Find a TenderPast planning noticePreliminary market engagement notice
Published 22 Jul 2025, 13:27 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Pre-Tender Market Engagement - Business Case Development (from OBC to FBC) for Project CASTLE

Official notice

Authority: Tees Valley Combined Authority (Local council)

ServicesAbove threshold
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yrends 2 Nov 2026 · starts 3 Nov 2025

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA), part of the Tees Valley Combined Authority Group, seeks to engage the market through this Pre-Tender Market Engagement (PTME) exercise in preparation for the procurement of an impartial consultant to prepare and author a Green Book-compliant Business Case for Project CASTLE.

The Connected Automated Strategic Teesside Logistics Ecosystem (CASTLE) project aims to drive technological and economic transformation across Tees Valley. Project CASTLE aims to deliver a step-change in regional passenger mobility, logistics, and innovation by establishing a Connected and Automated Mobility (CAMhub) at Teesside International Airport (TIA). This demonstrator site will serve as the foundation for proving Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) concepts, airside automation, and data-led operational innovation, with a view to regional deployment of CAMTrams (autonomous bus shuttles) into 5 town centres, (1 per local authority), which will enhance inclusive mobility across Tees Valley.

This PTME aims to:

  • Understand the market's capability and appetite to deliver a Green Book-compliant Outline Business Case (OBC) trough to Full Business Case (FBC) for complex, CAM innovation-led transport projects.
  • Validate suppliers' experience in transport business case development, with a focus on connected & automated transport systems.
  • Assess market capacity, availability of specialist expertise (e.g. CAM, passenger services and logistics), and anticipated delivery timelines.
  • Explore indicative costs, delivery models, and dependencies-particularly relating to regulatory interfaces, stakeholder engagement (e.g. airport, DfT, CCAV), and cross-sector coordination.
  • Provide potential suppliers with the opportunity to raise queries, identify delivery risks, and suggest approaches that could enhance the specification or value for money of the commission.

The final commission is expected to include development of the Outline Business Case through to Full Business Case, structured around HM Treasury's Five Case Model and aligned with Department for Transport and Connected & Automated Mobility (CAM) guidance, where applicable.

Please refer to the Pre-Tender Market Engagement documents for further detail. These can be found on the ProContract e-tendering portal:

procontract.due-north.com/Advert ↗

You will need to register as a supplier to gain access to the documentation. Registration is free.

CPV: Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security · Research and development services and related consultancy services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

Procedure 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
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
22 Jul 2025, 13:27 BST
Last source update
22 Jul 2025, 16:25 BST
Authority reference
TVCA-PROC-0643
FTS notice number
2025/S 000-042150
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and securityResearch and development services and related consultancy services
Delivery area
North East (UKC1)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0563d2 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

22 Jul 2025 → 3 Nov 2025 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published
    22 Jul 2025, 13:27 BST
  2. Market engagement
    5 Aug 2025, 23:59 BST

    To respond to this pre-market engagement request, you must be registered to use the ProContract e-tendering portal at:

    procontract.due-north.com/Advert ↗

    All completed responses must be submitted electronically via the portal using the submission template.

    Should you require assistance in relation to the e-tender portal, please contact Proactis Supplier Support either on-line at suppliersupport.proactisservicedesk.com ↗, via email to ProContractSuppliers@proactis.com or call 0330 0050 352.

    Queries regarding this process and/or the content of this PTME should be submitted as clarification requests via the portal, no communication will be accepted via other means.

  3. Contract starts361 days ago
    3 Nov 2025

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 22 Jul 2025
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    22 Jul 2025, 13:27 BST
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    22 Jul 2025, 16:25 BST
    UK2
Published amendments (1)

Correction to Contract start date (estimated)

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

Tees Valley Combined Authority

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-COH: 11747311 · GB-PPON: PDNG-8971-ZVCR Teesside Airport Business Suite, Teesside International Airport, Darlington, North East, DL2 1NJContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure