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Published 9 Sept 2026, 14:48 BST
Official UK Procurement Procedure

003550 - Flagship Festival 2027

Durham County Council
Local Council
services
Above threshold
Competitive flexible procedure
Special Regime: {"concession"}
Exhibition
fair and congress organisation services
North East (UKC14)
Published value
£1,500,000
≈ £748,974 / year
Submission deadline
8 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
28d 20h left
Clarification Cut-Off
7 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
Tender enquiry deadline · 1 lot
Contract duration
2 yrs (with extension options)
Starts 1 Feb 2027, 00:00 GMT
Electronic Sourcing Gateway:
Published portal
Official notice
Instructions: The documents must be downloaded from www.open-uk.org using the reference 20261993. These will be available from 9th September 2026. Any questions must be raised though this Open system for a response

What is being bought & procurement scope

Procurement Scope & Specification
Tenderline summary generated from the published notice
Executive Summary: Durham County Council: "003550 - Flagship Festival 2027". Published status: active. Published value: £1,500,000. 1 published lot. Recorded submission deadline: 8 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST. See the official notice for participation instructions.
Official Requirement Description:
Durham County Council is seeking an experienced and innovative delivery partner to develop and deliver a new flagship cultural event for County Durham. The Council is looking for a bold, ambitious and distinctive proposition that represents a step change from traditional festival models and has the potential to become a recurring, nationally recognised event. The successful proposal should be original, participatory and rooted in County Durham's unique identity, bringing together culture, creativity, innovation, technology and community engagement. The event should create a defining cultural moment for the county, enhancing its reputation as a place of creativity and excellence, while delivering lasting cultural, social and economic benefits. Proposals must demonstrate strong opportunities for participation, skills development and talent progression, particularly for children and young people, ensuring local communities play an active role in shaping and delivering the event.

Lots and requirements (1)

Procurement Structure
Published by the contracting authority
  • Lot 1 · #1
    Individual lot title not published
    active
    Renewal
    Published value£1,500,000
    The source published no individual title or description for this lot.
    Contract period:
    1 Feb 2027 — 31 Jan 2029 (2 yrs)
    Eligibility:
    Not published
    Options / extension:
    2 years + 2 years + 2 years, as this is will be a bi-annual event. Multiple extensions are possible depending on the success of the first festival in 2027.

Qualification snapshot & criteria

Go / No-Go Decision Box
Criteria & entry requirements
Evaluation weighting
Final Proposal: 60%
Price: 30%
Social Value: 10%
Incumbent & Market Position
Top Retained Vendor (Authority Spend)ADT Fire and Security PLCHolds 65.7% of historical attributable spend
High Concentration
Entry requirements & qualification
  • Turnover Benchmark
    Guideline requirement: ~£1,497,948 annual turnover.Per Cabinet Office EFS 2026 & Sourcing Playbook: general proportionality cap (~2× run-rate), not an automatic disqualifier.
  • Insurance Commitments (No Upfront Purchase Needed)
    Standard public thresholds: Employer Liability (£5m), Public Liability (£5m-£10m), Professional Indemnity (£1m-£5m).✓ Commitment required upon award only — no upfront policy purchase needed to bid
  • Accreditations & Security Vetting
    Check tender pack for Cyber Essentials Plus (PPN 014 risk-proportional), ISO 27001/9001, and BPSS / SC security clearance requirements for named delivery personnel.
  • Contract Duration & Term OptionsExpected duration: 2 yrs (with extension options)
    • Source: Cabinet Office Sourcing Playbook & EFS Guidance.

    Buyer track record & authority intelligence: Durham County Council

    Rolling 24 months
    Derived from OCDS data
    Published track record for Durham County Council. These figures describe rolling 24 months, not a forecast of bids or a measure of buyer bias.
    Avg price drop
    Not availableEarly / insufficient sample
    Requires 5 comparable published awards
    Competition Density
    9Bids / Report (median)
    Single-bidder rate: 15.4% · Mean: 9.9 bids
    Supplier Concentration
    High Concentration
    ADT Fire and Security PLCTop vendor: 65.7% of attributable value
    Published spend
    £9,125,832Historical spend
    Cumulative GBP spend across 55 retained awards
    Methodology & coverage notes (55 active published awards)
    Coverage: 55 active published awards; 13 bid reports (which may be per lot). Supplier values exclude multi-supplier awards, frameworks and DPS, and use GBP only. They are published award values, not payments. Published-to-award variance compares single-lot, single-award, single-supplier GBP procedures with explicitly non-framework/non-DPS status; increases remain in the average. Unpublished data stays unknown. Awarded suppliers are winners, not all bidders.
    Historical Awarded Suppliers in this Category (CPV 79):
    Supplier Name
    Historic Awards
    Attributable Value
    Avg. Price Discount
    ADT Fire and Security PLC1 win£6,000,000No published budget
    STEADFAST SECURITY SOLUTIONS LIMITED1 win£500,0000% (at budget)
    Mel Research1 win£245,345No published budget
    BS PROJECT SERVICES LIMITED1 win£200,000No published budget
    SANCTUARY PERSONNEL LIMITED1 win£200,000No published budget

