Catering for Wiltshire Police

Description

Provision of Catering Services at Wiltshire Police Headquarters (SN10 2DN). Lot 1: THIS NOTICE IS FOR PRIOR INFORMATION ONLY FOR THE PURPOSES OF IDENTIFYING SUPPLIERS TO TAKE PART IN EARLY MARKET ENGAGEMENT AND IS NOT A CALL FOR COMPETITION.Wiltshire Police currently have a café at their Headquarters Site in Devizes (SN10 2DN). Wiltshire Police wish to undertake early market engagement with suppliers in order to inform their requirements and to formulate a specification for this service. The cafe at the Headquarters site is open and staffed between 0800 and 1400 Monday to Friday and provides pre-made bought in sandwiches, boxed salads, confectionary, snacks and cold beverages. There is a small selection of filled hot breakfast rolls (sausages, bacon, hash browns) and a small selection of hot offerings at lunchtimes (jacket potatoes, soup, paninis). The staffed counter service has a barista coffee machine which is complemented by a cashless hot drinks vending machine to alleviate queues at the staffed counter and to provide hot drinks outside of café operating hours. There are three other vending machines on the HQ site from which staff can purchase snacks and cold drinks. Wiltshire Police pay a subsidy for this service which covers a management fee for the contractor as well as reducing tariffs for paying customers. There are approximately 600 staff permanently based at the HQ site although hybrid working means that not all staff will be on site every day. Training also takes place at HQ which can increase numbers on any given day by approximately 130. Authorised visitors to this site are also permitted to use the facility. Due to security requirements, there is no opportunity for ‘passing trade’. The intention is that the café will provide a wide variety of high quality, locally sourced, healthy and competitively priced items, café style hot drinks, bottled and canned drinks, confectionery and other snacks. There is no commercial kitchen equipment on site.Current takings in the cafe are approx. £150,000 per year, takings from hospitality are £11,000. There are three members of staff working in the café who work a total of 106.5 hours per week.The contract will also be required to provide hospitality, this will be mostly for the Headquarters site, but may on occasions, be for other Force sites. This will be primarily for beverages and / or buffet lunches but could include other requests.The purpose of the Prior Information Notice (PIN) is for early engagement with the market prior to undertaking a formal tender process which is expected to commence in May 2025. The market engagement is to openly consult with the wider market place to share our requirements and gather information whilst also providing information on our current position. We will be seeking input from the supply market to inform our requirements, to help formulate our specification for the services and help identify routes to market.If you are interested in supporting Wiltshire Police with this engagement please respond to this PIN by emailing gemma.hawkins@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk and you will be emailed a pre-market engagement questionnaire, so you can do any preparatory work you think necessary before attending a Microsoft Teams meeting to discuss your responses if you so wish. The closing date for pre-market engagement questionnaire returns and subsequent Team meetings will be noon on Friday 7th March 2025.SWPPS are committed to ensuring fairness, openness and transparency, and to following the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The PIN is however, issued solely for the purpose of conducting pre-procurement market testing and engagement. Interested parties will not be prejudiced or advantaged by any response or lack thereof to the PIN. This PIN does not constitute a call for competition to procure any services, supplies or works for SWPPS. SWPPS or Wiltshire Police are not liable for any costs, fees, or expenses incurred by any party in replying to the PIN.