Docking Station Cafe[E13]

From the notice

The University of Kent is seeking expressions of interest from café operators as part of a pre-market engagement exercise for the cafe within Docking Station, a landmark creative and innovation hub opening in Medway in early 2027. Docking Station is a publicly accessible centre for digital creativity, research, learning and community engagement, operated by the University's Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (iCCi). The facility will bring together students, academics, creative businesses, entrepreneurs, local residents and visitors within a unique riverside destination on the Historic Dockyard estate. The building will feature state-of-the-art digital production facilities including LED volume technology, motion capture, volumetric capture and photogrammetry studios, alongside flexible teaching spaces, co-working facilities, offices, exhibition areas and a programme of public events. Designed as a bridge between academia, industry and the wider community, Docking Station will become a hub of activity throughout the year. A high-quality café offer is central to the visitor experience and the success of the building. We are therefore seeking feedback from experienced operators to help shape the future procurement opportunity. Through this pre-market engagement exercise, we are interested in hearing from potential operators on: • Appetite for operating a café within Docking Station. • Preferred operating models and partnership approaches. • Customer offer, including food, beverage and community-focused provision. • Expectations around fit-out, equipment and landlor…[E7]

• ConditionDelivery location: UKJ41, United Kingdom.[E8]
• ConditionThe legal basis is UKPGA 2023/54 (Procurement Act 2023).[E9]
• DetailLot LOT-0000 runs from 1 Feb 2027 to 31 Jan 2030.[E5]
• The notice data states no restriction on who may bid. Exclusion grounds and selection criteria in the tender documents still apply.

• RiskBidding has not opened. Scope and dates can change before the call for competition.[E10]
• UnknownNo submission deadline we could read in the notice data.
• UnknownWe read the published notice, not the full tender documents.

1. First seen · 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC

   The source published a planning or prior information notice. Bidding has not opened.

   Source document 101712-2026

Every fact on this page comes from the published notice. Each entry shows the document and the field it was read from.

1. E1

   The buyer is London and South East University Group.

   Document 101712-2026, field /buyer/name, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

2. E2

   The notice is classified under CPV 55330000 (Cafeteria services).

   Document 101712-2026, field /tender/items/0/additionalClassifications/0/id, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

3. E3

   The notice is classified under CPV 55400000 (Beverage-serving services).

   Document 101712-2026, field /tender/items/0/additionalClassifications/2/id, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

4. E4

   The notice is classified under CPV 55300000 (Restaurant and food-serving services).

   Document 101712-2026, field /tender/items/0/additionalClassifications/1/id, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

5. E5

   Lot LOT-0000 runs from 1 Feb 2027 to 31 Jan 2030.

   “2027-02-01T00:00:00Z to 2030-01-31T23:59:59Z”

   Document 101712-2026, field /tender/lots/0/contractPeriod, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

6. E6

   The buyer's address is in United Kingdom.

   Document 101712-2026, field /parties/0/address/country, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

7. E7

   The buyer describes the requirement in the notice.

   “The University of Kent is seeking expressions of interest from café operators as part of a pre-market engagement exercise for the cafe within Docking Station, a landmark creative and innovation hub opening in Medway in early 2027. Docking Station is a publicly accessible centre…”

   Document 101712-2026, field /tender/description, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

8. E8

   Delivery location: UKJ41, United Kingdom.

   Document 101712-2026, field /tender/items/0/deliveryAddresses/0, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

9. E9

   The legal basis is UKPGA 2023/54 (Procurement Act 2023).

   Document 101712-2026, field /tender/legalBasis/id, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

10. E10

    This is a planning or market engagement notice. Bidding has not opened.

    “planningUpdate”

    Document 101712-2026, field /tag, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

11. E11

    The notice was published on 27 Oct 2026.

    “2026-10-27T16:02:03Z”

    Document 101712-2026, field /date, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

12. E12

    Find a Tender gives the tender status as planning.

    Document 101712-2026, field /tender/status, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

13. E13

    The notice is titled "Docking Station Cafe".

    Document 101712-2026, field /tender/title, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

14. E14

    The stated value is GBP 90,000 excluding VAT.

    “90000 GBP”

    Document 101712-2026, field /tender/value/amount, read 28 Oct 2026, 09:17 UTC · source ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Contains public sector information from Find a Tender, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 ↗ (opens in a new tab). Personal contact details in notices are not stored or shown.