Official UK procurement notice
Preliminary Market Engagement for Ashford Arts Centre Operator
Authority: Ashford Borough Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionAshford Borough Council is bringing forward the redevelopment of the former Odeon cinema on Ashford High Street into Ashford Arts Centre (working title, naming convention to be agreed with successful bidder), a flexible theatre, gallery and community venue, and a landmark cultural project for the town centre. Following Cabinet and Full Council approval, this first phase of the project focuses on restoring the High Street facing part of the building; it does not recreate a full-scale theatre and is designed to complement rather than compete with larger regional venues. Design development is being led by Haworth Tompkins, with RIBA Stage 2 complete and Stage 3 design now underway.
The Council intends to appoint an operator or leaseholder to run the venue once complete, on a lease or concession basis pending final classification, and is undertaking preliminary market engagement to understand market capacity and appetite among cultural and commercial operators before finalising its procurement route and minimum requirements. This builds on strong interest already shown by creative and community organisations in Ashford and is intended to ensure the technical brief and contract terms are realistic and will attract high quality operators, given the Council's ambition for the venue to become a genuine cultural anchor for the area. The Council acknowledges that some form of public revenue support may be required to enable a venue of this kind to operate sustainably; the level and structure of any such support has not yet been determined and will be informed by this engagement. This is not a call for competition and does not commit the Council to commence a procurement process.
Turnover estimated at approximately £6.1 million over a 15-year term, in line with the lease or concession term set out above. This reflects the Council's indicative commercial model for the venue, based on cumulative operator income (not net or gross profit and excluding public subsidy) over the 15-year term.
Lease or concession term of approximately 15 - 25 years from operational handover. Start date to be confirmed once the Stage 3 and Stage 4 design and construction programme is finalised, but indicative dates provided are based on an early agreement being in place in early 2027, with the venue opening in July 2028, based on the current programme and a 15 year agreement from opening.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the eSourcing portal at:
www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/tenders/UK-UK-Ashfor… ↗
To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
CPV: Artistic and literary creation and interpretation services · Entertainment services · Recreational, cultural and sporting services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Ashford Borough Council buys Artistic and literary creation and interpretation services (CPV 9231), and who usually turns up
Ashford Borough Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Artistic and literary creation and interpretation services (CPV 9231) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in South East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 30 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
How many bids did past lots attract?
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How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid17% / 11%
2–38% / 33%
4–617% / 33%
7+58% / 22%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate53% / 29%
Within ±2%20% / 50%
Above estimate27% / 21%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 92Published estimate£6.1m
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 92. The comparison uses that group.
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 21 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid10%
2–329%
4–657%
7+5%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- 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
- 31 Jul 2026, 13:54 BST
- Last source update
- 31 Jul 2026, 13:54 BST
- Authority reference
ASH/25/358- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-072732- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d8e0Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
31 Jul 2026 → 31 Mar 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published88 days ago31 Jul 2026, 13:54 BST
- Market engagement60 days ago28 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
- Purpose of this Engagement
Ashford Borough Council is undertaking preliminary market engagement in advance of a potential procurement process for the appointment of an operator or leaseholder to run Ashford Arts Centre.
The purpose of this exercise is to:
•understand current market capacity and appetite among cultural, community and commercial operators
•test the contract structure against real operator experience, including views on whether, and to what extent, public revenue support may be needed
•inform the proposed procurement route, contract structure and specification
•identify opportunities for community engagement, accessible pricing and high-quality content programming
This is not a call for competition and does not commit the Council to commence a procurement process.
- Venue Overview
•Location: the former Odeon cinema, Ashford High Street, currently being redeveloped by Haworth Tompkins
•Main auditorium (Studio Theatre): up to 176 seated, or 212 standing, a flexible performance space for resident and touring content
•First floor Dance Hall and community space: approximately 145 sqm, with seated capacity varying by use from around 45 up to around 132 depending on layout, intended to operate as a concurrent, separate hire alongside the auditorium, supporting workshops, rehearsals, dance classes and wellbeing activities, as well as commercial and public hire including meetings, conferences, weddings and private celebrations
•Additional spaces: a foyer with café/bar and informal workspace, a gallery and pop-up creative area for exhibitions and community showcases, and accessible circulation with modern building systems throughout
•Design and technical development detail available in the information pack on request
•Further background on the project, including the Cabinet report and community engagement activity, is available on the Council's website: www.ashford.gov.uk/your-council/council… ↗
•Public sector revenue support: the Council acknowledges that some form of public subsidy may be required to enable a venue of this scale and specification to operate sustainably. The level and structure of any such support has not yet been determined, and responses to this engagement will help inform that decision
The Council is particularly interested in understanding how operators can support: local employment opportunities; affordable and accessible pricing alongside genuine community access commitments; high quality cultural and commercial content programming; and a resilient commercial model capable of sustaining the venue over the full contract term.
- Engagement Format
•Operator Market Day: Wednesday 12th August 2026, held via Teams, with senior representatives from Haworth Tompkins, Ashford Borough Council and Blue Horizon Ventures presenting the design, requirements and next steps
•Optional follow up conversations available on request
All participating organisations will receive the same information pack, to ensure transparency.
- Confidentiality
Information provided will be used solely to inform the Council's procurement strategy. Commercially sensitive information will not be disclosed publicly.
- Next Steps
Following this engagement, the Council may:
•refine its delivery model
•adjust its route to market
•publish a formal procurement notice
•decide not to proceed
Register attendance for the market day by Friday 7th August 2026, to Julian Russell julian@bluehorizon-ventures.com
Written expressions of interest and responses to the questionnaire are due by Friday 28th August 2026 via the Kent Business Portal.
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 153 days31 Mar 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published31 Jul 2026, 13:54 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