MCF4 (RM6309) and MCF5: lots, end date and what comes next

MCF4 (RM6309) is the management consultancy framework of the Government Commercial Agency (GCA). It has 10 lots and runs from 29 July 2025 to 28 July 2027, “with no option to extend”. No new firms can join it. Its replacement, often searched for as “MCF5”, is RM6399 Consultancy and Professional Services. RM6399’s tender deadline is 15:00 on 9 November 2026 (Find a Tender notice 087183-2026). GCA expects to award it around July 2027.

What it is

A framework is a list of suppliers that a buyer appoints through one tender (a competition for a contract). Public bodies then award contracts, called call-offs, only to firms on the list. MCF4 was set up under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 for UK public sector bodies (GCA RM6309).

GCA lists 219 suppliers across the lots. The official list is on GCA’s supplier page; we don’t name suppliers. GCA was called Crown Commercial Service (CCS) until 1 April 2026.

What it buys

For research, evaluation and policy consulting, these lots matter most. This is based on GCA’s lot descriptions:

• Lot 2, Strategy and policy: policy, strategy, strategic advice, regulatory advice, social value and future planning.
• Lot 1, Business: developing or appraising business policy, business cases and value for money reviews.
• Lot 4, Finance: cost benefit reviews, studies, analysis and evaluation, and economic analysis.
• Lot 7, Health, social care and community: reviews of public service improvement, strategy or policy, housing, regeneration and social mobility.
• Lot 9, Environment and sustainability: feasibility studies or impact assessments, policy development and monitoring environmental indicators.
• Lot 3, Complex and transformation: complex programmes, which may cover several disciplines or a whole organisation’s transformation.

MCF4 is a consultancy framework. For social, economic and market research, GCA’s route is the Research and Insights DPS (RM6126).

Who can join and how

No firm can join MCF4 now. GCA says that once an agreement is awarded, suppliers can’t bid to join it, unless it is a dynamic purchasing system (GCA upcoming agreements). The way in is its replacement, RM6399.

How work is awarded

GCA says further competition is the standard route. A further competition is a small tender among framework suppliers:

1. The buyer chooses the lot and writes an invitation to tender (ITT). This sets out the work and how bids will be judged.
2. The buyer uses GCA’s digital filtering tool to find suppliers that can do the work.
3. It sends the tender to every supplier it found, evaluates the bids and awards the contract.
4. A 10-day standstill period before the contract is optional.

Direct award is allowed in “specific circumstances”, and the buyer has to justify it. Pricing can be time and materials, fixed, or risk and reward. Invitations go only to framework suppliers, not to the open market.

What is known about the successor (“MCF5”)

GCA doesn’t use the name MCF5. Its page says RM6399 Consultancy and Professional Services “will replace” MCF4 (GCA RM6399). Its notices on Find a Tender say:

• Early notices: a pipeline notice on 14 May 2025, then preliminary market engagement notices on 30 September 2025 and 5 January 2026. Engagement ran from September 2025 to March 2026 (notice 061076-2025).
• Tender: published on 15 September 2026 under the Procurement Act 2023. It uses the open procedure, so any firm could bid until the deadline. The documents are on GCA’s eSourcing suite (notice 087183-2026).
• Size: an estimated £5 billion excluding VAT, for up to 500 suppliers.
• Lots: 1 Multidisciplinary (each call-off capped at £2 million, including VAT and extensions), 2 Strategy and policy, 3 Transformation, 4 Finance, 5 HR, 6 Procurement, 7 Health and social care, 8 Infrastructure and public services, 9 Environment and sustainability, 10 Restructuring and insolvency.
• Call-offs: with or without a new competition, as set out in its Framework Schedule 7.
• Fee: suppliers pay GCA 1% of their call-off charges, excluding VAT.

GCA’s supplier slides from August 2026 add two points:

• A closed framework: they call RM6399 a “closed 4 year framework”. So once it is awarded, no new firms can join until it is replaced.
• Places per lot: 160 in Lot 1, 40 in each of Lots 2 to 9, and 20 in Lot 10.

When it starts: GCA hasn’t confirmed a go-live date. The tender notice gives 24 June 2027 as the start date for every lot. GCA’s page estimates the award in July 2027, and its slides show go-live in July or August 2027.

It isn’t known yet which firms will win places.

Key dates

What to do now

• RM6399: tender deadline 15:00, 9 November 2026 (Find a Tender notice 087183-2026). GCA expects to award it around July 2027, and the notice gives 24 June 2027 as the lots’ start date. Check the notice for changes. Firms that don’t win a place can’t join during its four years.
• Not bidding? Buyers can award MCF4 call-offs until 28 July 2027. After that, GCA’s route for this work is RM6399.
• Research and evaluation firms: check that you are on RM6126. It stays open to new suppliers until 23 February 2029.

Questions people ask

What are the MCF4 lots?

There are ten: Business; Strategy and policy; Complex and transformation; Finance; HR; Procurement and supply chain; Health, social care and community; Infrastructure; Environment and sustainability; Restructuring and insolvency.

What is MCF4 Lot 3?

Complex and transformation: consultancy for complex programmes or portfolios, which may cover several disciplines or a whole organisation’s transformation.

Is there an MCF5?

Not by that name. GCA’s replacement is RM6399 Consultancy and Professional Services. Its tender deadline is set at 15:00 on 9 November 2026 (Find a Tender notice 087183-2026), and GCA expects to award it around July 2027. GCA calls it a closed four-year framework, so firms can’t join later.

Can I still join MCF4?

No. It is a closed framework, and it ends on 28 July 2027.

How Tenderhooks helps

Tenderhooks reads Find a Tender, Contracts Finder and Public Contracts Scotland through the day. Early notices, such as pipeline and market engagement notices, show under “Coming up”. MCF4 invitations go only to framework suppliers, so they are not public. When a buyer advertises consultancy work on these sites, Tenderhooks matches it to your firm. Each buyer’s record, built from two years of official award notices, shows how often it tenders your kind of work, its typical contract size and how many bids it usually gets.

Sources

• GCA: RM6309 MCF4: dates, no extension, lots, supplier count, how to buy. Checked 2 Nov 2026.
• GCA: MCF4 lot descriptions (PDF linked from the filtering tool): what each lot covers. Checked 2 Nov 2026.
• GCA: upcoming agreements: suppliers can’t join an awarded agreement unless it is a DPS. Checked 2 Nov 2026.
• GCA: RM6399: replaces MCF4, notices, estimated award in July 2027. Checked 2 Nov 2026.
• GCA: RM6399 supplier engagement update, August 2026 (PDF): “closed 4 year framework”, places per lot, indicative go-live in July to August 2027. Checked 2 Nov 2026.

This page explains official rules and guidance in plain English, checked on the date above. It is not legal advice. The official sources it links to are what apply.

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