Scope
Reference
Q085
Description
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (the "Council") invite expressions of interest from suitably qualified and experienced suppliers in relation to entering into an agreement with the Council (the "Contract") to become the Council's Development Partner for the redevelopment of Crompton Place, Bolton.
Crompton Place represents an unrivalled opportunity to develop a high quality, residential-led mixed-use scheme at the historic heart of Bolton - the UK's largest and officially happiest town. The site is one of the largest single ownerships opportunities to come to the market in many years. The Council is doing things differently and de-risking the delivery of a key town centre location, allowing ambitious developers to shape the future of the Town Centre.
For full details regarding the project, please refer to the Information Memorandum included as Appendix 4 to the Procurement Specific Questionnaire, issued via the Portal.
Land Interests:
Council Land: Land owned by the Council, edged red in Appendix 4 - Information Memorandum (pages 38 and 39).
Additional Council Land: Any land outside the initial Council Land that is owned by the Council and may be added to the MDA in the future at the Council's discretion, edged blue in Appendix 4 - Information Memorandum (pages 38 and 39).
Third Party Land: Land that may need to be acquired from third parties for the development (edged in green in Appendix 4 - Information Memorandum (pages 38 and 39)).
Additional Council Land and Third-Party Land are included in the scope of the procurement and may be made available for development at a later date.
The estimated value and contract duration applies to all categories of land interest as described above. The estimated Contract Value is as follows:
Council Land = £90,000,000 to £150,000,000
Additional Council Land and Third-Party Land = £20,000,000 to £50,000,000
Total Contract Value = £90,000,000 to £200,000,000
The Contract duration shall be an initial term of 15 years with an option for the parties to agree to extend the term for up to five years on expiry of the initial term.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Council is seeking to appoint a master developer partner to develop the Council's Land, via a Master Development Agreement (MDA). This will allow the parties to form a contractual joint venture approach addressing meanwhile uses and phased delivery. The MDA will provide the usual mechanisms to address the working up of the scheme designs, planning, funding and other conditional delivery items. The initial scope for the MDA will be the Council's Land as defined by the red line boundary in the Information Memorandum. Any future additional development of Additional Council Land or Third Party Land, will be agreed between the parties and is not guaranteed as part of this procurement.
Pre-Market Engagement
All preliminary market engagement undertaken on this project was done so before the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023. By means of transparency, details of the engagement which took place are contained in section 4 of the Procurement Specific Questionnaire.
Total value (estimated)
- £200,000,000 excluding VAT
- £240,000,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 30 April 2026 to 29 April 2041
- Possible extension to 29 April 2046
- 20 years
Description of possible extension:
There is an option if all parties agree to extend the term for up to five years on expiry of the initial term.
Main procurement category
Works
CPV classifications
- 45000000 - Construction work
Contract locations
- UKD3 - Greater Manchester
Participation
Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation
Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation as set out in the Invitation to Participate.
Technical ability conditions of participation
Technical ability conditions of participation as set out in the Invitation to Participate.
Submission
Enquiry deadline
7 July 2025, 12:00pm
Submission type
Requests to participate
Deadline for requests to participate
14 July 2025, 12:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Suppliers to be invited to tender
3 suppliers
Selection criteria:
Bidders should refer to the Procurement Specific Questionnaire
Award decision date (estimated)
5 January 2026
Award criteria
| Name | Description | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | Bidders should refer to further detail on the draft award criteria set out in Appendix 5 of the PSQ. Full and final award criteria will be issued at commencement of the tender stage of the procurement... |
Quality | 70% |
| Financial | Bidders should refer to further detail on the draft award criteria set out in Appendix 5 of the PSQ. Full and final award criteria will be issued at commencement of the tender stage of the procurement... |
Cost | 30% |
Other information
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Competitive flexible procedure description
Interested parties should refer to the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) for further details of the Council's intended process for the procurement.
This Competitive Flexible Procedure will be conducted in the following 3 stages:
1. Stage 1: Procurement Specific Questionnaire ("PSQ")
2. Stage 2: Invitation to Tender ("ITT)
3. Stage 3: Preferred Supplier Stage ("PSP")
Stage 1: PSQ
Applicants are invited to express an interest in the Opportunity by completing and returning the PSQ Response Document.
The Council will use this stage to confirm that neither the Applicant, nor any related persons within its corporate group, associated persons relied on to meet the conditions of participation, or proposed sub-contractors are an excluded supplier or excludable supplier in accordance with Sections 26 to 31 of the Act.
Subject to their being sufficient Applicants qualifying, the Council intends to shortlist up to three (3) Applicants to Stage 2 (ITT). Following confirmation of this shortlist, the Council will formally issue the ITT to the selected Applicants.
Stage 1 will complete with Applicants being notified in writing of whether or not they have been successfully shortlisted to participate in Stage 2. Applicants not invited to Stage 2 will be provided with a written explanation of the reasons why they have not been shortlisted to participate in Stage 2.
Stage 2: Invitation to Tender
Stage 2 will commence with the issuing of a letter inviting Applicants that have successfully passed Stage 1 (each a "Tenderer") to attend one or more dialogue meetings.
The Council may, at its discretion, undertake a Dialogue Solutions stage. This stage, if undertaken, is intended to enable Tenderers to prepare a Dialogue Solutions Submission setting out, inter alia, the solutions which have developed through the procurement process to date. Full details will be provided to those Tenderers invited to Stage 2.
The Dialogue will conclude with the issuing of letters to all participating Tenderers confirming the closure of dialogue and the invitation of Final Tenders.
Following submission of Final Tenders, the Council will carry out an evaluation in accordance with the published Award Criteria and select the Tenderer that represents the Most Advantageous Tender. Such Tenderer shall be known as the "Preferred Tenderer".
Following the evaluation of Final Tenders and identification of the "Preferred Tenderer", it is the Council's intention to send Assessment Summary letters to all Tenderers, informing them of the outcome of the process. Shortly after issuing Assessment Summary letters, the Council will publish a Contract Award Notice, setting out the Council's intention to enter into the contractual documents with the Preferred Tenderer. Publication of the Contract Award Notice will commence a 'mandatory standstill period' of at least 8 working days from the date of publication of the Contract Award Notice, in accordance with Section 51 of the Act.
Stage 3: Preferred Supplier Stage
Following the mandatory standstill period, the highest scoring Tenderer may be invited to engage in further discussions with the Council as part of a preferred supplier stage. This stage will be used to finalise the draft Contract terms and conditions, in accordance with the limitations set out in the Act. Tenderers should note that this is not an opportunity to renegotiate the core terms of the Contract, and the final Contract must reflect the outcome of the legal mark-up dialogue sessions.
Stage 3 will end with the Council entering into the Contract with the Preferred Supplier and publication of a Contract Details Notice on the Central Digital Platform (within 30 days of the date on which the Contract is entered into). The Council will also publish a copy of the Contract to the Central Digital Platform in accordance with section 53(3) of the Act.
The Council reserves the right to vary the procurement process set out above and in the procurement documents at any stage in the procurement.
Please note that the 'contract start date' and 'award decision date' included within this Tender Notice are estimates and may be subject to change.
Justification for not publishing a preliminary market engagement notice
No PME Notice has been published because the PME predates the new Procurement Act 2023.
Documents
Associated tender documents
http://www.the-chest.org.uk
Documents to be provided after the tender notice
Contracting authority
Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PBJZ-9785-JTLD
Town Hall, Victoria Square
Bolton
BL1 1RU
United Kingdom
Email: corporate.procurement@bolton.gov.uk
Website: http://www.bolton.gov.uk
Region: UKD36 - Greater Manchester North West
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government