LEGISLATION PRINT PUBLISHING CONTRACT

The National Archives seeks a print publishing supplier to deliver its Legislation Print Publishing Contract, covering the production, sale, and fulfilment of statutory legislation items, associated documents, annual bound volumes, legislative effect notes, chronological tables, and correction slips. The agreement will commence with an initial two‑year term, renewable through three successive twelve‑month options, and will be executed across the United Kingdom.

The selected supplier will manage every phase of print production, ensuring that all printed materials meet the prescribed quality specifications and are available for sale without delay. Full order fulfilment and customer service responsibilities—including handling enquiries, complaints, and payment collection—will be included. Additionally, the supplier will administer the financial charges levied on government departments for online publication, issuing accurate invoices, pursuing payment when necessary, and transferring settled fees to the National Archives on a quarterly basis while providing advance notification of any overdue departmental invoices.

All printed outputs must conform to the exacting statutory quality standards and be produced within the non‑negotiable deadlines set by legislative requirements.

The purpose of this Procurement Process is for The National Archives (TNA) to select a Print Publishing Supplier to deliver its Legislation Print Publishing Contract.
The intention is to award the Contract for an initial period 2 years, with options to extend for three further periods of up to twelve months each (2+1+1+1).
The attached Invitation to Tender document gives an overview of the print publishing requirements and should be read in conjunction with Annexes 1 - 4, which provide more information about what is printed and why. If you require access to them, please contact us at procurement@nationalarchives.gov.uk
We estimate the maximum contract value over the whole contract term (i.e. 5 years) to be circa £4,200,000 (inc. VAT).
The Print Publishing Supplier will operate the print publishing of legislation, associated documents, annual bound volumes of legislation and legislative effects, Chronological Tables and correction slips. The Print Publishing Supplier is responsible for all aspects of print production.
The Print Publishing Supplier will make sure that all printed items are made available for sale and deliver all aspects of order fulfilment and customers services related to the printing and sale of legislation items, including taking payment, handling enquiries and complaints, despatch and record keeping.
Printing legislation is a statutory requirement - the Print Publishing Supplier must provide a print publishing service that meets exacting quality standards and specifications, and that prints legislative items to prescribed and non-negotiable deadlines.
In addition, government departments pay a publishing fee for online publishing. The Print Publishing Supplier is not responsible for online publishing but is responsible for the financial administration of the publishing charges made to government departments. This involves invoicing departments for the correct publishing fees and ensuring that invoices are paid in a timely manner, including chasing where invoices have not been paid. The Print Publishing Supplier then transfers the publishing fees to The National Archives on a quarterly basis. The Print Publishing Supplier needs to inform The National Archives of any overdue outstanding departmental invoices.

Contract location: UK
Communication: Submissions are to be sent to procurement@nationalarchives.gov.uk The National Archives' website address is www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Enquiry deadline: 2026-10-08T17:00:00+01:00
Submission address and any special instructions: Submissions are to be sent to procurement@nationalarchives.gov.uk The National Archives' website address is www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Tenders may be submitted electronically: allowed
Award decision date (estimated): 2027-01-22T23:59:59Z

Lot: 1
Lot value (estimated)
3.500.000,00 GBP excluding VAT
4.200.000,00 GBP including VAT
This contract is subject to renewal: Yes
Description of renewals: Three extension options of 12 months each.

Award criteria:

Name	Type	Weighting
Quality	quality	45%
Price	price	45%
Social Value	quality	10%

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