Southsea Castle Catering and Events Concession Opportunity - Portsmouth 2026

AWARD & STANDSTILL PERIOD

Following receipt of tenders on 21st August 2026 the Council has concluded the assessment process and issued assessment summaries to the successful and unsuccessful suppliers as required under Section 50 of the Procurement Act 23 (the 'Act').

The Council reserves the right to amend (extend)the Standstill Period if needed; if this right is exercised, the Contract Award Notice will be updated and affected suppliers will be notified accordingly.

After the Standstill Period has expired, and provided no legal challenge has been made by the end of the Standstill Period or any agreed extension, the Council intends to enter into contracts with the Successful Supplier. Following this, the Council also intends to publish a Contract Details Notice.

Procurement description

Portsmouth City Council (the Council) has awarded a concession contract for the provision of catering and events services at Southsea Castle. The contract will operate under a long-term commercial arrangement incorporating a lease together with a revenue-sharing mechanism between the operator and the Council. The contract has been awarded under Lot 1, comprising an initial term of five years with the option to extend by up to a further five years at the Council's discretion.

Southsea Castle is a historic Scheduled Ancient Monument and visitor attraction located on Portsmouth's seafront. The site operates as a visitor destination, museum, restaurant, wedding venue and events location, attracting significant visitor numbers throughout the year and playing an important role in the city's tourism, heritage and cultural offer.

The successful operator will be responsible for delivering catering services and supporting a programme of events from the site, whilst working collaboratively with the Council to maximise visitor experience, increase commercial opportunities and support community engagement. Delivery of the contract will be undertaken in a manner that recognises and protects the historic significance of the Castle while balancing commercial operation with public access and heritage requirements.

The contract includes performance measures relating to customer experience, event delivery, catering quality, commercial performance, compliance and partnership working. The Council also expects the operator to support its social value objectives and work collaboratively with stakeholder organisations and local communities.

The Council recognises that local government structures and service delivery arrangements may evolve during the life of the contract. Any future changes arising from local government reorganisation, devolution arrangements or other changes in public sector governance will be managed in accordance with the contract provisions and applicable legislation.

The Council has identified the following known risks & opportunities that may occur during the duration of the term of the contract and may positively or negatively impact the scope, scale, value, timescales, end user demand, etc. related the contract:

• Development and changing demographics of Portsmouth area which could impact positively or negatively on operator revenues

• Marco and micro environmental impacts on utilities and other costs which could impact operator costs

• Changes to VAT levels and other impacts of taxation which could impact operator costs

• Local Government Review impacts including for assignment of contract to successor unitary authority and any new requirements / objectives of the new authority which may require alterations to the technical scope, contractual and commercial structure of the arrangements

• Unforeseen maintenance requirements which could increase operator costs and impact revenues if closures are required

• Inflation and other cost of living impacts which could increase or decrease operator revenues and costs

• Changes to National Living Wage, National Insurance and other factors which could impact operator employment costs

• Increased or decreased competition from other public or privately run facilities or attractions which could impact operator revenues

• Introduction of new technologies, systems and processes which could reduce operator costs and / or increase revenues as well as impacting technical scope

• Introduction of new activities through market innovations that could open up new operator revenue opportunities and impact technical scope

• Changes to relevant government policy / legislation which could increase or decrease operator revenues & costs, as well as potentially mandating changes to the technical scope

• An endemic or pandemic event similar to Covid 19 which could increase costs and / or reduce demand.

The Council has identified the risks and opportunities above associated with the delivery of this contract. In accordance with Schedule 8 of the Procurement Act 2023, the Council reserves the right to modify the contract, without initiating a new procurement procedure, should any of these risks materialise during the contract term.

Award Notice Clarification: The lot description below has been carried forward from the original tender notice and is reproduced for completeness. Full details of the procurement, service requirements and concession arrangements are contained within the original tender notice.

The final contract value reported within this Contract Award Notice differs from the estimated value stated in the tender notice, reflecting the commercial proposal and financial forecasts submitted by the successful bidder as part of its tender response.

The value published in this notice therefore represents the Council's assessment of the anticipated value of the awarded concession contract based on the successful tenderer's submission.