The General Dental Council (GDC) is looking to appoint a supplier for the provision of print management and associated services.
The GDC is responsible for regulating dental professionals in the UK, ensuring that only qualified individuals can legally practise dentistry.
As part of its statutory function, it maintains registers of over 44,500 dentists and 76,000 dental care professionals and maintains a list of specialists also on the register, ensuring they remain complaint with regulatory requirements, including the annual renewal of their registration through the Annual Retention Fee (ARF) process.
Registrants receive multiple notifications before, during, and after renewals. This includes formal notices, reminders, and compliance related correspondence.
While the GDC uses a range of digital communication channels, it is a legal obligation for the GDC to send certain communications via physical mail to ensure that registrants are properly notified of their obligations, especially in cases where digital communication may be unread, or insufficient for legal purposes.
“To support this statutory function, we require a reliable print management and mail fulfilment partner who is capable of handling high volumes of legally significant and time sensitive correspondence,” it stated.
“The supplier will undertake the management, proofing and production of personalised mailings using the data provided by the GDC.”
This includes proofing correspondences, validating the data, and sending out the annual retention fee notices, removal letters, indemnity notice of erasure letters, annual practising certificates, and registrant reminder letters.
The supplier will also need to provide a raft of additional services, including GDC stationery, the printing and sending of 'welcome packs' including 'Standards of the Dental team' book, and registration certificate and register leaflet items.
The initial contract period will be two years and three months. There is provision for the contract to be extended for two additional periods of 12 months each, subject to the contract remaining fit for purpose and the supplier maintaining a good standard of contract performance.
The initial contract is estimated to last from 1 September 2025 to 31 December 2027, with a possible extension to 31 December 2029.
The deadline for requests to participate is 11am on 9 June 2025.
Details for the buyer are available via the Find a Tender site.
Another large contract involving mail is also currently live through the platform, from Tendring District Council, which needs printing and postage services related to the completion of an annual canvass of all of the circa-80,000 households within the Essex district, related to local government reorganisation (LGR).
Part of this process requires sending a communication to each household with follow up communications to non-responding properties.
The council stated: “[The canvass] is time sensitive with several deadlines that impact on other canvass activities.
“The supplier of print and post services will need to have sight of the pending and future deadlines so that any alterations to the timetable are agreed in advance and sufficiently adjusted throughout the canvass period.”
The council said there could be some changes during the life of this contract/framework, due to the LGR process, including possible significant increases and/or decreases in the value/volume of goods/services/works required due to the change in size/scope of the contracting authority, and/or changes to the scope of the nature of goods/services/works required.
The contract has a three-year initial term with the option to extend for a further four years in one year increments. The estimated contract date is 17 July 2025 to 16 July 2028, with a possible extension to 16 July 2032.
The total estimated value is £700,000, and the tender submission deadline is 17 June 2025 at 12pm.
More detailed information, and contact details for the buyer, can be found on the Find a Tender platform.
