Scope
Reference
VA/CON/F25/14
Description
The V&A is running this preliminary market engagement survey on behalf of the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum Group, and the V&A Museum. These three organisations currently form a consortium to contract for the provision of security guarding services to their various sites across England. Currently, we are buying these services from a single provider and that contract will expire in March 2027.
Security services are currently being provided at 15 sites with an approximate total of 245 FTEs.
The contract to the museums consortium currently includes the following elements:
• 24/7 Control room services (command and control, CCTV and alarm monitoring)
• Entrance guarding and patrols
• Key and pass issue
• Event security
It partially includes the following services at selected sites only:
• Behavioural detection analysis
• Logistics (deliveries etc)
Total value (estimated)
- £140,000,000 excluding VAT
- £168,000,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 17 March 2027 to 16 March 2032
- Possible extension to 16 March 2035
- 8 years
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 79710000 - Security services
Contract locations
- UKC - North East (England)
- UKD - North West (England)
- UKE - Yorkshire and the Humber
- UKG - West Midlands (England)
- UKI - London
- UKJ - South East (England)
Engagement
Engagement deadline
7 July 2025
Engagement process description
To respond to our survey, please use this link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=pqhybT5ixEK4FwRbTfKt1P9TzZfPOsVLljXFrpdOTGFUM08wNE1GSElNRllaOTNaRENCOE83Q0QwVyQlQCN0PWcu
We are looking to go out to market for security services in 2026 for a start date of March 2027. We are currently considering our options for how those services could be provided. This includes thinking about whether we remain as a consortium and if so, in what form.
We want to hear your views to help us make this decision so we are issuing this survey as part of our preliminary market engagement.
The purpose of this survey is to help us understand suppliers' appetite and capability for providing these services to us a. individually or as a consortium, and b. as a single combined contract or in various packages. We want to get your opinion on what benefits there might be from us packaging up the contract in various ways.
Responses submitted in this survey will not in any way impact any future submission for these - or any other - tenders with the NHM, SMG and V&A. Any data received as part of our preliminary market engagement activities will be retained and deleted in line with Regulation 98 (4) of the Procurement Act 2023 (three years after a contract is entered into). We will not share responses to this survey with any third parties except in an anonymised format. We have carried out a conflicts interest assessment for all individuals that will have sight of the responses received. To fulfil our duty under the Regulation 16(3) of the Procurement Act 2023 we will include in our tender pack an aggregated summary of all responses received once we go out to market for these services but such summary will not contain any personally identifiable information.
The survey closes at the end of the day on 07 July 2025.
Participation
Particular suitability
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
Procedure
Special regime
Light touch
Contracting authorities
Victoria and Albert Museum
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PQLN-4536-WVGN
Cromwell Road
London
SW7 2RL
United Kingdom
Email: procurement@vam.ac.uk
Region: UKI33 - Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham
Organisation type: Public authority - central government
Natural History Museum
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PJBJ-4723-MZPX
Cromwell Road
London
SW7 5BD
United Kingdom
Email: nhmprocurement@nhm.ac.uk
Region: UKI33 - Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham
Organisation type: Public authority - central government
Science Museum Group
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PDTR-3338-MNPG
The Science Museum
London
SW7 2DD
United Kingdom
Region: UKI33 - Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham
Organisation type: Public authority - central government