Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
Department for Education
Sanctuary Buildings, 20, Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT
UK
E-mail: CommercialDelivery.SKILLS@education.gov.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
I.5) Main activity
Education
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Further Education Governor Recruitment Service 2025
II.1.2) Main CPV code
79600000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
A bespoke and targeted governor recruitment service for colleges in England which have been identified as being in particular need of support to strengthen governance. The Service will support the recruitment to key governor roles of a diverse range of candidates who have skills, knowledge and experience appropriate to those roles.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
879 000.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The FE Colleges Governor Recruitment Service ("the Service") will be an integral part of the Department for Education's (DfE's) help and active support offer for colleges. The Service is designed to strengthen governance in colleges by supporting the recruitment of a diverse range of appropriately skilled and knowledgeable governors to key roles on governing boards.
The Service will be free at the point of use. To ensure that the Service is targeted to those college boards which have the greatest need of help, access will be via a referral from the department, which will have the discretion to define "key" roles and will prioritise or limit referrals to ensure alignment with the terms of the contract with the Supplier.
The outputs will be:
A successful service model whereby the Supplier will need to: understand and communicate the benefits and responsibilities of being an FE governor to potential volunteers; work with college governing board chairs and governance professionals (clerks) to better understand the candidate requirements for the roles that are to be filled; and to ensure a diverse selection of appropriately qualified and well-briefed candidates for interview by the board.
A minimum of 140 appropriately skilled and diverse governors to be appointed to key governor roles over the Contract Period (210 should the optional extension period be utilised), with a minimum of 60 within in the first year. Support and advice for boards to put in place effective induction, support and development to help new governors understand their new responsibilities, and to continue in their roles for the longer term.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Price
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number in the OJ S:
2025/S 000-004309
Section V: Award of contract
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
28/04/2025
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 15
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 15
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Governors for Schools
Runcorn
UK
NUTS: UK
The contractor is an SME:
Yes
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 879 000.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
The Royal Courts of Justice
London
UK
VI.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
The Royal Courts of Justice
London
UK
VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
The Royal Courts of Justice
London
UK
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
30/06/2025