Scope
Reference
NEPO407
Description
This Framework is being established for the provision of frozen food to Contracting Authorities in the North East only.
The Framework will provide North East Contracting Authorities access to suppliers capable of meeting their requirements for the delivery of frozen food to education establishments, including primary and secondary schools, alongside Council owned and operated sites.
Suppliers awarded to the Framework are able to provide concurrent deliveries across the North East, aligned to the delivery schedules of Contracting Authorities, including the specified days, restricted delivery windows and site entry requirements.
The Framework will enable Contracting Authorities to provide their service users with the specialised supply of frozen food to ensure that essential allergen requirements are adhered to, school food standards compliance is maintained, and individual dietary needs are met inclusively
Commercial tool
Establishes a framework
Framework
Maximum percentage fee charged to suppliers
3%
Further information about fees
A 3% management premium will be applied to all invoices for goods under this Framework.
Framework operation description
Prices are an inclusive cost for each product detailed in the Pricing Schedule.
The Price will be fixed for the initial period of the Framework. Thereafter, price increases, conducted as price change request, will be considered where the Supplier can demonstrate in a transparent manner that such increases are justified. Price increases will be managed in accordance with the Terms & Conditions detailed in the Framework Terms and Conditions for Goods. Any agreed price changes will remain fixed for a minimum of 3 months.
Any Price variations must be submitted to NEPO by the Supplier before the scheduled deadline, with full supporting evidence to justify the variations. NEPO will determine a format of suitable supporting evidence, as part of the price variation validation process. The application must be made in writing giving as a minimum four week's notice prior to the review and must be submitted in the correct format as determined by NEPO.
The Framework is a multi-supplier Solution, with a single supplier awarded to each Lot. Awards will be placed via a Direct Award with the sole supplier in each Lot.
The Framework also includes a General Lot in which all suppliers are awarded. Contracting Authorities may, where necessary, seek to access this lot by means of further competition. Where a Contracting Authority seeks to access this Lot, all suppliers will be invited to tender. This lot will be accessed on a contingency basis, in the event that an awarded Supplier becomes incapable of delivering the Framework.
Award method when using the framework
Either with or without competition
Contracting authorities that may use the framework
Darlington Borough Council
Durham County Council
Gateshead Council
Hartlepool Borough Council
Middlesbrough Council
Newcastle City Council
Northumberland County Council
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
South Tyneside Council
Stockton On Tees Borough Council
Sunderland City Council
Contracting authority location restrictions
- UKC - North East (England)
Contract 1
Supplier
Contract value
- £10,500,000 excluding VAT
- £12,600,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Date signed
3 July 2025
Contract dates
- 18 July 2025 to 17 July 2027
- 2 years
Main procurement category
Goods
CPV classifications
- 15100000 - Animal products, meat and meat products
- 15200000 - Prepared and preserved fish
- 15300000 - Fruit, vegetables and related products
- 15400000 - Animal or vegetable oils and fats
- 15500000 - Dairy products
- 15600000 - Grain mill products, starches and starch products
Contract locations
- UKC - North East (England)
Signed contract documents
NEPO407 - Frozen Food - Goods Framework Agreement.pdf
Contract 2
Supplier
Contract value
- £3,500,000 excluding VAT
- £4,200,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Date signed
3 July 2025
Contract dates
- 18 July 2025 to 17 July 2027
- 2 years
Main procurement category
Goods
CPV classifications
- 15100000 - Animal products, meat and meat products
- 15200000 - Prepared and preserved fish
- 15300000 - Fruit, vegetables and related products
- 15400000 - Animal or vegetable oils and fats
- 15500000 - Dairy products
- 15600000 - Grain mill products, starches and starch products
Contract locations
- UKC - North East (England)
Signed contract documents
NEPO407 - Frozen Food - Goods Framework Agreement.pdf
Contract 3
Supplier
Contract value
- £6,000,000 excluding VAT
- £7,200,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Date signed
3 July 2025
Contract dates
- 18 July 2025 to 17 July 2027
- 2 years
Main procurement category
Goods
CPV classifications
- 15100000 - Animal products, meat and meat products
- 15200000 - Prepared and preserved fish
- 15300000 - Fruit, vegetables and related products
- 15400000 - Animal or vegetable oils and fats
- 15500000 - Dairy products
- 15600000 - Grain mill products, starches and starch products
Contract locations
- UKC - North East (England)
Signed contract documents
NEPO407 - Frozen Food - Goods Framework Agreement.pdf
Other information
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Direct award
Direct award justification
Extreme and unavoidable urgency
NEPO intends to award a Framework for the Provision of Frozen Food. This award will establish a multi-lot, multi supplier Solution for access only by NEPO's Member Authorities.
The award is justified on the basis of section 41 and paragraph 13 of Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023.
The current framework is NEPO407 - Food and General Provisions and is utilised by North East Contracting Authorities to supply food for catering services in a range of environments, including pre-school, primary and secondary educational establishments, care facilities and Council operated sites.
The incumbent Supplier on framework NEPO408 is Hopwells Ltd. The supplier has notified NEPO of its intention to withdraw from the Framework and terminate existing Call-Off contracts, effective July 18th, 2025.
The termination of service to North East Contracting Authorities represents a significant risk to the provision of catering service to the school children, vulnerable individuals and the Council's residents and service users.
Service users require specialised supply to ensure that essential allergen requirements are adhered to, school food standards compliance is maintained, and individual dietary needs are met inclusively.
