Thames Water Utilities Limited has published a tender for one or more partners to deliver Facilities Management and workplace services across its operational and corporate estate, using a four-lot framework. The opportunity spans London and the South East, and is positioned as a long-term relationship where suppliers help deliver sustainable improvements across a large, complex estate.
What stands out straight away is the scale and variety: Thames Water references 3,935 sites touched to some extent by facilities services, alongside compliance-led activity and reactive call-outs. For suppliers, this is not simply about delivering a cleaning or maintenance schedule; it’s about demonstrating control of compliance, responsiveness, and coordination across a dispersed portfolio.
What’s being procured
The tender is structured into four lots, each intended to be awarded to one supplier, although bidders can win more than one lot.
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Lot 1: Facilities Management – including cleaning, helpdesk, building maintenance and minor works. Thames Water states this lot covers both soft and hard services across nearly 4,000 sites, with examples including cleaning, HVAC maintenance, asbestos surveys, legionella testing and fire system maintenance, plus reactive call-outs.
Thames Water also highlights a requirement for a supplier to deliver directly and/or manage subcontractors, and to staff a helpdesk to manage incoming requests and site access. Minor reactive work is included up to a maximum of £15,000 per project, to be directly awarded.
(Estimated lot value: £117m ex VAT.) -
Lot 2: Security guard services – static guarding across 29 sites (operational and corporate), plus surge guarding and ad hoc support during security events (including off-site public locations such as bottled water stations). Thames Water states NSI Silver is mandatory.
(Estimated lot value: £38m ex VAT.) -
Lot 3: Catering services – subsidised coffee, snacks and hot meals across three main office buildings (two in Reading, one in Swindon), plus hospitality as required. The provider is also responsible for waste segregation, consumables, and maintaining Thames Water-owned catering equipment.
(Estimated lot value: £3m ex VAT.) -
Lot 4: Vending services – a fully managed service for hot drinks and snacks/cans, including machine provision, replenishment, cleaning and maintenance across 18 corporate and operational sites.
(Estimated lot value: £1.19m ex VAT.)
Overall, the framework is valued at £160m ex VAT (estimated), with contract dates shown as 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2032, and a possible extension to 31 March 2035 (up to a maximum overall term of 8 years).
Timelines and procedure
This procurement is being run under a competitive flexible procedure described as PSQ → ITN → negotiation → award. Thames Water highlights two key dates for the early stage:
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Enquiry deadline: 16 March 2026, 5:00pm
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Deadline for requests to participate (PSQ): 23 March 2026, 10:00am
Because it’s a staged process, the quality of your PSQ submission matters. You’re setting the tone for how credible and controllable your delivery model looks before you even reach the ITN.
What evaluators will likely be looking for
The headline award criteria show a strong emphasis on quality and price: Technical Quality (55%), Commercial Price (40%), and Contractual terms (5%). In practical terms, suppliers should expect the winning bids to reduce buyer anxiety in four areas:
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Compliance assurance at scale (especially Lot 1) – clear plans for planned compliance activity, evidence management, auditability, and rapid response when risks arise.
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Helpdesk performance and access management – how calls are triaged, how site access is controlled, and how you prevent repeat faults.
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Resilience and subcontractor control – how you manage specialist providers without losing accountability for outcomes and reporting.
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Value for money that’s deliverable – a pricing model that’s competitive but realistic, especially where reactive activity and minor works are included.
How Thornton & Lowe can support
If you’re bidding for Lot 1 (or multiple lots), it often helps to treat this as a programme bid: one coherent operating model, with service lines that connect rather than read as separate mini-offers. Our team supports suppliers competing in utility-sector procurements through our utilities tenders bid writing support, helping you align compliance, delivery and commercial responses to the buyer’s risk priorities.
Where you need structure and momentum across PSQ, ITN and negotiation stages, our bid management services can help you plan reviews, manage inputs from multiple SMEs, and keep the final submission consistent and evaluator-friendly.
