Find a TenderAwardedContract award notice
Published 17 Mar 2026, 14:11 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Provision of Southend-on-Sea South Local Bus Service 2026

Official notice

Authority: Southend-on-Sea City Council (Local council)

ServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdSME suitable
Published estimate£1,470,000≈ £735k / year · £1,470,000 inc. VAT · 1 value update0.9% below published estimate
Submissions closed 5 Jun 2026awarded 9 Jul 2026
Award (standstill) to Arriva Kent Thameside Limited
Contract term 2 yrsends 4 Nov 2028 · up to 3 Nov 2029 with extensions · starts 1 Nov 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Southend-on-Sea City Council (SCC) is seeking to award a contract to a suitable supplier for the provision of a South Bus Service operating within Southend on Sea. The detail of which

can be found below.

Scope:

Currently there are no commercial bus services which provide a service with a direct link into Airport land, operating between Southend Travel Centre and London Southend

Airport and Temple Farm Industrial Estate. This new bus service will support residents within St. Laurence; Prittlewell; St. Luke's; Southchurch; Victoria; Kursall; Milton Wards and enable new connections across the city.

Consultation for the BSIP identified many residents wanted to see a route from the

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Eastern area of Southend-on-Sea into London Southend Airport and considered that such a service could enable new connections across the city and avoid the need to travel into the city centre to change buses.

This new bus service will also support local businesses along the route including the Temple Farm Industrial areas of the city, that have no, or very few, bus services linking them direct to other parts of the city.

Local Government Reform & Devolution:

The contracting authority is Southend-on-Sea City Council and any Successor Body meaning one or more entities which assumes any of the Council's functions (as applicable) as a result of Local Government Reform (LGR). Such successor body or bodies may be, without limitation, a local authority, a combined county authority, a strategic authority or any other status determined pursuant to the Devolution and LGR Legislation.

CPV: Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation · Transport services (excl. Waste transport)

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1AwardedRenewal 2 yrsSMEPublished value£1,470,000
Contract period: 1 Nov 2026 – 4 Nov 2028 (2 yrs) · up to 3 Nov 2029 with extensionsValue: £1,470,000 exc. VAT · £1,470,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: East of EnglandEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: Provision to extend for a further 12 months.

What it takes to win
i

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 more
How bids were scored
Quality: 30%Price: 70%
Published sub-criteria (2)
  • Technical: 30%
  • Commercial: 70%
Published award criteria (2)
  • Technical
  • Commercial
What this means for your bid
  • Price carries 70 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 7 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.

Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Open procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Awarded
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
17 Mar 2026, 14:11 GMT
Last source update
9 Jul 2026, 12:47 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 5 Aug 2026
Authority reference
DN807556
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-040661
Latest notice
Contract award notice (UK6)
Classification (CPV)
Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportationTransport services (excl. Waste transport)
Delivery area
East of England (UKH31)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-066c5a Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: portal not identified
Electronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Submission deadline
5 Jun 2026, 15:00 BST
Clarification deadline
15 May 2026, 15:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

The provisioning of documentation relating to the Procurement Process and the submission of Responses from interested Parties will be conducted electronically via Southend-on-Sea City Council's Electronic Tender Facility, ProContract:

procurement.southend.gov.uk/southend/portal.nsf/… ↗

The Candidates must ensure that they have downloaded and are fully aware of all the information which they are required to be in receipt of. This will include; Procurement Specific Questionnaire, Technical (Quality) Responses, Commercial (Price) Submission, Tender Forms & Declarations.

All submissions must be forms to be completed online via Pro Contract.

Timeline

17 Mar 2026 → 1 Nov 2026 · 11 dates
  1. Planning notice published226 days ago
    17 Mar 2026, 14:11 GMT
  2. Market engagement212 days ago
    30 Mar 2026, 23:59 BST

    Engagement process description

    Southend-on-Sea City Council will be holding an online Teams market engagement event for this service on 31st March 2026 (subject to availability).

    The Market Engagement Event will cover the following:

    • Overview of the Service
    • Proposed Procurement Approach
    • Indicative Procurement Timeline
    • Q&A Session with Suppliers

    The Council will use all reasonable endeavours to respond to questions raised within the session. The session will be recorded.

    To register your interest in this opportunity, please email Procurement at lucygayler@southend.gov.uk and provide the following information:

    • Name of your registered organisation
    • Names and Email Addresses of Attendees for the Market Engagement Event
    • Acceptance of your availability.

    Important Information:

    Respondents are advised that the purpose of this notice is to engage in dialogue with the market. The scope of service, date of publication or potential contract value should not be taken as a final "version" of requirement.

    This notice is not a call for competition to procure any services and is not published to reduce time limited for the receipt of tenders.

    Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or (lack) to this notice. Nor shall a response to this notice guarantee an invitation to participate in any future procurement process that Southend-on-Sea City Council may conduct.

  3. Tender notice published181 days ago
    1 May 2026, 15:30 BST
  4. Next notice expected180 days ago
    1 May 2026, 23:59 BST
  5. Clarification questions by167 days ago
    15 May 2026, 15:00 BST
  6. Submission deadline146 days ago
    5 Jun 2026, 15:00 BST
  7. Assessment summaries sent112 days ago
    9 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
  8. Latest notice published112 days ago
    9 Jul 2026, 12:47 BST
  9. Standstill ends99 days ago
    21 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
  10. Award decision expected by84 days ago
    5 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
  11. Today
    29 Oct 2026
  12. Contract startsin 2 days
    1 Nov 2026

Notice history

9 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 17 Mar 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    17 Mar 2026, 14:11 GMT
    UK2
  2. Tender notice published
    1 May 2026, 15:30 BST
    UK4
  3. Published value updated
    1 May 2026, 15:30 BST
  4. Status changed to active
    1 May 2026, 15:30 BST
  5. Procurement method changed
    1 May 2026, 15:30 BST
  6. Deadline published: 5 Jun 2026, 15:00 BST
    1 May 2026, 15:30 BST
  7. Contract award notice published
    9 Jul 2026, 12:47 BST
    UK6
  8. Status changed to complete
    9 Jul 2026, 12:47 BST
  9. Contract signature expected
    22 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
    scheduled

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value (inc. VAT) £1,457,1181 award inc. VAT; no net value published
Bids received 31 from SMEs
Awarded toValueDateStatus
Arriva Kent Thameside Limited1 Aug 2026 – 4 Nov 2028 · up to 3 Nov 2029Extensions: Option to extend for a further 12 month period.£1,457,118 inc. VAT9 Jul 2026standstill to 21 Jul 2026Standstill

Bid statistics published by the authority

BidsSMEVCSEValid bid range
3final-stage tenders10—

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Southend-on-Sea City Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PJDT-6566-GZNX Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue, Southend On Sea, Essex, Southend-on-Sea, East of England, SS2 6FAContact name, email

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice
  • ARRIVA KENT THAMESIDE LIMITEDAwarded supplierGB-COH: 02005266GB-PPON: PRDJ-9465-MZYN 1 Admiral Way Doxford, Sunderland, North East, SR3 3XPContact email

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure