Scope
Description
CONTRACT OPPORTUNITY - MEDIA BUYING
Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) is a registered charity, responsible for the care, conservation, and presentation of HM Tower of London (TOL), Hampton Court Palace (HCP), Kensington Palace, (KP) the Banqueting House at Whitehall (BH), Kew Palace (KEW) and Hillsborough Castle and Gardens, (HCG) the official residence of HM The King in Northern Ireland and residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
HRP is an independent charity for everyone, receiving no regular government funding and derives its income principally from admissions, retail, licensing, commercial events, sponsorship and support from donors and members.
The palaces in our care are the setting for the stories that shape us all, and we're bringing them to people in ways that mean more to them. We want everyone to find themselves in the spaces and stories we share.
We will be running a Competitive Flexible Procedure tender process with the intention of awarding contracts for the provision of Media Planning and Buying Services. This tender will be run in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023.
This procurement will be run as a two-stage tender process:
Stage 1 - Expression of Interest and Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ)
Stage 2 - Invitation to Tender (ITT) (Shortlisted suppliers only)
Requirements:
We are seeking expressions of interest from suitably experienced / qualified organisations.
The contract will be divided into two lots:
Lot 1: Offline Media
Lot 2: Digital Media
One supplier will be appointed to each lot. Organisations may apply for one or both lots, and HRP reserves the right to appoint one supplier for both lots.
Contract Value:
Total expenditure is estimated at £2.4m per annum and based on a 3 + 2-year arrangement would represent £12m.
Exclusion criteria:
Please refer to the PSQ document for information on exclusion criteria.
Tender Process:
Stage 1 - Expressions of interest and Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ):
The tender process will be run through HRP's e tendering system, Delta e-Sourcing. All expressions of interest and PSQ's must be received by HRP by 8th April 2025 at midday and must be submitted electronically via Delta e-Sourcing.
Stage 2 - Invitation to Tender (ITT):
Tender documents will be made available on Delta to those suppliers who are shortlisted at PSQ stage.
Please note that HRP reserves the right to refine award criteria during the tender process.
Registrations:
Suppliers will need to register on Delta E-Sourcing in order to participate in the tender process.
Suppliers can register here https://www.delta-esourcing.com/register/
Suppliers must be registered with on the Central Digital Platform
Supplier can register here www.gov.uk/find-tender
Shortlisting:
Suppliers will be shortlisted based on responses to the PSQ. There will be a maximum of 5 suppliers per lot invited to stage two of the tender.
Anticipated contract start date: March 2026
Contract period: 3 years with the option of extending for an additional 2 years
Contract location: UK with sites in London and Northern Ireland
Additional information included: As part of our pre-tender research we conducted a session presenting outline details of the opportunity to potential tenderers that had previously expressed an interest in working with HRP. Details of this session can be found in the attached documents, including a recording of the presentation and the slide deck
HRP reserves the right not to award a contract. HRP are at liberty to amend / refine the process and the evaluation criteria (subject to advising everyone via another transparency notice)
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Delta eSourcing portal at:
To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
Total value (estimated)
- £12,000,000 excluding VAT
- £12,336,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2029
- 3 years
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 79340000 - Advertising and marketing services
- 79341000 - Advertising services
- 79341200 - Advertising management services
- 79341400 - Advertising campaign services
Contract locations
- UKI - London
- UK - United Kingdom
- UKN - Northern Ireland
- UKN0 - Northern Ireland
Lot 1. Lot 1 - Offline Media
Description
The appointed offline media agency will be responsible for the strategic planning, buying, and delivery of offline media campaigns. This includes, but is not limited to, print, out-of-home, radio, and direct mail channels. The agency must demonstrate expertise in audience insight, media channel selection, and cost-efficient buying, with a proven ability to deliver campaigns that maximise reach, engagement, and return on investment. The agency will be required to work collaboratively, providing regular performance reporting, and aligning campaigns with the organisation's brand values, target audiences, and specific campaign objectives.
Technical Proficiency (50-60%)
Priorities and areas of assessment will include (but not be limited to):
Media campaign strategy and planning
Innovation and approach
Insightful campaign evaluation
Service Quality
Research, analysis and media selection skills
Budgeting strategy
Contract management
Reporting
Commercial value and buying power
Social Value (10-20%)
Priorities and areas of assessment will include (but not be limited to):
Sustainability
Carbon Footprint
Lot value (estimated)
- £6,000,000 excluding VAT
- £6,168,000 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Lot 2. Lot 2 - Digital Media
Description
The appointed digital media agency will be responsible for the strategic planning, buying, and delivery of digital marketing campaigns across key online channels, including display, paid social, paid search, video, programmatic and influencer marketing. The agency must demonstrate expertise in audience segmentation, performance marketing, and data-driven optimisation to maximise reach, engagement, and return on investment. Collaboration will be essential, with the agency expected to provide regular campaign performance reporting, actionable insights, and strategic recommendations aligned with the organisation's brand objectives and digital marketing goals.
Award Criteria:
Technical Proficiency (50-60%)
Priorities and areas of assessment will include (but not be limited to):
Media campaign strategy and planning
Innovation and approach
Insightful campaign evaluation
Service Quality
Research, analysis and media selection skills
Budgeting strategy
Contract management
Reporting
Commercial value and buying power
Social Value (10-20%)
Priorities and areas of assessment will include (but not be limited to):
Sustainability
Carbon Footprint
Lot value (estimated)
- £6,000,000 excluding VAT
- £6,168,000 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Submission
Enquiry deadline
31 March 2025, 6:00pm
Submission type
Tenders
Deadline for requests to participate
8 April 2025, 1:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
Tenders may be submitted electronically
No
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
1 September 2025
Award criteria
Lot 1. Lot 1 - Offline Media
| Name | Description | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technical Proposal (refer to lot description for further detail) | Long criteria description |
Quality | 60% |
| Commercial Proposal | Long criteria description |
Price | 30% |
| Social Value (refer to lot description for further detail) | Long criteria description |
Quality | 10% |
Lot 2. Lot 2 - Digital Media
| Name | Description | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technical Proposal (refer to lot description for further detail) | Long criteria description |
Quality | 60% |
| Commercial Proposal | Long criteria description |
Cost | 30% |
| Social Value (refer to lot description for further detail) | Long criteria description |
Quality | 10% |
Other information
Applicable trade agreements
- Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
- Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Competitive flexible procedure description
Two Stage procurement
Stage one - Expression of Interest / Procurement Specific Questionnaire
Stage two - Invitation to Tender
Contracting authority
Historic Royal Palaces
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PMHC-9885-MMJV
Hampton Court Palace
East Molesey
KT8 9AU
United Kingdom
Region: UKI75 - Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government