Scope
Reference
WNC00000577
Description
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) is the burial authority for West Northamptonshire under 214 Local Government Act 1972 and for the purposes of the Cremation Acts of 1902 and 1952. Following assessment of the best ways of meeting the needs of Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire, respectively, the Council has concluded that it would best be secured through the delivery of a new crematorium. Therefore WNC are proposing a new additional state-of-the-art crematorium and wake facility at the preferred site of Wantage Park, Round Spinney, Northampton NN3 7TR.
The proposed crematorium will include ceremonial spaces and a welcoming café for visitors with the aim of providing a vital facility for the West Northamptonshire community. With this new facility, we would aim to meet the growing needs of our population while providing a peaceful and respectful environment for bereavement services.
Wantage Park would include an energy-efficient electric cremator, heat recovery systems, solar panels, and green roofs. These features contribute to significantly lower CO2 emissions. The development's landscaping would also support local biodiversity, enhancing the natural beauty of the area and providing a peaceful setting for visitors. Wantage Park would also offer the community additional benefits, with the surrounding land transformed into recreational spaces with walking paths and green areas, promoting outdoor activities and well-being. Careful planning will ensure the facility would have minimal visual, traffic, and noise impacts on the surrounding area.
Infrastructure improvements, such as a new independent access road and enhanced public footpaths, would further support the local community.
The design includes accessible parking, adaptable lighting for neurodiverse individuals, and functional spaces that can be used by all faiths and no faith individuals and community groups.
The Mayflower Wake Facility, part of the development, would provide a welcoming space for post-ceremony gatherings, including wakes, receptions, and other events. The facility will need to be open for public use by August 2027.
Total gross internal area: 1270.00 m²
The contract will be awarded to one contractor as a two-stage D&B (Design and Build). The successful contractor will be selected and awarded for the pre-construction phase (PCSA) (stage 1) within the 'Invitation to Tender (ITT)' procurement stage.
Anticipated PCSA Contract (Stage 1) Start Date 18/05/2026.
Anticipated Mobilisation and/or Transition Period 18/07/2026.
Anticipated Construction Start Date (Stage 2) 08/08/2026
The procurement procedure route will follow the Competitive Flexible process under the PA 2023, to include two stages:
• PSQ (Procurement Specific Questionnaire) Conditions of Participation stage and;
• ITT (Invitation to Tender) stage.
The Authority intends to invite only those Potential Suppliers to the ITT stage that can evidence previous Crematorium contract experience as part of their Technical and Ability response of the PSQ and Conditions of participation stage and have passed the Pass/Fail elements of the PSQ and passed the Financial checks.
The tender is subject to planning consent, the initial phase will be the publication of the Procurement Specific Questionnaire and Conditions of Participation stage. The Tender stage (ITT) will be published subject to planning consent and budget limitation.
Site visits are planned to take place during the ITT stage on 05/02/2026 and 06/02/2026 - it is advisable that the successful Potential Providers invited to the ITT stage attend and are available for those dates.
Total value (estimated)
- £9,100,000 excluding VAT
- £10,920,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 18 May 2026 to 2 October 2027
- 1 year, 4 months, 16 days
Main procurement category
Works
CPV classifications
- 45210000 - Building construction work
- 45215300 - Construction work for crematoriums
Contract locations
- UKF24 - West Northamptonshire
Submission
Submission type
Requests to participate
Deadline for requests to participate
21 January 2026, 12:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
https://in-tendhost.co.uk/wnc/aspx/Home
As this procurement process is a Competitive Flexible Procedure, not all the documentation for the procurement has been developed and/or published at the PSQ stage. The Authority has provided sufficient information to enable Potential Suppliers to make an informed decision about whether an opportunity is suitable for them. The documentation provided is within the attachments area on the Authority portal (In-Tend).
Potential Suppliers are NOT required to and shall not respond to any document other than the electronic 'Wantage Park Crematorium Procurement Specific Questionnaire_577' PSQ (as part of the Conditions of Participation Assessment ("CoP") and the 'Financial Standing Assessment' at the first stage. Any such response to another document shall be discarded by the Authority, and not re-visited during the tender stage should that Potential Supplier progress to issue of the ITT; it shall be for the Potential Supplier to respond to the ITT documentation at that time.
Potential Suppliers must read all of the tender documents provided at each stage.
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
7 April 2026
Award criteria
| Name | Description | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quality | Award Criteria Questionnaire will be evaluated and scored a maximum of 4 marks following the Scoring Methodology table detailed within the ITT document, a Tender Response may be rejected, where the... |
Quality | 50% |
| Price | The Potential Supplier with the lowest overall compliant price will be awarded the full Price score - full details provided within the ITT document. |
Price | 40% |
| Social Value | Criteria is detailed in the Social Value Spreadsheet - criteria is split between Qualitative and Quantitative to be added to the Quality scoring/weightings. |
Quality | 10% |
Other information
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Competitive flexible procedure description
The Authority has selected to use the Competitive Flexible Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023 as a two stage procurement process:
Stage 1 'PSQ' and;
Stage 2 'ITT' ;
The Authority intends to invite only those Potential Suppliers to the ITT stage that have past Crematorium Works contract evidence only.
Potential Suppliers must have past contract experience of Crematorium Works as set out in the Tender specification and procurement documents to qualify to the ITT (Invitation to Tender) stage. Where a Potential Supplier's contract evidence is considered not to be a relevant or similar Crematorium Works contract as per the criteria set out within the Tender documents, the Potential Supplier will be Rejected from this procurement process and will not be invited through to the ITT stage.
Any Potential Suppliers that do not have at least a minimum of one Crematorium Works contract example will be rejected from the procurement process and will not be invited through to the ITT (Invitation to Tender) stage. Up to three examples will be considered.
The Authority intends to invite all those Potential Suppliers to the ITT stage that have evidence of previous Crematorium Works contract examples only and passed all Pass/Fail elements of the PSQ and passed the financial checks will be invited through to the ITT stage.
Site Visits will only be offered to Potential Suppliers that are invited through to the ITT stage, taking place on 05/02/2026 and 06/02/2026.
Contracting authority
West Northamptonshire Council
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PGDV-8944-CMBP
Angel Street
Northampton
NN1 1ED
United Kingdom
Contact name: Claire Baker
Region: UKF24 - West Northamptonshire
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government