HMP Rye Hill April 2026 and May 2026 Market Engagement Events

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION

Subject to approvals, the Authority is seeking to establish a new contract for Prison Operator Services at HMP Rye Hill, with the launch of the procurement planned for June 2026. The anticipated contract duration is 12 years from the operational services commencement date, with an option to extend by up to 3 years in 1-year increments, making the maximum term 15 years.

The procurement for HMP Rye Hill will be conducted under the Competitive Flexible Procedure (Light Touch Regime) under the Procurement Act 2023.

The Authority has tendered the operation of prisons to the private sector since the early 1990s and has long advocated a mixed approach to prison operation that includes public, voluntary and private sector involvement. HMP Rye Hill is a male Category C Private Finance Initiative (PFI) prison located in Northamptonshire, England, with a current maximum operational capacity of 1,122.

To inform the market and generate interest, the Authority will be hosting the following events with interested suppliers prior to the launch of the competition:

• Virtual Event at 2pm – 3:30pm on Thursday 30th April 2026 via Microsoft Teams
• Site Visits to HMP Rye Hill on Wednesday 6th May 2026

As per the Planned Procurement Notice published by the Authority on 7th January 2026 (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/001183-2026), the indicative procurement timetable for the HMP Rye Hill procurement is as follows:

• Publication of Tender Notice and Initial ITT Documentation – 15/06/2026
• Deadline for Submission of PSQ and COP Responses – 26/06/2026
• Authority issue PSQ and COP Notification Letters – 10/07/2026
• Bidder Engagement and Dialogue - 13/07/2026 to 31/08/2026
• Publication of ITT Documentation – 07/09/2026
• Deadline for Submission of Tender Responses – 25/09/2026
• Contract Award – 05/04/2027

EVENT 1 - VIRTUAL EVENT

This event will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams and will be delivered by the HMPPS Competition and MoJ Commercial teams. This event will aim to provide suppliers with key information, including:

• An overview of services delivered at HMP Rye Hill
• The procurement process and indicative timelines
• An overview of the Evaluation Questions

Suppliers are restricted to a maximum of 5 attendees for this event. This event will be recorded, and the recording will be shared with all suppliers who attend.

EVENT 2 – SITE VISITS

The Authority will be facilitating site visits to HMP Rye Hill on Wednesday 6th May. The purpose of this site visit will be for interested suppliers to familiarise themselves with the prison and the services delivered at HMP Rye Hill.

The site visit will be split into two sessions:

• Morning – 9am to 12pm
• Afternoon – 1pm to 4pm

Due to restrictions on group size for site visits, the Authority has limited the number of attendees from each supplier to a maximum of two. Therefore, when expressing an interest in attending the site visit, please provide the names of your two attendees and whether there is a session they cannot attend. The Authority will then confirm which session you are invited to attend. For the avoidance of doubt, suppliers are only invited to attend one of the sessions and not both.

The Authority intends to facilitate additional site visits prior to formal competition launch during w/c 18th May 2026. Further details regarding these site visits will be communicated via a separate market engagement notice in due course.

REGISTERING ATTENDANCE AND SUPPLIER ATTENDEES

To express an interest in any of the HMP Rye Hill market engagement events, suppliers should register for this procurement opportunity on the MoJ’s e-procurement portal, Jaggaer, under PQQ_564 – Market Engagement for HMP Rye Hill. A link to the MoJ's e-procurement portal is below: https://ministryofjusticecommercial.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html

Once a supplier has registered for this opportunity via Jaggaer, please respond via PQQ_564 – Market Engagement for HMP Rye Hill with the requested information by the deadlines specified below:

• Virtual Event - names, job titles and email addresses of your attendees by no later than 5pm on Monday 27th April 2026. Please note there is a maximum of 5 attendees per organisation for this event.
• Site Visit – names, job titles and email addresses of your attendees by no later than midday on Friday 1st May 2026. Please note there is a maximum of 2 attendees per organisation for this event.