The risk to supply presents an acute risk to Contracting Authorities. Due to the timescales required to operate a full tender process, and the imminent risk of contract failure, NEPO have determined that a direct award is justified and necessary to avoid severe impacts to Contracting Authority's residents.
The direct award will retain only existing provision and its original scope and safeguards the continuity of service for Contracting Authorities.
Eligible Contracting Authorities have been named in the 'Participation' section of this Transparency Notice.
The Framework will allow those Contracting Authorities named in this notice the ability to call-off with awarded suppliers at their discretion.
NEPO is satisfied that the current supplier's decision to withdraw from the existing Framework presents an extreme and unavoidable urgency to protect Contracting Authority's service users. The urgency is unavoidable as it is not attributed to any act or omission of NEPO and could not have been foreseen by NEPO.
The direct award will be for a term of two years, this term is considered strictly necessary for the reasons set out below.
The intended two year term reflects the required time to enable an appropriate and proportionate return on investment for Suppliers. In mobilising at pace to meet the needs of the Contracting Authorities, Suppliers are anticipated to incur a number of costs including:
- Implementation costs
- Procurement and sourcing fees
- Vehicle and asset costs
- Site refurbishment
- Additional staffing and resourcing costs
- Systems and administrative fees
Market engagement identified that, in the absence of an appropriate and proportionate term, Suppliers would be unlikely to meet requirements to an acceptable standard without investment or would be unable to service the Framework entirely.
The primary users of the Framework are education establishments, which operate against academic years. To ensure that the Framework provides sufficient protection of supply for users, it is necessary for the award length to align to academic years. A shorter term would disrupt term time and would incur significant additional cost and resource for contracting authorities in duplicating implementation and operations and would present risk to continuity of pre-planned menus, which consider user requirements and strict allergen control.
The value of the award reflects the historic demand of the Framework however the Framework provides no guarantee of any orders or value of goods. Contracting Authorities named in this notice make no commitment of exclusivity or use.
NEPO has undertaken extensive market exploration to identify potential risks and inform its options appraisal. Multiple Suppliers, including regional SMEs, have been engaged to understand the market's capability, capacity, and readiness to support Contracting Authorities' urgent requirements in light of the decision taken by the incumbent supplier.
Several rounds of dialogue have been undertaken with Suppliers to identify challenges in supporting delivery of the Framework scope, including:
- Logistics and routing challenges
- Investment requirements
- Existing capacity
- Ability to scale
- Sustainability of service and cost
- Risks to supply
- Cost and commercial models
- Price control
- Service levels
- Contract Management
- Mobilisation
- Timescales
- Public sector supply challenges, including rigid delivery timescales and delivery windows.
A second round of dialogue then took place to validate and test the robustness of Suppliers' ability to meet requirements was held prior to a pricing exercise, which requested proposals from Suppliers.
To mitigate the risk of single supplier failure, the existing regional Lot was fragmented into 4 Lots, split geographically. Suppliers were asked to provide pricing for each Lot, where they were able to service that Lot in its own right.
Following assessment, and in line with the disaggregation of demand into separate regional Lots, 3 Suppliers were identified as being best placed to meet the requirements of the Framework.
NEPO intends to begin market engagement on the renewal of this Framework as a priority to ensure that the future iteration addresses the on-going risks to supply, reflects the changing dynamics of the supply market, and adopts a structure which retains value for money while providing greater resilience.
It is likely that the renewal of this solution, alongside the wider renewal of NEPO food solutions will result in a significantly different approach to food procurement for the region. A comprehensive phase of discovery, engagement and assessment will take place in response to the existing challenges. Suppliers will be encouraged to provide feedback on how the renewal could be shaped to encourage participation.
NEPO anticipates that market engagement will begin in Q4 2025, in anticipation of a future Framework award in Q1 2027 to replace this temporary, direct award solution. This timescale will allow the appropriate scoping and options appraisal in the design of the solution as well as an appropriate period for the effective mobilisation of the solution. Interested Suppliers are advised to register at www.open-uk.org to receive future updates on activity.
Suppliers
JJ FOOD SERVICE LIMITED
- Companies House: 02330996
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PCJZ-1587-TCML
7 Solar Way
Enfield
EN3 7XY
United Kingdom
Email: nationalaccounts@jjfoodservice.com
Website: http://www.jjfoodservice.com
Region: UKI54 - Enfield
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): No
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Supported employment provider: No
Public service mutual: No
Contract 1
P.F.D.(CARLISLE)LIMITED
- Companies House: 00557210
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PQPL-1318-WBWN
Pioneer House
Carlisle
CA1 2RW
United Kingdom
Email: g.jenkins@pioneerfoods.co.uk
Website: http://pioneerfoods.co.uk
Region: UKD12 - East Cumbria
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): No
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Supported employment provider: No
Public service mutual: No
Contract 2
Sysco GB Limited
- Companies House: 02035315
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PYDW-5326-VLZT
Enterprise House
Ashford
TN25 4AG
United Kingdom
Email: bid.team@brake.co.uk
Website: http://www.brake.co.uk
Region: UKJ45 - Mid Kent
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): No
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Supported employment provider: No
Public service mutual: No
Contract 3
Contracting authority
THE ASSOCIATION OF NORTH EAST COUNCILS LIMITED
- Companies House: 05014821
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PYVX-2132-JNMM
Northern Design Centre
Gateshead
NE8 3DF
United Kingdom
Email: cdpnepoteam@nepo.org
Website: http://www.nepo.org
Region: UKC22 - Tyneside
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government