Travel Management, Meetings & Events Services

AI Summary

The Southern Universities Management Services (SUMS) is conducting a Preliminary Market Engagement to shape a national travel management framework that will serve higher education institutions and a broad range of public sector organisations across the UK. The agreed framework will encompass business travel, student travel, meetings and events, and the ancillary services that support those activities, providing member organisations with streamlined access to a comprehensive suite of travel‑management solutions. The initiative is structured to gather input on supplier capability, market trends and potential delivery models, so that the final procurement can be tailored to the diverse needs of universities, schools, government departments, NHS trusts, local authorities and other charitable bodies.

To ensure that the resulting lotting structure and commercial arrangements meet real‑world requirements, SUMS invites suppliers to review a draft specification, submit annotations and participate in a structured survey. Through this engagement, the consortium will refine the scope of the framework, develop a suitable lotting configuration, and determine the most efficient commercial model, with an emphasis on flexibility, integration and cost‑effectiveness. The final framework, once agreed, will be opened for use by all members of the UKUPc consortium, enabling consistent, high‑quality travel management services throughout the public sector network.

All supplied services must comply with applicable UK travel and event management standards and data protection regulations.

Description

The purpose of this Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise is to engage with the market to understand current supplier capability, market developments and potential approaches to the delivery of travel management services. SUPC is seeking to gather information to help inform the scope, lotting structure, commercial model and service requirements of the proposed framework, including the potential provision of business travel, student travel, meetings and events, and associated services. The proposed framework will provide higher and further education institutions and other public sector organisations with access to a range of travel management services. The final scope and lotting structure will be informed by member requirements, supplier engagement and wider market intelligence. Information gathered through this exercise will help SUPC to develop the procurement strategy and specification. The PME is not a tender and does not constitute a commitment by SUPC to proceed with any particular approach or award a contract. The resulting framework agreement would be available to all members of the regional consortia that comprise UKUPC (APUC, LUPC, NEUPC, NWUPC, SUPC, TEC and TUCO). Members span a range of public sector organisations and include higher education institutions, schools and colleges, government departments, local authorities, charitable organisations, housing associations, NHS trusts, and others.

Estimated date of publication of contract notice: 2027-02-01T23:59:59Z
Contract location: UK
Engagement process description
Suppliers are invited to access the PME via our tendering portal, Mercell: https://uk.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/rwlentrance_s.asp?PID=108426&TID=100113488&B= On the portal you will find: 1. PME overview document - which includes a link to the survey 2. Draft specification - which suppliers are invited to review. Suppliers are welcome to annotate the draft specification and return it to SUPC via the Mercell messaging function, and may also use the messaging function to raise any clarification queries. Suppliers are invited to complete the market engagement survey via Microsoft Forms to provide feedback on the proposed scope, potential service requirements, commercial models and pricing approaches. You can find the survey here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/0X0Wz7HsLe The PME survey will open on Tuesday 1 September and remain open for four weeks, closing on Friday 25 September. We would also welcome any feedback on the draft specification by this date. The wider PME process will remain open until Friday 20 November to allow time for SUPC to review responses, hold any follow-up discussions with suppliers and carry out any further engagement activity required.

Lot: LOT-0000
This contract is subject to renewal: Yes

Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted: En

Details

Status:
Forecast
Sectors:
63516000 - Travel management services
55120000 - Hotel meeting and conference services
63510000 - Travel agency and similar services
+3 more
Place of origin:
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Places of performance:
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Deadline:
Apr 2, 2028, 11:00 PM
Contract duration:
Start date: 03 April 2028, End date: 29 March 2030
Contract type:
Services
Publication date:
Sep 1, 2026
Created date:
Sep 2, 2026
Update date:
Oct 21, 2026

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