    Sector Market Benchmark & Opportunity Radar

    CPV 79 · UK Sector Analysis
    Observed CPV-sector evidence
    Prepared 9 Sept 2026, 15:47 BST
    Observed CPV-sector evidence where it exists, with clearly labelled UK all-sector context for sparse fields; this is market context, not a bid forecast.
    Median Winning Discount
    0%
    CPV sector evidence · 526 comparable price observations
    Typical Bids Received
    4reported bids
    CPV sector evidence · 6,454 published bid reports
    Decision Velocity
    ~50 days
    CPV sector evidence · median from 430 completed procedures
    Notice Stability
    Stable notice
    Published terms remained unchanged
    Top Contenders in this Sector (CPV 79)
    Active commercial suppliers winning public contracts in this field
    Supplier
    Awards won
    Total awarded value
    Avg. winning discount
    LOCKHEED MARTIN UK LIMITEDCRN: PNLV-4275-TLYW
    		127 contractsNot disclosedAt ceiling / not disclosed
    KONGSBERG NORCONTROL LIMITEDCRN: PPYC-1178-HXWN
    		127 contractsNot disclosedAt ceiling / not disclosed
    SPACEFLUX LTDCRN: PZRP-1811-DLNX
    		127 contractsNot disclosedAt ceiling / not disclosed
    SKYRORA LIMITEDCRN: PZVZ-7296-VJDT
    		127 contractsNot disclosedAt ceiling / not disclosed
    SCAN ASSOCIATES LTDCRN: 10155969
    		126 contractsNot disclosedAt ceiling / not disclosed
    TTP PLCCRN: PNGY-6876-NPML
    		122 contractsNot disclosedAt ceiling / not disclosed
    Bornea Dynamics LimitedCRN: PBQT-1941-CDMP
    		117 contractsNot disclosedAt ceiling / not disclosed
    AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE LIMITEDCRN: PXTC-3157-GCRP
    		111 contractsNot disclosedAt ceiling / not disclosed
    TELESPAZIO UK LIMITEDCRN: PVQP-7147-CRHL
    		93 contractsNot disclosedAt ceiling / not disclosed
    HEO ROBOTICS (UK) LTDCRN: PZHW-5821-TNVQ
    		88 contractsNot disclosedAt ceiling / not disclosed
    Comparable Published Opportunities & Re-tender Precedents
    Ranked by multi-factor similarity score
    Historic records ranked from matching published evidence. They serve as research precedents for contract scoping, specifications, and previous awardees.
    Published procedure
    Published value
    Matching evidence
    Events & Activities CountywideDurham County Council · 7 Sept 2026, 16:22 BST
    		£300,000
    same CPV family
    same authority
    same region
    Provision of Lock Down Services and Temporary Manned Guarding for County Durham Bus StationsDurham County Council · 1 Sept 2026, 17:01 BST
    		£180,000
    same CPV family
    same authority
    same region
    Provision of Manned Security Services for Durham Bus StationDurham County Council · 3 Sept 2026, 17:07 BST
    		£500,000
    same CPV family
    same authority
    same region
    Construction Consultancy Framework; 2027 - 2031Gentoo Group · 9 Sept 2026, 14:26 BST
    		£5,000,000
    same CPV family
    similar value band
    Provision of Legal ServicesCodi Group Ltd · 3 Sept 2026, 15:09 BST
    		£2,000,000
    same CPV family
    similar value band
    Method: tender-intelligence-v1. Empirical OCDS facts and cross-sector percentiles; missing fields remain unrecorded.

    Procedure terms & legal framework

    Procedure methodCompetitive flexible procedureLegal basis
    UKPGA · 2023/54
    Procurement Act 2023
    		Procurement categoryservices
    Notice statusactiveProcurement threshold
    Above threshold
    (FTS publication)
    		Regulatory regime{"concession"}
    Commercial structureStand-alone contract (No framework)Competition typeCompetitive procedureGPA WTO coveredUnspecified in notice
    Recurring procurementNo (One-off requirement)First published9 Sept 2026, 14:48 BSTLast source update9 Sept 2026, 14:48 BST
    Award evaluation windowSubmission end — 18 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMTClassification (CPV)Exhibition, fair and congress organisation services
    Delivery area
    North East (UKC14)
    Official Registry OCIDocds-h6vhtk-06f5ce

    How to participate & submission route

    Authorized E-Sourcing Portal
    Official Buyer Portal
    Online submission allowed
    Language: EN
    Expression of interest (EOI)—Tender submission deadline
    8 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
    		Clarification deadline
    7 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
    Submission channelOfficial e-sourcing portalElectronic submissionAllowedAccepted languagesen
    Participation feeFree of charge (Open access)
    Detailed Submission Instructions & Authority Contacts
    From official release
    The documents must be downloaded from www.open-uk.org using the reference 20261993. These will be available from 9th September 2026. Any questions must be raised though this Open system for a response
    Timeline
    1. Procedure published
      9 Sept 2026, 14:48 BST
    2. Clarification deadline
      7 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
    3. Submission deadline
      8 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST

    Commercial outcome and contract awards

    Awards (0)No award published
    Contracts (0)No contract published
    Bid statisticsNo aggregate bid statistics published
    Notice history
    From official release and amendment events
    1. Official notice release published
      9 Sept 2026, 14:48 BST

    Buyer and organisations in this procedure

    Durham County Council

    Contracting authority
    Local Council
    GB-PPON-PMPB-8772-VYWM
    View buyer profile →

    Official Documents & Specifications (2)

    Official links; attachments are not copied

    • Tender notice on Find a Tender

      tender
      Tender notice
      9 Sept 2026, 14:48 BST

    • Conflict of interest declaration

      tender
      Conflict of interest declaration
      Notice declares: Not published