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PRE-MARKET ENGAGEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE (PME) for CAT-26-002 Sustainable Catering Disposables and Packaging

the Education Authority

Planned

Key facts

Closing date
Not stated by the buyer
Buyer's estimated value
£6,000,000 (excl. VAT) The buyer's own estimate, not income to you.
Contract period
31 May 2027 to 31 May 2029
Procedure
Not stated
Notice type
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Suitable for SMEs (per buyer)
Yes

Decision brief

Taken from the buyer's published notice (shown as written, shortened where long). Tenderpatch has not added to or interpreted it. Always read the official documents before bidding.

How bids will be scored
Not stated in the notice.
Conditions of participation (what you must show)
None published in the notice. They may be in the tender documents.
Contract length and extensions
31 May 2027 to 31 May 2029.
How to submit
Not stated in the notice.
Tender documents
No document links in the notice. Use the official notice link.
New to public tenders? Plain-English guide to this page
Framework
An agreement that sets terms for work the buyer may order later, often from several suppliers. The value shown usually covers the whole agreement, not one job.
Open for bids / closing date
You must submit by the closing date and time, normally through the buyer's own online portal. Late bids are normally refused.
Clarification questions
A deadline for asking the buyer questions about the tender. It is earlier than the closing date.
Conditions of participation
What the buyer asks suppliers to show before they can be considered, such as experience, insurance or accreditations.
Bids are scored on
How the buyer will compare bids, usually a split between price and quality. A 60/40 split in favour of quality means the cheapest bid will not necessarily win.
Lots
A tender can be split into parts. You can often bid for only the lots that suit you.
Area (ITL)
The buyer names an official statistical area for where the work is, not a street address. Check the tender documents for the actual sites.
UK4 and other notice codes
Official codes for the type of notice. A "tender notice" means bids are being invited.

General explanations written by Tenderpatch, not part of this notice.

Description

This is not a tender exercise by the Education Authority. The Education Authority Northern Ireland (EANI) wishes to engage with the market to seek their views on establishing a robust, value for money contract for the provision of sustainable catering disposables and packaging products . Any information gathered through this market consultation exercise will inform internal business planning and any possible subsequent procurement process and will NOT be appraised in any future tender evaluation exercise. Please note that participation or non-participation in this preliminary market consultation exercise shall not prevent any supplier from participating in any potential procurement process, nor is it intended that any information supplied shall place any supplier at an advantage or disadvantage in any forthcoming procurement process. For the avoidance of doubt, this is the scoping phase of the project and is not part of a formal procurement process. Suppliers who wish to participate in the market engagement exercise should complete the pre-market engagement questionnaire. Further information including the questionnaire can be downloaded from CfT documents. The Questionnaire must be completed and PME Document signed and returned via the Messaging function of eTendersNI by no later than 3pm on Wednesday 21 October 2026 (deadline) in accordance with the instructions detailed in the PME Questionnaire document. There are no formal tender documents to be completed other than the questionnaire.