---
title: "PME - Guildhall School - Media Buying"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-069670"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-069670"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-069670.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-069670.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "THE MAYOR AND COMMONALTY AND CITIZENS OF THE CITY OF LONDON"
published: "2026-05-12"
---

# PME - Guildhall School - Media Buying

Buyer: THE MAYOR AND COMMONALTY AND CITIZENS OF THE CITY OF LONDON  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-069670

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## Summary

The procurement process, initiated by The Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is currently in the planning stage focused on digital paid media agency services for the renowned Guildhall School of Music & Drama. This opportunity involves a Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise to inform a future tender process. Located in the City of London (region UKI43), the Guildhall School seeks expertise in media campaign planning and strategic advisory within the advertising campaign services industry. Interested suppliers should demonstrate capability in higher education and cultural sectors. The PME commenced on 12th May 2026 and will conclude on 4th June 2026. Future tender announcements are anticipated around 7th September 2026, with the formal contract period set to begin in April 2027.

This tender presents a significant opportunity for businesses specialising in digital media services, especially those with excellence in client engagement and strategic media planning. It is particularly suitable for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs) due to its focus on innovative service model design and collaborative effort. Digital agencies with a strong understanding of audience targeting and international student recruitment strategies will find this an attractive opportunity to partner with a prestigious institution. Moreover, organisations with a knack for navigating complex audience demographics, including youth influencers and international markets, will stand out. The contract offers a chance for long-term growth, with an estimated gross value of £1,020,000, reinforcing its potential as a lucrative venture for forward-thinking agencies.

## Notice

Guildhall School of Music & Drama is one of the world's leading conservatoires, based in the City of London. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in music, drama, production and design, alongside a significant portfolio of short courses and youth and adult learning programmes. Guildhall School is seeking to appoint a digital paid media agency to support its student recruitment and awareness activity across all programme areas. This Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise is being conducted in advance of a formal procurement to help the City of London Corporation and Guildhall School understand the shape of the market, the capabilities available, and the most effective way to structure the forthcoming tender. Guildhall School currently operates approximately 20 campaigns per year across a wide range of programme areas and budgets. These span undergraduate and postgraduate music, drama, production and design, short courses for young people, adults and professionals, and youth training delivered through Guildhall Young Artists. The School's paid media activity primarily supports awareness building, in highly targeted markets, with audiences that differ significantly. For undergraduate applicants, paid media plays a particularly key role as applicants apply directly to Guildhall rather than via UCAS/UCAS Conservatoires. Without the visibility these platforms bring, paid media is a crucial way of accessing audiences. In some cases, particularly for youth programmes, advertising cannot legally target the end user (under-18s), and must instead reach parents, carers, teachers and other adult influencers. An agency appointed to work with Guildhall School must understand and be able to navigate this audience complexity from the outset. International student recruitment is a strategic priority for Guildhall School, and digital paid media is a key route through which it can build profile and attract students from overseas markets. Respondents should be aware that international capability is a significant consideration in this procurement. Guildhall School of Music and Drama does not currently have a CRM system in place. Attribution of campaign performance relies on a combination of platform data, postcode matching and manual data collection. The School wishes to work with an agency that can help establish meaningful performance benchmarks, and can work collaboratively towards defining success in terms of real-world recruitment outcomes. Guildhall School of Music and Drama is seeking a strategic partner, not simply a tactical executor. The ideal agency will bring genuine sector knowledge, proactive insight and creative challenge, as well as deep familiarity with the higher education paid media landscape, including competitor intelligence. Equally important is the ability to produce copy that demonstrates real understanding of the School's audiences and brand positioning - it is a prestigious, specialist institution and the standard of communication matters significantly. Guildhall School welcomes agencies that are willing to immerse themselves in the product, including visiting centres and attending events where relevant. The PME questionnaire below invites responses across six areas. These have been structured to help Guildhall School and the City of London Corporation understand how the market would approach this opportunity, including thoughts on service model design, pricing structures, and how agencies would propose to measure and evidence their impact within the School's specific context.

### Planning Information

This is a Preliminary Marketing Engagement (PME) exercise for digital paid media agency services for Guildhall School of Music & Drama, a department of the City of London Corporation (“the City”). 
If you feel that your organisation is able to contribute to this exercise, suppliers shall register free of charge via the https://cityoflondon.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/ portal.
Once registered, the supplier can access the questionnaire by clicking on the following link: https://cityoflondon.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/go/77396695019E1B850250
Please note that this is not a call for competition.
The following are pertinent to this Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) Questionnaire. Suppliers responding must have;
• An understanding of what the City of London Corporation and Guildhall School are aiming to deliver 
• An experience of working with higher education institutions, arts and cultural organisations, or comparable purpose-driven clients 
• Capability to comply with the Corporation’s requirements for the provision of digital paid media agency services, including campaign planning, media buying, performance measurement and strategic advisory
• An excellent approach to customer service
For the avoidance of doubt, this notice is for the purpose of conducting a Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise and will not formally begin the procurement or constitute any commitment by the City of London Corporation to undertake any procurement exercise.
Participation in the PME will be at each organisations own cost. No expense in responding to this PME will be reimbursed by the City.
The PME will run from 12th May 2026 to 4th June 2026 at midday.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/043354-2026 |
| 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 |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 12 May 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 7 Sep 2026 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 26 Apr 2027 - 26 Apr 2030 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £850,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Planning |
| Lots status | Planning |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | THE MAYOR AND COMMONALTY AND CITIZENS OF THE CITY OF LONDON |
| Locality | CITY OF LONDON |
| Post town | Central London |
| Postcode | EC2P 2EJ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI4 Inner London - East |
| ITL 3 | TLI43 Haringey and Islington |
| Local authority | Islington |
| Electoral ward | Clerkenwell |
| Westminster constituency | Islington South and Finsbury |
| Delivery location | TLI31 Camden and City of London |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79341400 - Advertising campaign services

## Release History

- 12 May 2026 at 09:48 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/043354-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/043354-2026
  12th May 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://cityoflondon.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/
- https://cityoflondon.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/go/77396695019E1B850250
- https://www.cityoflondon.gov.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-069670. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-069670.json.