Scope
Reference
DN780667
Description
Bus Franchising - North West Greater Manchester Small Franchises - 2 Lots
Description: Following the implementation of Bus Franchising across Greater Manchester. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) on behalf of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority is seeking Operators to provide bus services for these Small Franchises from March 2027, consisting of the following two lots:
Lot 1. Bolton, Bury and Farnworth Small Franchise, estimated Peak Vehicle Requirement (PVR 28).
Lot 2. Leigh and Atherton Small Franchise, estimated (PVR 21).
Total value (estimated)
- £90,000,000 excluding VAT
- £108,000,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 7 March 2027 to 18 August 2030
- Possible extension to 18 August 2032
- 5 years, 5 months, 12 days
Description of possible extension:
TfGM reserve the right to extend this contract in multiple periods of up to 24 months (total).
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 60112000 - Public road transport services
Contract locations
- UKD3 - Greater Manchester
Lot 1. Bolton, Bury, Farnworth Small Franchise
Description
Following the implementation of Bus Franchising across Greater Manchester. TfGM on behalf of the GMCA is seeking Operators to provide bus services for this Small Franchise.
Lot 1. Bolton, Bury and Farnworth Small Franchise starting from March 2027, with an estimated PVR of 28.
One service, i.e. Service 521 will start 19th September 2027.
Lot value (estimated)
- £51,000,000 excluding VAT
- £61,200,000 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Lot 2. Leigh and Atherton Small Franchise
Description
Following the implementation of Bus Franchising across Greater Manchester. TfGM on behalf of GMCA is seeking Operators to provide bus services for this Small Franchise.
Lot 2. Leigh and Atherton Small Franchise starting from March 2027, with an estimated PVR of 21.
One service, i.e., Service 553 will start operation on 19th September 2027.
Lot value (estimated)
- £39,000,000 excluding VAT
- £46,800,000 including VAT
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and contract dates are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Participation
Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation
Lot 1. Bolton, Bury, Farnworth Small Franchise
Lot 2. Leigh and Atherton Small Franchise
As set out in the PSQ. Available on ProContract ref:DN780667
Technical ability conditions of participation
Lot 1. Bolton, Bury, Farnworth Small Franchise
Lot 2. Leigh and Atherton Small Franchise
As set out in the PSQ. Available on ProContract ref:DN780667
Particular suitability
Lot 1. Bolton, Bury, Farnworth Small Franchise
Lot 2. Leigh and Atherton Small Franchise
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
Submission
Enquiry deadline
11 August 2025, 12:00pm
Submission type
Requests to participate
Deadline for requests to participate
26 August 2025, 12:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
This Tender will be conducted via the ProContract procurement portal. Suppliers can register for free using the following link: https://procontract.due-north.com/Register.
PSQ Submission stage:
Bidders need only submit one PSQ submission even if Bidding for both Lots. Submissions should be sent via the above ProContract portal address.
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
11 June 2026
Recurring procurement
Publication date of next tender notice (estimated): 18 August 2030
Award criteria
Name | Type | Weighting |
---|---|---|
Qualitative | Quality | 60% |
Quantitative | Price | 40% |
Other information
Applicable trade agreements
- Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Special regime
Utilities
Competitive flexible procedure description
This procurement will be run using the Competitive Flexible Procedure in accordance with section 20(1) and (2)(b) of the Procurement Act 2023.
TfGM have published all relevant Procurement Tender documentation on the ProContract Tender Portal (using DN780667): https://procontract.due-north.com/
For all steps of the procurement process, post the Conditions of Participation stage, Bidders should refer to the procurement timetable (table 3) which is in the draft Invitation to Negotiate document (ITN). This can be found in the suite of documents as detailed above.
Conditions of Participation stage - via a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ):
Conditions of participation are criteria that potential Bidders must meet to be eligible to participate in this procurement process. These conditions are used to assess the Bidder (not the tender) and are distinct from award criteria, which evaluate the tender itself.
The tender documentation includes a PSQ in which a potential Bidder must successfully complete and pass in order to get through to the ITN stage.
You only need to submit one PSQ, even if intending to bid for both Lots.
PSQ submissions must be sent via the ProContract portal, address above, by the date detailed in the PSQ document
ITN stage:
All potential Bidders that have successfully completed and passed the PSQ phase, will be invited to ITN supplier negotiation meetings to support and inform their tender requirements prior to final tender submissions. Meetings will be held virtually via teams on the various delivery plan and Lot requirements, such as (but not limited to), Finance, Mobilisation, Health and Safety, Social Value etc.
ITN Submission stage (Final):
Post the supplier negotiation meetings (operators that were successful at PSQ stage) will be invited to submit a bid for the two available Lots, if bidding for both Lots bidders must submit one submission per Lot, clearly marking which Lot they are bidding for.
ITN submissions must be sent via the ProContract portal, address above, by the date detailed in the ITN document.
Award criteria:
40% is based on price and 60% based on technical quality. The winning bidder per Lot will be the one with highest combined score (per Lot).
Documents
Associated tender documents
https://procontract.due-north.com/
All tender documents can be found at DN780667
Documents to be provided after the tender notice
Schedule 18 document (Payment Mechanism and Performance Regime) will follow. This document will be provided free of charge and will be made available via the ProContract portal.
https://procontract.due-north.com/
In the meantime TfGM have provided a PowerPoint presentation. This document is named "NWGM Small Franchises-Schedule 18 Key Principles.pptx" and will explain schedule 18 (Payment Mechanism and Performance Regime), this document is also included in project DN780667 alongside all the other Tender documents.
Contracting authority
Transport for Greater Manchester
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PNJQ-2746-NWYT
2 Piccadilly Place
Manchester
M1 3BG
United Kingdom
Email: procurement@tfgm.com
Region: UKD33 - Manchester
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government