Official UK procurement notice
Cardiff Riding School · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Cardiff Council (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionCardiff Riding School is the only Local Authority operated equestrian facility in Wales delivering riding lessons for schools, children and adults, disability groups, children`s parties and more recently for alternative curriculum for children at risk of failing in mainstream education. It also provides a livery for private horse owners.
The facility is set in the beautiful surrounding of Pontcanna Fields in the heart of the city with excellent public transport access. The facility is in need of capital investment and has potential for growth through broadening the education programme, better use of the outdoor space and products on offer.
The facility comprises: Indoor riding school - Building 45m x 40m but part of the 40m is gallery so actual riding area 45m x 25m. Outdoor riding school 40m x 40m. External fenced grounds of 35 acres including buildings, grounds (approx. 30 acres). Car Park for 50/60 cars. Stables x 39 stables, 8 stalls Livestock comprises: Horses x 43, 31 school horses, 12 livery horses, 1 of those working livery so works in the school
Ancillary facilities are as follows: First Aid, Feed, Staff Room, Demountable office, Caretakers House (24 hr care) BTEC classroom, Portable toilets, Barn with internal rooms for parties/pony club and feed storage.
Staffing consists of: Instructors x 6 contracted and 11 agency. Yard hands x 2 contracted and 13 agency. Assistant Management x 1. Receptionists x 3 contracted and 3 agency. 8.5 FTE’s.
Bookings Full daily Tuesday to Sunday 9am-8pm weekdays 9am-4.30pm weekends
Current estimated Annual Income: £570,000 Current estimated Annual Expenditure £98,000
www.outdoorcardiff.com/cardiff-riding-school ↗
The aim is to attract an operator that can bring significant capital investment to the facility, protect, develop and enhance the existing programme. Manage, develop existing staff (TUPE will apply) and recruit new staff to grow and develop the educational offer. Provide new educational opportunities for children and young people linking with local schools, colleges and targeting children at risk of failing in mainstream education through providing vocational education opportunities. To modernise systems and develop the riding school as an equestrian centre of development and excellence.
The Council invites interested prospective contractors to lodge an initial expression of interest via Proactis and submit a questionnaire response before 12:00 noon on 11th March 2026
supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login ↗
Participating in this exercise will not guarantee short-listing at a later stage in the procurement, likewise non-participation of the questionnaire or any engagement sessions will not result in a bidder being excluded from the tender process.
CPV: Building and facilities management services · Business organisation services · Commercial property management services · Horse riding school services · Land management services · Leisure centre construction work · Non-residential property services · Property management services of real estate on a fee or contract basis · Repair and maintenance work in connection with sports facilities · Sports facilities operation services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Planned
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Cardiff Council buys Specialist training services (CPV 8051), and who usually turns up
Cardiff 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: Specialist training services (CPV 8051) →
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 Wales (Cymru).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in 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 61 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.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
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 bid13% / 19%
2–346% / 42%
4–638% / 27%
7+4% / 12%
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 estimate48% / 53%
Within ±2%24% / 42%
Above estimate29% / 5%
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 4521Published estimate£18m
This lot is listed as CPV 4521. The table above uses the notice category.
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 22 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid18%
2–355%
4–623%
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
- 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
- 11 Feb 2026, 12:53 GMT
- Last source update
- 11 Feb 2026, 12:53 GMT
- Authority reference
ERFX1008874- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-012380- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-064dcfFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
11 Feb 2026 → 1 Dec 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published256 days ago11 Feb 2026, 12:53 GMT
- Market engagement228 days ago11 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
Initial expression of interest via Proactis and completion of the questionnaire by 12:00 (noon) on 11th March 2026. supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login ↗
- Tender notice expected83 days ago3 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today26 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 36 days1 Dec 2026
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published11 Feb 2026, 12:53 GMTUK2
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