Bayeux Tapestry Showcase

Description

The Museum seeks to award a contract for the design, manufacture, delivery and installation of a bespoke showcase to display the Bayeux Tapestry during its temporary exhibition at the British Museum, on display to the public from September 2026 - July 2027 (final dates to be confirmed). The appointed supplier will also be required to provide flexible and responsive support, conducting any necessary maintenance to the showcase for the duration of the exhibition. They will facilitate showcase access to enable the de-installation of the tapestry at the conclusion of the show and carry out the disassembly of the showcase. Circular economy principles should be applied throughout the design of the showcase to enable the most efficient reuse or recycling of components at the conclusion of the exhibition.
The contract must be delivered to a demanding timescale with key milestones for the production of shop drawings, prototyping, and provision of material samples.
The showcase must comply with stringent environmental control and monitoring requirements to maintain the tapestry in optimal conditions for its conservation throughout the installation, display and deinstallation periods. The showcase must meet, or exceed, the security requirements established under the UK Government Indemnity Scheme (GIS), or equivalent, for the loan of collection objects. Details of the GIS scheme can be found at: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/supporting-arts-museums-and-libraries/supporting-collections-and-cultural-property/government-indemnity  . The design will need to accommodate physical and technological security measures details of which will be provided by the Museum  as part of the tender documentation.
The appointed supplier will collaborate with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.  The design will be developed in collaboration with the Museum's exhibition design team for this project. A dynamic and iterative approach to design development will be essential to the development of the showcase. The intended form of contract will be from the Joint Contracts Tribunal 2024 suite, given the extent of design input required from the appointed supplier the contract will use either the Intermediate Build Contract with Contractors Design Portion or the Design and Build template, the version will be confirmed in the tender documents.
Pre Construction Information, to be included in the tender documentation, will contain all of the site information including the Principal Contractor, this role is subject to a separate appointment, in relation to obligations under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015  , details of which may be found here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/index.htm 
The site installation period will be limited and the appointed supplier must allow for sufficient installation teams to ensure that the showcase is constructed and commissioned completely, prior to the installation of the Bayeux Tapestry. No extensions of time will be granted for late delivery. 
Due to the confidential/commercially sensitive nature of information that will be included in the associated tender documents we require that interested suppliers enter into a confidentiality agreement before they are given access to the tender pack. 
A copy of the confidentiality agreement is available by request via email to [email protected]. The terms of the confidentiality agreement are not subject to negotiation.
This Planned Procurement Notice is being issued to provide advance information to interested suppliers about this opportunity. Interested suppliers should contact the Museum to request, and then return, a signed copy of the confidentiality agreement in order to receive the tender pack when the Tender Notice is published. The confidentiality agreement can be requested and signed now - there is no need for interested suppliers to wait until the Tender Notice is published.
The Museum intends to conduct the procurement by way of the Open procedure under section 20(2)(a) of the Procurement Act 2023.  To submit a tender in response to the Tender Notice, interested suppliers will need to be registered on Find a Tender service (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search ) and, following registration, will need to upload their core supplier information, including basic information, economic and financial standing information, connected person information, and exclusion grounds information. Interested suppliers who are not already registered may wish to do so ahead of publication of the Tender Notice.
The Tender Notice will be published on 8th January 2026. The tender documents will be made available immediately to those interested suppliers who already have signed confidentiality agreements in place by that point.
Other interested suppliers will have the opportunity to request and complete confidentiality agreements by 23:59 on 12th January 2026. Please note it will not be possible to request and complete a confidentiality agreement after this deadline. As soon as practical after the receipt of completed confidentiality agreements, interested suppliers will be granted access to the tender documents.
The submission time/date for all tender responses will be 17:00 on 23rd January 2026.
Due to programme constraints, it will not be possible to grant any extension beyond the proposed submission date.
We strongly encourage interested suppliers to request and complete the confidentiality agreement as soon as possible. For the avoidance of doubt, we are unable to provide additional information relating to the scope or specification of the requirement at this stage, all details will be provided with the associated tender documents.