Scope
Reference
WCC - 22249
Description
Warwickshire County Council is seeking to procure a Supplier to provide a comprehensive service for the advertising, maintenance, and cleansing of council owned bus shelters across the County.
Warwickshire County Council currently own and maintain around 302 Bus Shelters across the County. This number is flexible due to ongoing installations delivered through the capital programme however, the numbers presented in this brief are considered a realistic representation of the current network.
Currently, 83 Bus Shelters across Warwickshire's estate are fitted with advertising panels
80 shelters are equipped for traditional paper-based advertising
3 shelters feature digital advertising displays
All existing bus shelters are the property of Warwickshire County Council, and those installed or replaced under this contract, including both new installations and replacement of existing units, will be and will remain the property of Warwickshire County Council.
The primary objectives of this contract, each of equal importance, are as follows:
To generate advertising revenue for the Council through the use of bus shelters.
To ensure all bus shelters are consistently clean, well presented, and visually appealing.
To maintain all shelters so they remain safe, functional, and fit for public use.
To have a Supplier capable of supplying, installing, removing and relocating bus shelters at the Councils request.
Total value (estimated)
- £1,500,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 31 March 2026 to 31 March 2036
- Possible extension to 31 March 2041
- 15 years, 1 day
Description of possible extension:
The initial contract term will be for a period of 10 years. This may be extended for another period of 5 years at the sole discretion of the Council.
Options
The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid.
The Council reserves the right to make additional purchases during the contract that relate to bus shelters and advertising.
Main procurement category
Services
Additional procurement category
Goods
CPV classifications
- 44212321 - Bus shelters
- 79341000 - Advertising services
Contract locations
- UKG3 - West Midlands
Participation
Particular suitability
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
Submission
Enquiry deadline
2 September 2025, 12:00pm
Submission type
Tenders
Tender submission deadline
9 September 2025, 12:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
Applicants are required to answer all of the questions and return their completed response by:-
no later than Tuesday 9th September 2025 at 12 Noon via https://in-tendhost.co.uk/csw-jets/aspx/Home.
Your tender return must be submitted via the E-tendering portal. You will not be able to upload your tender after the deadline detailed above. Applicants are advised that if their tender response is only partially uploaded within the E-tendering portal by the closing date and time then the system will lock them out and they will not be able to complete their document upload. The Council reserves the right to only evaluate documents received within the E-tendering portal by the closing date and time and applicants are advised that a partial upload is unlikely to be successful. Applicants are therefore recommended to upload their full tender response well in advance of the closing date and time.
If you are experiencing any difficulties with your upload you must contact the Council well in advance of the closing date and time
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at
https://in-tendhost.co.uk/csw-jets/aspx/Home
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
26 January 2026
Recurring procurement
Publication date of next tender notice (estimated): 1 March 2040
Award criteria
| Name | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Cost evaluation | Price | 70% |
| Non-cost evaluation | Quality | 30% |
Other information
Payment terms
Please refer to the tender documents.
Description of risks to contract performance
The satisfactory performance of the contract may be jeopardised by the following risks, which by their nature, are unable to be addressed in the contract as awarded:
The changing needs and requirements of the Council and the changing demands placed on the Council by its customers. increases or decreases in funding - such as reductions or additions in budget allocations as part of the Council's budget setting processes, or as a consequence of additional funding streams which were unknown at the time of awarding the contract, but which are provided to increase the volume and scope of services delivered
Changes in legislation or national guidance
The identification of additional service recipients, not originally captured by the scope of the contract
Opportunities offered by emerging/new technologies and/or products.
Changes arising from Local Government Reform (LGR), legislative developments, or other external influences which may impact the delivery or scope of the contracted services
Applicable trade agreements
- Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Special regime
Concession
Competitive flexible procedure description
The Procurement Process
This procurement is being conducted using the Competitive Flexible Procedure (Procurement Act 2023). An outline of the procurement process is included below:
Stage 1: Initial Submissions
Bidders are required to complete and return their initial tender submissions as detailed within this document. The initial submissions will be used for the down-selection of bidders and will be based on the conditions of participation pass/fail evaluation, an outline tender submission evaluation and price evaluation. The Council will invite the top three* ranked bidders to the next stage of the procurement process.
*Please note: *WCC reserves the right to invite more organisations where there is a negligible difference in the scores between the 3rd applicant and the next placed applicant(s) or to invite less applicants where it feels that the quality of submissions is insufficient to warrant inclusion in the next stage.
Stage 2: Bid Optimisation/Dialogue/Pre-tender Negotiation
Those Bidders who are invited to participate in stage 2 will be invited to take part in dialogue meetings. The purpose of these meetings will be to discuss the outline tender proposals, ensure that the Council's requirement/solution is thoroughly understood by suppliers and that any supplier risks and assumptions are appropriately managed or removed before final tenders are submitted. The meetings will also be used to optimise the bidder's solution prior to submission of final tenders. Stage 2 may also be used to refine the outline specification, pricing schedule, award criteria, contract and/or any other documentation prior to an invitation to submit final tenders.
Stage 3: Invitation to Submit Final Tenders (ITSFT)
At the conclusion of stage 2, the shortlisted bidders will be invited to submit a final tender submission. A new Invitation to Tender document for this stage will be provided and will incorporate a final specification/pricing schedule/contract etc. including any refinements identified during the bid optimisation stage.
The evaluation criteria will be weighted in a similar way to stage 1 but will have non-cost evaluation questions relating to specific elements of the requirement and the cost evaluation will be as detailed in the part 4 - pricing schedule document. There will also be a social value evaluation element.
Stage 4: Post Tender Negotiation/Preferred Supplier
The Council may also consider the use of a Post Tender Negotiation or Preferred Supplier stage following the conclusion of stage 3. To provide some context on when these stages are used, and what they are likely to contain, we have reproduced the Government Commercial Function guidance regarding these stages below:
Post Tender Negotiation Stage:
When used: -
Post-tender negotiation may be incorporated where a contracting authority intends to improve the content of the highest scoring tender. An example might include where a contracting authority identifies an opportunity to reduce the tender costs where efficiencies can be achieved, e.g. the staging of payments, so that the supplier is not incurring unnecessary interest costs. Post-tender negotiation might also be used to seek improvements to the non-financial aspects of the contract, e.g. delivery times, supplier flexibility to change without cost, increasing social value etc. Post-tender negotiation might also be necessary where unforeseen circumstances have arisen that require appropriate changes to the contract terms.
Preferred Supplier Stage:
When used: -
This stage might be relevant where there would be advantages in developing and finalising the final contract with the most advantageous tenderer. Most likely to be used when contractual terms are complex or to confirm commitments made in tenders can be satisfied.
Justification for not publishing a preliminary market engagement notice
Preliminary Market Engagement was conducted prior to the introduction of the Preliminary Market Engagement Notice. A summary of the preliminary market engagement is an appendix within the tender documentation.
Contracting authority
Warwickshire County Council
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PDTN-5446-NMXW
Shire Hall
Warwick
CV34 4SA
United Kingdom
Email: procurement@warwickshire.gov.uk
Website: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk
Region: UKG13 - Warwickshire
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government