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Open tenders / Catering & food

Planned procurement · Notice 102838-2026

Provision of Catering Services/PME/PRO/2026

The Open University

Value
£7.2m
Stage
Early notice
Where
South East
Lots
1
Suitable for SMEs
Yes, says the buyer
Contract
1 Feb 2028 – 31 Jan 2035

In plain English

The Open University wants to hear from catering suppliers in an early market engagement exercise ahead of a future tender for café, restaurant and meeting/hospitality catering at its Walton Hall campus in Milton Keynes. The contract is estimated at £7,200,000 and is expected to run from 1 February 2028 to 31 January 2035; it is not open for bids yet, with the tender planned for early 2027.

Good fit for: Contract caterers and catering firms able to run staffed café, restaurant and hospitality services on a single university site.

Written with AI from the official notice. Check the notice before relying on it.

What the buyer says

The OU will soon be embarking on a tendering exercise for its catering services, during the early part of 2027. The OU is the largest on-line university in the UK teaching up to 200,000 students per year, it is not a typical university as most student’s study part time in their own homes or in their place of work supported by locally based tutors. Walton Hall, is the headquarters of the OU, catering services provide café, restaurant and meeting / hospitality services to the academics, 200 post graduate students, support staff and tenant teams based at the Milton Keynes campus. Over the past 5 years the campus has undergone considerable changes in work patterns, from an original site population of over 3,500 to now operating peak days Tuesday to Thursday at 1,100, and Mondays and Fridays significantly lower. This may increase in the future years as the OU continues with its strategy to lease its buildings to external organisations. Aims and Objectives of catering services • Create a financially sustainable service to the OU, its employees and visitors. • Create a service that incorporates the latest and future trends in food service. • Create a service that maintains a high level of creativity, quality and variety (this may require some remodelling of staffing and service area) • Availability 8.00am – 4.00pm 5 days per week excluding public holidays & Christmas closure. • Offer a consistent perception of value for money to users. • Be flexible and agile in its ability to respond to changing site population in the coming years. Overview of Requirement The OU would like to hear from catering suppliers willing to participate in an Early Market Engagement exercise in the field of Catering Services. The purpose of this request is to: • Understand industry developments …

Read the official notice

What happens next

This is an early notice: the buyer is planning a tender, and its documents come when the tender is published. The notice gives the buyer's team as finance-tenders@open.ac.uk. Read the official notice for the details.

Procedure: not stated. Published 29 Oct 2026.

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