Official UK procurement notice
Delamere Forest Concession Opportunity
Authority: Forestry Commission (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionForestry England have a potential future opportunity at Delamere Forest for the provision of a concession installation. Forestry England are currently researching potential commercial uses for the current bike hire building on site. We are seeking interest and feedback from the wider market as to potential appropriate activities/services that would be a cohesive fit with the forestry environment and our visitor profile at the Delamere site.
Delamere Forest is the largest woodland in Cheshire, covering an area of 972 hectares. A mixture of woodland, internationally important meres and mosses, as well as Old Pale Heights – the highest point in the Cheshire Plain – and several Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Delamere has excellent transport links and lies between the Manchester, Liverpool and Chester conurbations. Welcoming approximately 750,000 visitors each year, Delamere is a popular destination for outdoor activities like walking, running, cycling and horse riding. There are also a number of annual sports events, as well as Forestry England’s annual music series, Forest Live.
As one of Forestry England’s flagship sites, the visitor facilities are centred around the state-of-the-art Visitor Centre, which was built in 2020. Facilities include a number of carparks, a café, education, Go Ape, waymarked trails and several long-distance Public Rights of Way that cut through the forest. There’s also a Forest Holidays location within Delamere, consisting of 62 luxury cabins and a retreat.
Forestry England are currently scoping our requirements to ensure that any future tender documentation accurately reflects the offerings of the market. We invite companies from the market to register their interest in this future requirement and provide feedback on potential clarifications and the feasibility of our emerging plans. We also invite suppliers to provide suggestions on potential concessions that they believe would be a suitable fit for the Delamere forest site.
To view this notice, please click here:
CPV: Recreational, cultural and sporting services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedProcedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Past planning notice
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Concession
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 18 Jul 2025, 10:05 BST
- Last source update
- 18 Jul 2025, 10:05 BST
- Authority reference
FCCN003852- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-041192- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0561e3Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
18 Jul 2025 → 15 Mar 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published18 Jul 2025, 10:05 BST
- Market engagement21 Aug 2025, 23:59 BST
We invite companies from the market to register their interest in this future requirement and provide feedback on potential clarifications and the feasibility of our emerging plans. We also invite suppliers to provide suggestions on potential concessions that they believe would be a suitable fit for the Delamere forest site.
While we expect any new opportunity to be open during our peak visitor times (i.e., weekends and school holidays) any opportunity to attract new visitors or outside our peak times will be considered.
Please register your interest with commercial.services@forestryengland.uk by close of business Thursday 21st August 2025.
- Contract starts228 days ago15 Mar 2026
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 Jul 2025, 10:05 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender