---
title: "Mystery Shopping at Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC's)"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0604b6"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0604b6"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0604b6.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0604b6.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "KENT COUNTY COUNCIL"
published: "2026-03-24"
---

# Mystery Shopping at Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC's)

Buyer: KENT COUNTY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0604b6

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## Summary

Kent County Council, a public authority within sub-central government, is overseeing the procurement process for "Mystery Shopping at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC's)" across Kent. The procurement falls under the customer survey services category, with a focus on assessing and improving service delivery at 19 HWRC sites in the UKJ region. The process utilised an open, below-threshold competition method. The contract period, starting from May 2026 to April 2029, includes an option for a 12-month extension. The procurement process is complete as of 24 March 2026, following the tender and award stages, with the contract valued at £160,000 (gross £192,000).

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses specialising in customer survey services, particularly those well-acquainted with the mystery shopping approach. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) like Mystery Shoppers Ltd, who possess the necessary capacity for conducting regular and discrete site visits, maintaining comprehensive data storage, and providing detailed monthly reports, would be well-positioned to compete. As the awarded supplier, Mystery Shoppers Ltd will have the chance to further establish its credibility in the public sector, potentially leading to future business opportunities with councils aiming to enhance service quality and operational efficiencies in waste management facilities.

## Notice

KCC has the statutory responsibility to provide a Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) service to residents, of which we currently have 19 in Kent. The HWRCs are for the disposal of household waste and accept a wide range of materials. Trade waste is accepted at a number of sites. Mystery shopping has proven to be an effective tool for independently assessing the quality of service delivery, identifying areas for improvement, identifying health and safety issues, informing staff training, operational decisions and maintaining site cleanliness at each of the HWRC's. KCC requires a contract for Mystery Shopping at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) for a period of 36 months from May 2026 to April 2029 , with the option of an additional 12 month extension if required. The supplier must have the following as a minimum: *Capacity - the supplier must have the capacity to undertake four monthly visits to each of the 19 sites across Kent. *Personnel - the supplier must have sufficient personnel resources to ensure the Mystery Shopper are not recognised by HWRC staff. *Data Storage - the suppliers must have the ability to store the data it collects. *Monthly Reporting - the supplier must have the ability to provide monthly reporting to the Council on the results of its surveys.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: The contract may be extended by a further period of up to 1 year.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/026574-2026 |
| Notice type | UK7 - Contract Details Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Below threshold - open competition |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 24 Mar 2026 |
| Submission deadline | 9 Feb 2026 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 23 Mar 2026 |
| Contract period | 30 Apr 2026 - 30 Apr 2029 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £160,000 |
| Lots value | £160,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £160,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | KENT COUNTY COUNCIL |
| Locality | MAIDSTONE |
| Post town | Rochester |
| Postcode | ME14 1XQ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ4 Kent |
| ITL 3 | TLJ45 Mid Kent |
| Local authority | Maidstone |
| Electoral ward | Penenden Heath |
| Westminster constituency | Maidstone and Malling |
| Delivery location | TLJ South East (England) |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | MYSTERY SHOPPERS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79342310 - Customer survey services

## Release History

- 24 Mar 2026 at 08:47 - Award - UK7 - Contract Details Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/026574-2026
- 13 Jan 2026 at 14:05 - Tender - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/002695-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/026574-2026
  24th March 2026 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/002695-2026
  13th January 2026 - Tender notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0604b6. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0604b6.json.