Invitation to tender
Deadline for tender submissions: 11:59pm (UK time) on 18 September 2026
Purpose
The purpose of this invitation to tender process is for The UK National Archives and the Archives and Records Association to select three suppliers who will each deliver one workshop, and collectively deliver one cross-career leadership exchange, at an in-person summit on 4 November 2026, at Friends House, Euston Road, London. The summit, run by both organisations, will explore and celebrate leadership, continuing professional development, and advocacy across the archive sector.
About us
The National Archives is the official archive and publisher for the UK government, and for England and Wales. The National Archives has held leadership responsibilities for the archive sector in England since 2011, working with over 2,500 archives across the country. The National Archives Strategy 2025 – 2030 sets out its ambition to lead the future of archives and address the resilience of the sector. The National Archives’ sector leadership role is driven by the Government’s vision for archives. The foundation of the vision is the integral role of archives at the heart of society. To achieve this, the vision is underpinned by three key themes: archives must become accessible, inclusive, and sustainable.
The Archives and Records Association (ARA) is the UK and Republic of Ireland’s lead professional membership body for archivists, records managers and archive conservators. It is not a trade union: its several thousand members work across the public, private and voluntary sectors and are specialists. The ARA promotes continuing professional development and professional standards, encourages innovation in the sector with a range of partners locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. The ARA also provides members with a range of services, including training, workplace research, professional registration, competency frameworks and policy advocacy. It represents those with professional interests in record keeping. It promotes working together to maximise heritage collections and to offer the best possible services in access, outreach and collections’ stewardship.
Background
On 20 June 2023, The National Archives and ARA entered into a Collaboration Agreement. This Collaboration Agreement builds on the desire for cooperation and collaborative working between The National Archives and ARA. The agreement outlines how both organisations will continue to build on their relationship to date to ensure strong leadership and clarity for the archive, records management and archive conservation disciplines.
Both organisations are committed to finding solutions to challenges related to workforce development. There are acknowledged issues related to career mobility within the archive sector. In April 2024, The National Archives and ARA commissioned Louise Ray to undertake research into the barriers, opportunities and solutions related to career mobility and leadership skills within the record keeping sector. Building on the research, in July 2025, The National Archives and ARA hosted the first Leadership for Recordkeepers Summit at Friends House, London. This event aimed to celebrate leadership across the recordkeeping sector and provide delegates with the chance to understand better their current skills, improve their confidence and explore opportunities to develop their leadership. Following feedback from the summit, The National Archives and ARA hosted an event in May 2026 at Conference Aston, Birmingham, focused on communication, confidence, and influence.
Building on the evaluation of the summit and recent event, ARA and The National Archives are developing a programme of support to help recordkeepers (archivists, conservators, and records managers) to develop their leadership skills. This second summit in November 2026 will sit within the wider programme.
Project outcomes
1. Each consultant will be responsible for developing and delivering a workshop at the summit. There will be three workshops in total, one aimed at early-career professionals, one for mid-career, and one for senior-career. Each workshop will:
- be developed in collaboration between all three consultants to ensure that they are complementary
- be 1.5 hours in length
- focus on developing leadership skills
- be appropriate to the career stage of the participants
- include the importance of continuing professional development
- advocate for both the individual and sectoral benefits of strong leadership
2. The three consultants will work together to facilitate a 45-minute ‘cross-career leadership exchange’. This session will involve all three career stages, and require participants to network and share some of the learning from the workshops. The exchange will involve:
- break-out groups, with mixed career stages
- each break-out group will receive an advocacy-based scenario to get them to consider leadership approaches, and to encourage them to think about their own development within a recordkeeping context.
- an evaluation section, exploring participants’ views about the event and current/future support from The National Archives and the ARA
In their bids, individual consultants are welcome to express a preference to deliver one of the workshops in particular, or an ability to deliver any of the three. They may also collaborate and submit a proposal as a consortium to deliver all three simultaneous workshops. Consortiums will be expected to propose who will deliver which workshop based on experience and suitability. The final decision will be made by The National Archives and the ARA.
The consultants should liaise with relevant contacts at The National Archives and the ARA throughout the project, to discuss ideas, exchange information, monitor progress and finalise the content and format of the workshops and any supplementary documents.
The National Archives and the ARA will be responsible for planning and delivering all other aspects of the summit.
Agenda for the leadership summit
10:30 – Welcome [The National Archives and the ARA]
10:45 – Leadership panel discussion [Speakers]
11:30 – Break
11:45 – Q&A with panel [Speakers]
12:15 – Lunch and networking
13:20 - Career-stage workshops [Consultants]
14:50 – Break
15:15 - Cross-career leadership exchange [Consultants]
16:00 – Closing remarks [The National Archives and the ARA]
16:15 – Networking drinks
17:00 – Close
Key deliverables
- One in-person 1.5 hour workshop per consultant for early, mid or senior career archive professionals aligned with the other two workshops
- One 45 minute in-person leadership exchange for all delegates, run collaboratively by all three consultants
- Attendance at the full-day summit, including a 5-minute outline of the workshop and leadership exchange before lunch
- An evaluation document per workshop of no more than 4 sides of A4 analysing and summarising feedback from delegates, alongside the original data set
Presentations will need to conform to The National Archives’ and the ARA’s standards for brand and style
(The estimated total days of work for this project for each consultant is four days at a day rate of £600, including: three days for design and delivery of the workshops, and one day for liaising with The National Archives and the ARA)
Key relationships
The project will be managed by James Heyworth-Taylor at The National Archives and Chris Sheridan at the ARA.
Timetable
Late September 2026 – project set-up meeting
October 2026 – check-in meeting
4 November 2026 – Summit
Mid November 2026 – evaluation check-in and project end
Contract value
A total sum of up to £2400, exclusive of VAT, is available to each consultant, or £7,200 exclusive of VAT in total for a consortium bid that covered the work of all three consultants. It includes all out-of-pocket expenses such as any travel to London or subsistence.
The appointed consultant should therefore anticipate conducting meetings virtually rather than face-to-face. If face-to-face meetings are required, the consultant’s costs in attending these should be included as part of the budget available for this project. No additional expenses claims will be permitted.
This contract will be managed by James Heyworth-Taylor.
How to respond
If you have any clarification questions related to this invitation to tender, please submit these to asl@nationalarchives.gov.uk by 5pm (UK Time) 11 September.
Please submit your tender response via the SmartSurvey application form by 23:59 (UK time) 18 September 2026.
It is for you to determine what format your tender response should take so as to describe your offer in a clear, comprehensive fashion. However, please ensure your tender response includes as a minimum:
- your understanding of the project deliverables
- details of your prior experience suited to this project, including understanding of sector-related guidance and standards
- your proposed methodology and plan for delivering the workshop, including your preference for career stage (either early, mid or senior career)
- your contract price, including your VAT status
Please note, we cannot guarantee that you will be assigned the workshop for your preferred career stage. It will be at the discretion of all three consultants to decide, subject to approval by The National Archives and ARA.
Evaluation
You will be evaluated based on the quality of your application, according to the following scale:
5 – Outstanding
4 – Excellent
3 – Good
2 – Average
1 – Poor
The quality of your application will be assessed on your answers to the following areas within your application:
- understanding
- experience
- methodology and plan
- contract price