Official UK procurement notice
E-Bikes · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Stoke-on-Trent City Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionStoke-on-Trent City Council is seeking to provide residents and visitors with a wider range of sustainable, accessible and affordable travel options, particularly for short-distance journeys. Encouraging a shift away from private car use supports both local and national policy objectives relating to decarbonisation, air quality improvement, and public health outcomes.
Travel behaviour data consistently shows that a significant proportion of car trips are relatively short in length. National evidence indicates that approximately 70% of car journeys are under five miles, and around 25% are less than one mile. Many of these trips have the potential to be undertaken by alternative modes, provided that convenient, reliable and attractive options are available.
In Stoke-on-Trent, factors such as topography, perceived travel time, and accessibility barriers can limit the uptake of traditional cycling. Electrically assisted bicycles (e-bikes) offer a practical solution to these challenges by reducing physical effort, extending feasible travel distances, and making cycling more inclusive for a broader range of users, including those with lower fitness levels or mobility constraints.
The scheme will provide residents and visitors with a convenient, accessible and sustainable alternative to private car use, particularly for short-distance journeys, while supporting the Council's wider transport, environmental and public health objectives.
The key objectives are to:
- Appoint a delivery partner to design, implement and operate an e-bike hire scheme within the city, based on a commercially viable model
- Introduce a fleet of approximately 800-1,000 e-bikes, scaled appropriately to ensure visibility, accessibility and network coverage across key locations within Stoke-on-Trent
- Improve local connectivity by enabling short trips between residential areas, town centres, transport hubs, employment sites and visitor destinations
- Encourage modal shift away from private car use, contributing to reduced congestion, improved air quality and lower carbon emissions
- Increase participation in cycling by overcoming barriers such as topography and fitness levels through the use of electrically assisted bicycles
- Ensure high-quality service delivery, including reliable availability, effective maintenance, and appropriate parking controls (e.g. geo-fencing) to minimise negative impacts on the public realm
- Secure robust data sharing arrangements to enable monitoring of usage, performance, and outcomes, supporting ongoing evaluation and future decision-making
- Minimise financial risk to the Council by seeking a commercially sustainable model, with no requirement for ongoing subsidy where possible
- Enable future scalability, allowing the scheme to expand or adapt based on demand, performance and funding opportunities
CPV: Parking services · Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Stoke-on-Trent City Council buys Support services for land transport (CPV 6371), and who usually turns up
Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Support services for land transport (CPV 6371) →
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.
Here, local means registered in West Midlands.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in West Midlands.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 57 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 bid32% / 21%
2–352% / 44%
4–610% / 18%
7+6% / 18%
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 estimate24% / 40%
Within ±2%54% / 55%
Above estimate22% / 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 6371Estimate not published
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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 34 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid21%
2–344%
4–618%
7+18%
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
- Unspecified in notice
- 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
- 22 Jul 2026, 10:01 BST
- Last source update
- 22 Jul 2026, 10:01 BST
- Authority reference
CRN/2026/210- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-068991- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d076Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
22 Jul 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published91 days ago22 Jul 2026, 10:01 BST
- Market engagement50 days ago31 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
Stoke-on-Trent City Council is undertaking market engagement to inform the development of a future e-bike concession scheme. As the Council does not currently operate an e-bike hire service, this engagement represents an important opportunity to gain a better understanding of the market, available service models and the practical considerations associated with introducing a public e-bike scheme for the first time.
Interested providers are invited to attend a one-to-one meeting of approximately 2 hours (including e-bike demonstration & trial) during August 2026. The purpose of these meetings is to facilitate an open discussion with the market and gather information that will assist the Council in developing an appropriate procurement strategy and specification.
The discussions will focus on, but will not be limited to, the following topics:
- Fleet size and deployment strategy, including views on the proposed fleet of 800-1,000 e-bikes.
- Commercial models and revenue-sharing expectations.
- Contract length and mobilisation requirements.
- Parking management arrangements and geo-fencing functionality.
- User sanctions and enforcement measures for inappropriate parking or misuse.
- Maintenance arrangements, battery charging and fleet rebalancing.
- Accessibility considerations and inclusive service design.
- Data sharing capabilities and reporting arrangements, including:
o Real-time and historic usage data.
o Origin and destination data.
o Trip volumes and journey patterns.
o User demographics (where available and GDPR compliant).
o Demand hotspots and underutilised areas.
o API access and dashboard functionality.
o Data formats and reporting frequency.
o Opportunities to utilise scheme data to support future transport planning, active travel investment and wider policy development.
- Integration with wider transport networks and sustainable travel initiatives.
- Lessons learned from comparable local authority schemes.
- Key risks, opportunities and critical success factors for implementing an e-bike scheme in Stoke-on-Trent.
As part of the market engagement, the Council would also welcome the opportunity to trial e-bikes to gain a better understanding of the user experience, functionality, and operational aspects of the service. Any such trial is intended solely to help inform the Council's understanding of the market and the development of the specification. It will not form part of any supplier assessment or evaluation, nor will it provide any provider with an advantage or disadvantage in any subsequent procurement process.
The engagement meetings are intended to be informal, open discussions rather than formal presentations. Providers are welcome to support the discussion with presentation slides, handouts or other materials should they wish; however, there is no expectation or requirement to do so.
The Council's primary objective is to engage in constructive dialogue with providers to better understand the market and gather information relevant to the topics outlined above.
Providers wishing to participate should register their interest by emailing [email protected], confirming their preferred meeting date from the following options:
- 10th August 2026
- 18th August 2026
- 20th August 2026
Please confirm your participation no later than 6th August 2026. Meeting slots will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to availability.
Participation in this market engagement exercise is entirely voluntary and will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any subsequent procurement process. Information obtained during the engagement will be used solely to inform the Council's procurement approach, specification development and understanding of the market.
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 162 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published22 Jul 2026, 10:01 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