Official UK procurement notice
Caversham Lakes Boat Hoist
Authority: ENVIRONMENT AGENCY (Public body)·On behalf of: DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis opportunity is for the provision of services to operate our 50 tonne Wise boat hoist in the vicinity of Caversham Lakes, Reading. Under a covenant the service is to provide a 5 day a week 9am-5pm lifting service for Kennet and Thames Marina including a pressure washing service. Additionally, we require a provider to offer a booking/ payment service for lifts, management of contractor risk assessment and insurance coming onto site and experience in choking boats on hardstanding. This contract will also include the Servicing, Maintenance and Repair of the hoist.
- How the procedure runs: This Competitive Flexible Procedure will not use a down-select stage but will use a supplementary process of Best and Final Offer (BAFO). Following the evaluation of both the technical questions and pricing schedule, the Authority reserves the right to reissue any or all of the technical evaluation questions and/or pricing schedule to the two highest scoring bidders (or any other bidders that have scored within 3% of the highest scoring bidder). Written feedback will be provided to these bidders and then they will have the opportunity to review any reissued evaluation questions to improve their bids. Bidders will be informed which elements they are able to revise to improve their bids. Please note that all invited Bidders will be reviewing the same elements. Bidders will have 10 calendar days to review, revise and resubmit their bid via Atamis. The clarification period will also be reopened and run for 5 calendar days. The same scoring mechanisms as originally published will apply unless otherwise communicated by the Authority. The scores from this stage will replace any from the earlier Evaluation Stage(s). The exact dates of these periods and deadlines for submission will be shared with the relevant tenderers. ! IMPORTANT – This is an optional stage for the Authority to ensure that the Most Advantageous Tender is selected, that the requirement has been fully understood, and that tenderers are provided a fair chance to compete where the Authority does not feel ready to award after the evaluation stage. Tenderers are to submit their best possible tender and price in the first instance, as it is not guaranteed that this stage will be used. Following the overall evaluation, if there is more than one tenderer with the same highest overall score, the Authority reserves the right to award to a tenderer following the below Tie-break process. Where a tenderer gained a higher Technical Score than the other tenderers, that tenderer will be awarded the contract.
CPV: Fleet management, repair and maintenance services · Hoists · Repair and maintenance services of cranes
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£2,372,500
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (3)
- Technical Evaluation: 50%
- Commercial Evaluation: 40%
- Social Value / Sustainability Evaluation: 10%
Published award criteria (3)
- Technical Evaluation
- Social Value / Sustainability Evaluation
- Commercial Evaluation
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 1 Jun 2026, 11:59 BST
- Last source update
- 18 Aug 2026, 10:14 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 19 Nov 2026
- Authority reference
C35090- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-078402- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06aa22Find a Tender
- How it runs
This Competitive Flexible Procedure will not use a down-select stage but will use a supplementary process of Best and Final Offer (BAFO). Following the evaluation of both the technical questions and pricing schedule, the Authority reserves the right to reissue any or all of the technical evaluation questions and/or pricing schedule to the two highest scoring bidders (or any other bidders that have scored within 3% of the highest scoring bidder).
Written feedback will be provided to these bidders and then they will have the opportunity to review any reissued evaluation questions to improve their bids. Bidders will be informed which elements they are able to revise to improve their bids.
Please note that all invited Bidders will be reviewing the same elements. Bidders will have 10 calendar days to review, revise and resubmit their bid via Atamis. The clarification period will also be reopened and run for 5 calendar days. The same scoring mechanisms as originally published will apply unless otherwise communicated by the Authority.
The scores from this stage will replace any from the earlier Evaluation Stage(s). The exact dates of these periods and deadlines for submission will be shared with the relevant tenderers.
! IMPORTANT – This is an optional stage for the Authority to ensure that the Most Advantageous Tender is selected, that the requirement has been fully understood, and that tenderers are provided a fair chance to compete where the Authority does not feel ready to award after the evaluation stage. Tenderers are to submit their best possible tender and price in the first instance, as it is not guaranteed that this stage will be used.
Following the overall evaluation, if there is more than one tenderer with the same highest overall score, the Authority reserves the right to award to a tenderer following the below Tie-break process. Where a tenderer gained a higher Technical Score than the other tenderers, that tenderer will be awarded the contract.
- Risks
Known Risks
Risk Category: Regulatory Changes
Description:
There is a reasonable likelihood of changes to regulations during the contract term.
Impact on Contract:
Such changes may require adjustments to:
- Technical specifications of goods or services.
- Compliance documentation and reporting processes.
- Delivery timelines and associated costs.
Modification Mechanism:
In accordance with Schedule 8, paragraph 5 of the Procurement Act 2023:
- If these regulatory changes materialise and are not caused by either party, the contracting authority may vary the contract to ensure compliance.
- Any variation will be limited to what is strictly necessary to meet the new legal requirements and will not increase the contract value by more than 50%.
- A Contract Change Notice will be published to maintain transparency.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 6 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 2 Sept 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome ↗
Any questions, requests to participate or tender submissions must be submitted electronically via this portal.
Timeline
1 Jun 2026 → 1 Jan 2027 · 8 dates- Planning notice published148 days ago1 Jun 2026, 11:59 BST
- Market engagement132 days ago16 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
The Authority is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to engage with the market and gather information regarding the provision of services to operate our 50 tonne Wise boat hoist in the vicinity of Caversham Lakes, Reading. Under a covenant the service is to provide a 5 day a week 9am-5pm lifting service for Kennet and Thames Marina including a pressure washing service. Additionally, we require a provider to offer a booking / payment service for lifts, management of contractor risk assessment and insurance coming onto site and experience in choking boats on hardstanding. The pricing schedule is currently set at an average of the local marinas as per the covenant agreement.
So that the Authority can understand capability in the market and any factors that need to be considered in designing the procurement, we kindly request that suppliers complete the Request for Information To access this document, please email rachael.burton@defra.gov.uk The deadline for responses is 5pm on Tuesday 16th June 2026.
A Pre Market Engagement event will be held on Wednesday 17th June at 2pm. This meeting will be held via Teams, and will last approximately 1 hour. If you are interested in attending this event, please email rachael.burton@defra.gov.uk
At the Authority's discretion, we may host individual meetings with suppliers following the initial PME event. This would be for the Authority to gain more of an understanding of the market. If this is to take place, an invitation will be sent to suppliers following the preliminary market engagement event.
- Next notice expected73 days ago14 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published70 days ago18 Aug 2026, 10:14 BST
- Clarification questions by54 days ago2 Sept 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline21 days ago6 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Award decision expected byin 23 days19 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 65 days1 Jan 2027
Notice history
8 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 1 Jun 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published1 Jun 2026, 11:59 BSTUK2
- Pipeline notice published12 Aug 2026, 14:24 BSTUK1
- Published value updated to £2,372,50012 Aug 2026, 14:24 BSTwas £1,000,000
- Status changed to planned12 Aug 2026, 14:24 BST
- Tender notice published18 Aug 2026, 10:14 BSTUK4
- Status changed to active18 Aug 2026, 10:14 BST
- Procurement method changed18 Aug 2026, 10:14 BST
- Deadline published: 6 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST18 Aug 2026, 10:14 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRSProcuring entityConducting the procurement process.
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender