Official UK procurement notice
Churchgate Regeneration Zone Procurement - Hitchin Town Centre
Authority: North Hertfordshire District Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Churchgate Regeneration Zone (CRZ) represents one of the most significant long-term regeneration opportunities within Hitchin town centre. The site occupies a prominent and strategically important location adjoining the historic core, the River Hiz corridor and the existing market area. Over the past year, the Council has undertaken an extensive programme of work including financial analysis, specialist technical work, Project Board workshops and Member briefings. This work has enabled the Council to move from high-level vision setting into a more informed, evidence-led and delivery-focused phase.
Alongside this, the Council has also undertaken a Pre-Market engagement exercise and early engagement with the development and investment sector to inform future procurement, delivery and partnership decisions. Feedback from this work has demonstrated strong market interest in Hitchin and increased confidence in both the credibility of the opportunity and the Council’s commitment to delivering a high-quality regeneration programme for the town centre.
The next stage of work is intended to ensure that future decisions regarding the regeneration of the site are informed, evidence-led and commercially robust.
The Council is now seeking to procure specialist regeneration and development expertise to work alongside the project team in refining a deliverable scheme, testing assumptions in greater detail, reducing uncertainty and supporting the transition from strategic visioning into delivery planning and implementation.
The procurement will be structured around two phases. The initial phase of the appointment would comprise of feasibility, viability, master-planning and delivery planning activities designed to refine the regeneration proposals, test commercial assumptions, assess development risk and inform the preferred delivery model. The scope of Stage 2 will be informed by the outputs of Stage 1, and determine whether the Council wishes to proceed onto Phase 2 or not. Phase 2 will include detailed development planning, delivery preparation, planning and consenting activities, development agreement support, implementation planning and other services required to support project delivery. Any progression beyond Phase 1 would remain subject to future Council approval, satisfactory performance of the appointed partner, confirmation of any necessary funding (i.e. setting a capital budget for the scheme) and compliance with the contractual gateway provisions established through the procurement.
North Hertfordshire District Council uses an E-Tendering system (In-Tend).
Tenders must be returned through the Supply Hertfordshire Portal at the following website:. Supply Hertfordshire Electronic Tendering Site - Home
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- How the procedure runs: The Authority will conduct a competitive flexible procedure comprising a participation and shortlisting stage, followed by tendering, dialogue and/or negotiation, and final tender. At the participation stage, suppliers will submit a PSQ. The Authority will assess exclusions, conditions of participation and the published shortlisting criteria. Subject to sufficient qualifying suppliers, up to four highest-ranked suppliers will be invited to the next stage. Shortlisted suppliers will be invited to submit an Initial Tender and participate in one or more rounds of dialogue and/or negotiation. The Authority may request updated or intermediate submissions where appropriate. Following conclusion of dialogue and/or negotiation, participating suppliers will be invited to submit Final Tenders. Final Tenders will be assessed against the published award criteria and assessment methodology to determine the most advantageous tender. Further details of the procedure are set out in the procurement documents.
CPV: Architectural design services · Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services · Construction consultancy services · Construction work · Development of non-residential real estate · Development of residential real estate · Development services of real estate · Engineering works and construction works · Real estate services · Urban development construction work · Urban planning services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedWhat 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 award criteria (3)
- Quality
- Price
- Social Value
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 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
- Works
- 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 May 2026, 16:21 BST
- Last source update
- 15 Sept 2026, 23:25 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 29 Jan 2027
- Authority reference
NHDC01139284- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-087530- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0690a7Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
Payment terms will be set out in the procurement documents and contract. Payments will be made in accordance with section 68 of the Procurement Act, including the statutory 30 day payment requirement.
- How it runs
The Authority will conduct a competitive flexible procedure comprising a participation and shortlisting stage, followed by tendering, dialogue and/or negotiation, and final tender.
At the participation stage, suppliers will submit a PSQ. The Authority will assess exclusions, conditions of participation and the published shortlisting criteria. Subject to sufficient qualifying suppliers, up to four highest-ranked suppliers will be invited to the next stage.
Shortlisted suppliers will be invited to submit an Initial Tender and participate in one or more rounds of dialogue and/or negotiation. The Authority may request updated or intermediate submissions where appropriate.
Following conclusion of dialogue and/or negotiation, participating suppliers will be invited to submit Final Tenders. Final Tenders will be assessed against the published award criteria and assessment methodology to determine the most advantageous tender.
Further details of the procedure are set out in the procurement documents.
- Risks
Known Risks text for Tender Notice
The Authority considers that the following are known risks which, if they were to materialise, could prevent the satisfactory performance of the development that is the subject of this Procurement for the Authority and require a subsequent modification to the public contract (be that the Gateway Agreement, the Pre-Construction Services Agreement or the Phase 2 Development Agreement) under paragraph 5 of Schedule 8 to the Procurement Act 2023.
- The known risk of hazardous substances, structural issues and ground conditions being discovered at the site could increase costs or lead to a delay in the programme that could potentially require a variation or addition to (1) the works and/or services required; and/or (2) the tendered financial or commercial commitments, to satisfactorily perform (or ensure the viability of) the Phase 2 development agreement. The severity and impact of such factors may not be known until after the commencement of the Phase 1 Feasibility Study and/or the Phase 2 development agreement following the completion of surveys or the commencement of works.
- There is a known risk in relation to the development that is the subject of this Procurement that, until the Phase 1 Feasibility Study and accompanying design and commercial analysis is completed, the commercial viability of the development within the Authority's requirements is not known. The risk that the development may not proceed due to unforeseen development cost changes or other market pressures would jeopardise the satisfactory delivery of the development that is the subject of this Procurement and cannot be fully addressed at this time. The materialisation of such viability risks may (subject to paragraphs 5(1)(b) and 7 of Schedule 8 of the Act) require a modification to the services, works or financial commitments that are confirmed pursuant to this Procurement.
- Notwithstanding the government announcement on 7 September 2026, the Authority is likely to be subject to local government re-organisation during the term of this development project. This risk is defined as a known risk as we do not yet understand the implications of that potential re-organisation on the delivery of the development that is the subject of this Procurement.
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 14 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline
- 14 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 2 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Requests to participate must be submitted electronically through the Supply Hertfordshire (InTend) procurement portal: in-tendhost.co.uk/supplyhertfordshire/… ↗
Suppliers must be registered on the portal and submit their completed Procurement Specific Questionnaires and all supporting information by the deadline stated in this notice.
Timeline
1 May 2026 → 10 Feb 2027 · 8 dates- Planning notice published179 days ago1 May 2026, 16:21 BST
- Market engagement144 days ago5 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
Please see procurement documents. Information on how to access opportunity is available in this notice.
- Tender notice published42 days ago15 Sept 2026, 23:25 BST
- Clarification questions by25 days ago2 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline13 days ago14 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Next notice expectedin 34 days1 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 93 days29 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 104 days10 Feb 2027
Notice history
5 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 1 May 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published1 May 2026, 16:21 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published15 Sept 2026, 23:25 BSTUK4
- Published value published: £100,000,00015 Sept 2026, 23:25 BST
- Status changed to active15 Sept 2026, 23:25 BST
- Procurement method changed15 Sept 2026, 23:25 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specificationsAccess: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/supplyhertfordshire/aspx/Home
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender