and domestic services staff, including hotel bedroom attendants, public-area cleaners and student-property cleaning staff. Agency workers are used to support students, staff, visitors and commercial activities during seasonal peaks, planned events, increased demand and unforeseen shortages, helping maintain catering, hospitality, accommodation and cleaning operations. This is a staffing-services requirement for providers able to supply suitably qualified personnel at short notice across multiple University venues in Edinburgh.

This procurement has been awarded following an open procedure, with electronic submissions and a framework limited to a maximum of nine participants. The submission deadline and bid opening were 10 October 2025 at 12:00. Each lot had a 720-day contract period, with one discretionary 24-month extension, giving a potential four-year duration. Evaluation was based on technical quality at 80% and price at 20%; bidders had to provide staff names and qualifications. The Hospitality and Events lot was awarded on 10 October 2025 to Blue Arrow, Navolio Limited trading as Off To Work, and Axis Recruitment Ltd, at £1,600,000. Domestic Services was awarded to Reed Recruitment, Blue Arrow and Brightwork at £800,000. Kitchen Staff was awarded to Blue Arrow, Reed Recruitment and Search Consultancy at £1,200,000. All three contracts were signed on 6 July 2026 and are active.

This award demonstrates recurring demand from a large university for flexible agency staffing across catering, events, kitchens, accommodation and cleaning. The successful supply model accommodates several providers, allowing businesses to compete for one or more service areas rather than needing to cover every requirement. Credible competitors will need an established recruitment operation, access to suitably qualified hospitality, catering, kitchen and domestic-services workers, and the capacity to respond quickly when demand rises or staffing shortages occur. They should be able to deploy personnel across multiple Edinburgh venues, manage different roles and volumes, and provide reliable workforce coordination. The requirement also shows that small and medium-sized staffing businesses can compete alongside larger agencies, provided they can demonstrate technical capability, qualified personnel and dependable delivery at operational scale.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Temporary Hospitality, Catering and Events Staff for ACE

Notice Description

The University's Accommodation, Catering and Events (ACE) service operates a range of essential catering facilities that support students, staff, visitors and commercial activities across the University. To ensure continuity of these critical services, the University supplements its permanent workforce with temporary agency staff during periods of increased demand, seasonal peaks, planned events and where unforeseen staffing shortages arise. Agency workers are engaged only where the existing permanent workforce is insufficient to meet operational requirements, helping to maintain service continuity, customer experience and contractual commitments. The purpose of this procurement is to establish a Framework Agreement with suitably experienced staffing providers that have the capacity and capability to supply high-quality catering personnel at short notice, as and when required. The Framework value is indicative and non-committal. This project is looking to establish a new framework agreement with suppliers who have the resource and capacity to work with the University to provide catering staffing resources as and when required.

Lot Information

Kitchen Staff

ACE operates across the city of Edinburgh. There are multiple venues and location across this wide geographical area, where agency staff will be required to attend for work. All locations may require staff at any one date and time. The volume and type of staff required will be dependent on business needs. Historical data highlights the roles where the highest volume of staff is required are: - Head Chef - Rare but maybe required for interim periods of up to 3 months; - Chef - estimate of up to 10+ on busier days; - Kitchen Assistants - estimate 15 + on very busy days; and - Kitchen Porter - estimate of up to 5+ on busier days. Please be aware that these figures are given in good faith but may not be representative of future demand.

Options: One extension period of 24 months will be available for use at the University's discretion, meaning a potential contract duration of 48 months, or four years.

Renewal: One extension period of 24 months will be available for use at the University's discretion, meaning a potential contract duration of 48 months, or four years.

Hospitality and Events

ACE operates across the city of Edinburgh. There are multiple venues and location across this wide geographical area, where agency staff will be required to attend for work. All locations may require staff at any one date and time. The volume and type of staff required will be dependent on business needs. Historical data highlights the roles where the highest volume of staff is required are: - Catering Assistants - estimate 15+ on very busy days; and - Plate Waiters/Silver Service Staff - estimate 50+ on very busy days. Please be aware that these figures are given in good faith but may not be representative of future demand.

Options: One extension period of 24 months will be available for use at the University's discretion, meaning a potential contract duration of 48 months, or four years.

Renewal: One extension period of 24 months will be available for use at the University's discretion, meaning a potential contract duration of 48 months, or four years.

Domestic Services

ACE operates across the city of Edinburgh. There are multiple venues and location across this wide geographical area, where agency staff will be required to attend for work. All locations may require staff at any one date and time. The volume and type of staff required will be dependent on business needs. Historical data highlights the roles where the highest volume of staff is required are: - Hotel Bedroom Attendants; - Hotel Public Area Cleaners - Student Property Domestic Cleaning Staff

Options: One extension period of 24 months will be available for use at the University's discretion, meaning a potential contract duration of 48 months, or four years.

Renewal: One extension period of 24 months will be available for use at the University's discretion, meaning a potential contract duration of 48 months, or four years.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-r6ebe6-0000809078
Publication Source
Public Contracts Scotland
Latest Notice
https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JUL560585
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
OJEU - F3 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large, SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

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

CPV Codes

79620000 - Supply services of personnel including temporary staff

Notice Value(s)

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

Notice Dates

Publication Date
21 Jul 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
10 Oct 2025Expired
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
Complete
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
University Of Edinburgh
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
EH1 1HT
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
TLM75 City of Edinburgh
Local Authority
City of Edinburgh
Electoral Ward
City Centre
Westminster Constituency
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
6
Supplier Names

Blue Arrow

Navolio Limited

AXIS RECRUITMENT LIMITED

Reed Recruitment

Brightwork Limited

Search Consultancy Ltd

Further Information

Notice Documents

  • https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=SEP538813
    Temporary Hospitality, Catering and Events Staff for ACE - ACE uses agency staff at times of high demand for its services to keep them open and running, in order to facilitate the delivery of contracted business. There are recognised difficulties with sourcing the required volume, quality and standard of staff through currently available avenues and within the timeframes required, therefore the aim of this framework is to ensure ACE are in the best possible position to source staff for their estate. This project is looking to establish a new framework agreement with suppliers who have the resource and capacity to work with the University to provide catering staffing resources as and when required.
  • https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=JUL560585
    Temporary Hospitality, Catering and Events Staff for ACE - The University's Accommodation, Catering and Events (ACE) service operates a range of essential catering facilities that support students, staff, visitors and commercial activities across the University. To ensure continuity of these critical services, the University supplements its permanent workforce with temporary agency staff during periods of increased demand, seasonal peaks, planned events and where unforeseen staffing shortages arise. Agency workers are engaged only where the existing permanent workforce is insufficient to meet operational requirements, helping to maintain service continuity, customer experience and contractual commitments. The purpose of this procurement is to establish a Framework Agreement with suitably experienced staffing providers that have the capacity and capability to supply high-quality catering personnel at short notice, as and when required. The Framework value is indicative and non-committal. This project is looking to establish a new framework agreement with suppliers who have the resource and capacity to work with the University to provide catering staffing resources as and when required.

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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