Tender

The Propeller Academy Trust - Catering Services

THE PROPELLER ACADEMY TRUST

UK4: Tender notice - Procurement Act 2023 - view information about notice types

Notice identifier: 2026/S 000-020718

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-0664eb

Published 9 March 2026, 9:39am

Scope

Reference

MPN-10347

Description

The Propeller Academy Trust is currently out to tender for the provision of a full daily catering service.

The Propeller Trust is dedicated to supporting young people with special needs

The services at the Trust schools are a mix of in-house and outsourced provision.

The Contractor will be responsible for the provision of a full school food catering service for the pupils and staff at the relevant schools. This will consist of breakfast and morning breaks at some sites and full lunch service for each school day at the relevant sites as per the MoI.

Across the Trust there are currently 323 pupils on roll for the academic year 2025/26. Of this figure, 26 pupils are entitled to UIFSM and a further 101 to Free School Meals.

TUPE is expected to apply, details of which can be found in the tender documentation.

Some members of the catering team 4 are members of the Local Government Pension Scheme and all details are in the tender documentation.

The Trust is keen to further increase uptake and continue the good work already in place for catering. It wishes to do so by working closely with the successful contractor in developing and continuously improving the service and partnership during the period of the contract and by introducing innovative and creative ideas as submitted in the tender process and ongoing.

The Trust is aware that there are always opportunities to improve and modernise. They are interested in ensuring that the caterers provide the best possible service, introducing new menu ideas and initiatives so that pupils are all eating and utilising the service regularly.

Total value (estimated)

£429,762 excluding VAT
£859,525 including VAT

Above the relevant threshold

Contract dates (estimated)

15 February 2027 to 14 February 2030
Possible extension to 14 February 2032
5 years

Description of possible extension:

The duration detailed above includes the initial term of 3 years as well as the 2 optional contract extension periods of 12 months each.

Main procurement category

Services

CPV classifications

55524000 - School catering services

Contract locations

UKJ14 - Oxfordshire

Submission

Enquiry deadline

23 March 2026, 5:00pm

Submission type

Requests to participate

Deadline for requests to participate

16 April 2026, 5:00pm

Submission address and any special instructions

Full details of how to submit are contained within the documents accompanying this tender.

In-Tend address - https://in-tendhost.co.uk/minervapcs/aspx/Home

Tenders may be submitted electronically

Yes

Languages that may be used for submission

English

Award decision date (estimated)

2 October 2026

Recurring procurement

Publication date of next tender notice (estimated): 2 March 2028

Award criteria

This table contains award criteria for this lot
Name	Description	Type	Weighting
Quality	Full details of the weightings and evaluation criteria are contained within the documents accompanying this tender.	Quality	90%
Price	Full details of the weightings and evaluation criteria are contained within the documents accompanying this tender.	Price	10%

Other information

Conflicts assessment prepared/revised

Yes

Procedure

Procedure type

Competitive flexible procedure

Special regime

Light touch

Competitive flexible procedure description

Duty to Consider Lots

As part of the initial project set up and approval stage of the tender process, Propeller Academy Trust discussed with Minerva the

possibility of splitting the tender into more than one lot/contract.

On the basis that Propeller Academy Trust is a Trust with only a small number of sites (in a close geographic area) it was agreed

that lots were not appropriate for this tender process.

Full details of the description of the process being used are contained within the documents accompanying this tender.

Stage 1 Conditions of participation with evaluation

Suppliers are invited to submit a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) response. Submissions will be evaluated based on the criteria detailed in the PSQ documentation. A maximum of five suppliers will be taken forward to the Invitation to Tender stage of the process. Where less than five suppliers meet the minimum standards, only those that meet the minimum standards will be taken through to the Invitation to Tender stage. Where more than five suppliers meet the minimum standard, those suppliers with the highest scores will proceed to the Invitation to Tender stage.

Stage 2 Invitation to Tender with evaluation

Suppliers shortlisted to the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage will be required to submit their final tender and will be evaluated on the criteria detailed in the ITT documentation. Envisaged shortlist of the three highest scoring bidders to be invited to:

Stage 3 Presentation Day

Stage 4 Assessment Summaries and Publication of Contract Award Notice (commencing 8 working day standstill period)

Stage 5 Publication of Contract Details Notice

Further details of the CFP can be found in the documentation accompanying this tender.

Documents

Associated tender documents

https://in-tendhost.co.uk/minervapcs/aspx/Home

All documents are being provided on publication of this Tender Notice. They will be hosted, and are freely available, on the In-tend portal for Minerva Procurement Consultancy Services Limited.

Contracting authority