Tenderline / Tenders / CPU 8586 Grounds Maintenance Operated Plant Fram…

Find a TenderOpen admission Tender notice
Published 18 Sept 2026, 10:07 BST

Official UK procurement notice

CPU 8586 Grounds Maintenance Operated Plant Framework

Authority: Nottingham City Council (Local council)

Framework agreementServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Framework ceiling (notional) £400,000framework ceiling, not attributable revenue
Admission open until 30 Oct 202612:00 GMT · period end, not a bid countdown
Clarification cut-off 23 Oct 202612:00 BST · questions to the authority
Framework period 4 yrsstarts 21 Dec 2026
Bids per lot · this authority 5all categories · n=65 · competition analysis ↓

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Nottingham City Council requires a Framework Agreement for the provision of specialist rural services to support Grounds Maintenance and Vegetation Management in Rural Highways Environments within the boundaries of Nottingham City Council and any future expanded highway area arising from Local Government Reorganisation. Services may include the provision of tractor operators and associated plant and equipment, including agricultural tractors, towable mowers, out-front mowers, flail arms, hedge cutters, embankment flail mowers, remote-controlled slope mowers, and tractor and trailer combinations, to support Highway-related projects.

The Supplier shall provide plant, attachments and operators in accordance with this Contract Specification, the Framework Agreement, the Pricing Schedule, any applicable Call-Off Contract documentation, any site-specific requirements issued by the Authority, and Nottingham City Council's Generic Employers Work Information document and associated Appendices insofar as its requirements are relevant to the activities being undertaken:

• Highway verge, embankment and rural vegetation management.

• Grass cutting, flailing, hedge cutting and seasonal vegetation works.

Read the full description (399 more characters)

• Transport and movement of plant where required.

• Specialist plant support for constrained or complex highway environments.

Subject to suitability, the Council is seeking to appoint up to 3 Contractors to this framework.

The overall framework will have an estimated total value of £400,000 (VAT exclusive)

The duration of the Framework is expected to be for up to 4 years at the Authority's discretion

  • The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 2 Sept 2030, 23:59 BST.

CPV: Grounds maintenance services · Hire of construction and civil engineering machinery and equipment with operator · Tree pruning and hedge trimming · Tree-maintenance services · Weed-clearance services

How this framework works

From the published notice
Type
Closed framework
Call-offs
call-offs are awarded directly to appointed suppliers, without further competition
Places
up to 3 suppliers
Framework period
4 yrs from 21 Dec 2026
Published description of the framework

Call-offs from the Framework will be made by Direct Award according to the following criteria: The Employer will assemble a basket of items required to deliver the works, and apply the rates provided by each Contractor to the basket in order to determine the Price for each Contractor. The contract will be offered first to the Contractor whose basket is best priced. The Employer will telephone the Contractor selected as first choice for the direct award in accordance with the pricing schedule, to make them aware that a call-off is required and to detail the requirement. The Contractor will confirm their willingness to undertake the work. If this is not possible immediately, due to the specifics of the requirement, the Contractor will email the Employer within 24 hours, either confirming that they will be undertaking the work, or declining so to do. Should the first-choice supplier be unable or unwilling to undertake the work, the second-choice supplier will be approached in a similar fashion, and so forth. The Employer shall email the selected Contractor with the proposal for the works and the appropriate form of contract, priced in accordance with the Framework Pricing Schedule. The Contractor will return the completed form of contract by email to the Employer within 24 hours, whereupon the Employer will arrange for contract completion.

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1Lot 1 4 yrsSMEVCSEPublished value£400,000
Contract period: 21 Dec 2026 — 20 Dec 2030 (4 yrs)Eligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleDelivery: East Midlands
Value
£400,000 exc. VAT · £480,000 inc. VAT
45500000 Hire of construction and civil engineering machinery and equipment with operator77211500 Tree-maintenance services77312000 Weed-clearance services77314000 Grounds maintenance services77340000 Tree pruning and hedge trimming

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win

Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published — the tender pack may add more
How bids are scored
Quality: 40Price: 140Social value: 20
Published sub-criteria (6)
  • Quality20
  • Quality20
  • Price70
  • Price70
  • Social Value10
  • Social Value10

Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid

How Nottingham City Council buys Planting and maintenance services of green areas (CPV 7731) — and who usually turns up

Nottingham City Council’s own published record, next to the East Midlands market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared.

1

How the contest usually goes

Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested frameworks and DPS only — direct awards report one bid by definition and are left out. Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.

This authority

Nottingham City Council

framework/DPS notices in 36 months: 1 in CPV 7731 · 1 in division 77 · 106 in all categories (19 direct)

Bids per lot5all categories · 36m · n=65 lots
Single-bid lots3%all categories · 36m · n=65 lots
Award vs estimateat estimateall categories · 24m · n=36 pairs
Deadline → award62dall categories · 36m · n=28 notices
Notice updates0all categories · 24m · n=289 notices
Awarded without competition18%all categories · 36m · n=106 notices
Bids per lot robust · n=65
  • 1 bid 3%
  • 2–3 26%
  • 4–6 31%
  • 7+ 40%

Median 5 · 65 lots on 37 contested notices · all categories.

How procedures are run robust · n=101
  • Open 74%
  • Selective 7%
  • Limited 19%
  • Direct 0%

106 notices · all categories. Open and selective are contested (feed the bid/price figures above); limited and direct are not.

The market · delivery region

East Midlands · Planting and maintenance services of green areas (CPV 7731)

framework/DPS notices delivered in East Midlands in 36 months: 20 in CPV 7731 (20 contested) · 48 in division 77 (48 contested)

Bids per lot4CPV 7731 · 36m · n=33 lots
Single-bid lots0%CPV 7731 · 36m · n=33 lots
Award vs estimatenot measured on frameworks — a panel award is a ceiling, not a price
Deadline → award81ddivision 77 · 36m · n=7 notices
SME bidders69%division 77 · 36m · n=3 lots
Winners based in the region67%CPV 7731 · 36m · n=42 awards
Bids per lot robust · n=33
  • 1 bid 0%
  • 2–3 27%
  • 4–6 61%
  • 7+ 12%

Median 4 · 33 lots on 8 contested notices · CPV 7731.

How procedures are run robust · n=18
  • Open 61%
  • Selective 39%
  • Limited 0%
  • Direct 0%

20 notices · CPV 7731. Open and selective are contested (feed the bid/price figures above); limited and direct are not.

robust · n=36 Awards in Nottingham City Council (all categories, n=36 pairs) land a median at estimate: on this notice’s £400,000 that is about £400,000. Context for a bid, not a recommended price.

Method and what to read with care
  • Two columns, no blending. The authority column walks its own record only: notices in the 4-digit class, then the 2-digit division, then all categories (36 months, per lot, contested only), and as a last resort its 24-month row across all categories (per notice, every route). The market column is the notice’s primary delivery ITL1 × the same class, then division (36 months). Nothing is filled from the UK-wide class; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable.
  • Per lot, contested only. Find a Tender publishes bid counts per lot; a seven-lot tender is seven contests. Procedures awarded without competition (limited / direct) are excluded from bids, price pairs and decision days — they report one bid by definition. Frameworks and DPS are a separate population from contracts (6–7 bids per lot against 2–4) and only the notice’s own kind is shown.
  • Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). Award-vs-estimate pairs need a lot estimate, one active award on the lot, one canonical supplier and a gap under 60 %; about 30 % of pairs are exact matches (the buyer published the award at the estimate). n is on every figure; below 3 the tile is muted, never hidden.
  • Pounds. The expected award applies the authority’s median movement (or the region’s, when the authority has fewer than 3 pairs) to this notice’s estimate; the middle half uses the region’s quartiles. A multi-lot notice publishes an envelope, so the movement is applied per lot, never to the total. A benchmark, not a recommended price.
  • “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.

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
Open admission
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Framework agreement
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Yes · next expected 2 Sept 2030
First published
18 Sept 2026, 10:07 BST
Last source update
18 Sept 2026, 10:07 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end — 21 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
Authority reference
CPU 8586
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Grounds maintenance servicesHire of construction and civil engineering machinery and equipment with operatorTree pruning and hedge trimmingTree-maintenance servicesWeed-clearance services
Delivery area
East Midlands (UKF14)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077511 Find a Tender
Review and risk notes
Risks
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire may be subject to Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), a national programme led by central government to restructure two-tier authorities into single unitary councils. This process involves Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, the district/borough councils, and the more…Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, and may lead to changes in governance, boundaries and service delivery arrangements that could affect this contract. Tenderers should therefore note that organisational and contractual arrangements may need to adapt in line with any LGR implementation

How to participate & submission route

Official notice Apply via portal
Authorised e-sourcing portalportal not identifiedElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Open official portal workspace ↗
Expression of interest (EOI)
Appointment period ends
30 Oct 2026, 12:00 GMT
Clarification deadline
23 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

Timeline

5 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Tender notice publishedearlier today
    18 Sept 2026, 10:07 BST
  2. Clarification questions byin 35 days
    23 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
  3. Admission / appointment period endsin 42 days · period end, not a bid countdown
    30 Oct 2026, 12:00 GMT
  4. Contract startsin 94 days
    21 Dec 2026, 00:00 GMT
  5. Award decision expected byin 95 days
    21 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Nothing awarded yet
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Tender notice published
    18 Sept 2026, 10:07 BSTUK4

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Nottingham City Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PZGG-1891-TDCX Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, East Midlands, NG2 3NG [email protected]
View buyer profile →

Official documents & specifications (4)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender