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Published 23 Feb 2026, 18:37 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

ESPH De La Warr Pavilion - Main Contractor (ESPH766)

Official notice

Authority: Rother District Council (Local council)

WorksCompetitive flexible procedureAbove threshold
Final published estimate£13,800,000initial estimate £15,800,000 · 1 value update
Submissions closed 30 Mar 2026
Contract term 1 yr 4 moends 29 Feb 2028 · starts 22 Oct 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Rother District Council are seeking to appoint a suitable qualified and experienced Main Contractor to deliver auditorium and foyer works at the iconic and Grade I listed De La Warr Pavilion. This is located at the De La Warr Pavilion building, Marina, Bexhill-on-Sea, TN40 1DP.

This contract intends to undertake a comprehensive set of refurbishment activities to renovate the original auditorium, redesign the foyer spaces and improve visitor accessibility.

The general scope of works shall comprise the following:

  • Internal strip out including fixtures, finishes and services
  • Localised enabling/ demolition works
  • Varying levels of structural repair/ structural intervention (internally and externally)
  • Minor drainage/ substructure adaptations
  • Limited areas of roof level scope (repairs generally)
  • Replacement of external glazing (some being done early as Client Direct)
  • External façade repairs and upgrades (render repair, decoration, new doors etc)
  • Limited areas of new/ adjusted internal partitions
  • Mix of new internal doors and refurbished existing doors
  • New WCs fit out
  • New finishes or repaired existing finishes throughout (walls, floors, and ceilings)
  • FF&E
  • Specialist Installations – Theatre/ Event (Stage & Auditorium)
  • MEP services – replacement and adjustment throughout
  • External works scope – limited to north entrance access/ car park area for Phase 1
  • Discrete elements of CDP responsibility
  • Temporary works, scaffolding and weather protection requirements

The Pavilion building is going to remain live and operational in a limited capacity, the contractor is only taking possession and working on certain areas of the existing building for this contract phase.

A planned procurement notice has not been completed as the contracting authority does not wish to reduce the timescales of this tender.

  • How the procedure runs: Rother District Council is conducting this Competitive Flexible Procedure over two stages: Stage 1: Conditions of participation Interested suppliers are invited to submit evidence of their suitability to deliver the contract. Suitability is defined within the Conditions of Participation set out within the documents and prospective suppliers must demonstrate their capabilities by providing by the closing date: - A completed Project Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) - 3-4 contract examples that demonstrate the required experience, as set out in the documents. All compliant submissions received before the closing date will be assessed against the Conditions of Participation. These Conditions of Participation include questions in respect of the following items that will be assessed on a pass/fail basis: - Economic and Financial Standing - Insurance Provision - Legal capability - GDPR compliance - Technical ability (contract examples) - Sub-contractor management - Health and safety - Quality management - Supply chain payments - Payment terms for public sector contracts - Payments for public and private sector contracts - Carbon reduction plan - Modern slavery statement The contract examples provided to evidence technical capability will be assessed against the council's minimum experience criteria. These criteria are: - At least two (2) contracts must demonstrate the delivery of a refurbishment scheme to a building of Listed status or Heritage in nature - At least two (2) contracts with a value of £10m+ - At least one (1) contract where the works are undertaken in a live building environment (phased/ sectional/ clients in occupation) Suppliers that demonstrate this minimum experience within their case studies will achieve a pass, and will then have their contract examples evaluated against the selection criteria. The council's selection criteria requirements are and their relative weighting out of 100 are as follows: - Local supply chain (10) - Social value (10) - Contractor Design(20) - Environmental (10) - Programme (20) - Added Value (10) - Change Management and budget control (20) Suppliers will be ranked according to their scores for their submitted contract examples, with the highest scoring five suppliers to be shortlisted to receive the Invitation to Tender. The council is under no obligation to shortlist to the maximum of five suppliers, and reserves the right to select a reduced shortlist. Stage 2: Invitation to Tender Shortlisted suppliers will receive the invitation to tender and will be required to submit a qualitative and pricing response by the response deadline. The tenders will be evaluated on a Cost and Quality split of 50:50 respectively. The award criteria and sub-criteria is as follows: - Method Statements (15) - - Working in a live building / Working on a listed building (5) - - Construction Phase, Site Plan and Logistics (5) - Programme (5) - Resourcing (5) - - Key delivery team (2) - - Work packaging and resourcing (3) - Communication (5) - Contractor Design Portion (10) - Social Value and Environmental (5) - Interview (10) - Cost (50) Note the evaluation criteria will be fully defined upon the publication of the 2nd stage tender where there may be changes to the wording, scoring criteria, and sub-criteria. All compliant submissions will be evaluated in accordance with the award criteria set out in this notice and in the procurement documents, with the most advantageous tender being the supplier who achieves the highest score. After the receipt and evaluation of tenders the Council reserves the right to seek clarification from any bidder about the contents of their submission. As part of the evaluation process the Council reserves the right to hold clarification meetings with some or all of the shortlisted tenderers. While the tender process, including Stage 1 and Stage 2 award criteria and weightings are set out in this notice and the published procurement documents, the council reserves the right to amend any element of the tender process, in accordance with Section 31 of the Procurement Act, 2023. Before entering into a contract with the winning supplier, the council reserves the right to hold a pre-contract award meeting. The purpose of this meeting will be to ensure all parties clearly understand the expectations of the contract, before formally signing.

CPV: Overhaul and refurbishment work · Refurbishment work · Restoration work · Theatre construction work

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1 1 yr 4 moPublished value£13,800,000
Contract period: 22 Oct 2026 – 29 Feb 2028 (1 yr 4 mo)Value: £13,800,000 exc. VAT · £16,560,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: South East

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: 45%Price: 50%Social value: 5%
Published sub-criteria (10)
  • Working in a live building/ Working on a listed building: 5%
  • Construction Phase, Site Plan and Logistics: 5%
  • Programme and accompanying narrative: 5%
  • Key delivery team: 2%
  • Work Packaging and Resourcing: 3%
  • Communication, engagement and management of stakeholders: 5%
  • CDP approach and proposals for MEP supply chain: 10%
  • Contractor Interviews: 10%
  • Cost: 50%
  • Social value and Environmental commitments and delivery: 5%
Published award criteria (10)
  • Working in a live building/ Working on a listed building
  • Construction Phase, Site Plan and Logistics
  • Programme and accompanying narrative
  • Key delivery team
  • Work Packaging and Resourcing
  • Communication, engagement and management of stakeholders
  • CDP approach and proposals for MEP supply chain
  • Social value and Environmental commitments and delivery
  • Contractor Interviews
  • Cost
What this means for your bid
  • Price carries 50 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 5 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
Competitive flexible procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Works
Notice status
Closed
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Yes (GPA)
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
23 Feb 2026, 18:37 GMT
Last source update
25 Mar 2026, 14:51 GMT
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 5 Oct 2026
Authority reference
ESPH766
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-016273
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Overhaul and refurbishment workRefurbishment workRestoration workTheatre construction work
Delivery area
South East (UKJ22)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-065a93 Find a Tender
How it runs

Rother District Council is conducting this Competitive Flexible Procedure over two stages:

Stage 1: Conditions of participation

Interested suppliers are invited to submit evidence of their suitability to deliver the contract. Suitability is defined within the Conditions of Participation set out within the documents and prospective suppliers must demonstrate their capabilities by providing by the closing date:

  • A completed Project Specific Questionnaire (PSQ)
  • 3-4 contract examples that demonstrate the required experience, as set out in the documents.

All compliant submissions received before the closing date will be assessed against the Conditions of Participation. These Conditions of Participation include questions in respect of the following items that will be assessed on a pass/fail basis:

  • Economic and Financial Standing
  • Insurance Provision
  • Legal capability
  • GDPR compliance
  • Technical ability (contract examples)
  • Sub-contractor management
  • Health and safety
  • Quality management
  • Supply chain payments
  • Payment terms for public sector contracts
  • Payments for public and private sector contracts
  • Carbon reduction plan
  • Modern slavery statement

The contract examples provided to evidence technical capability will be assessed against the council's minimum experience criteria. These criteria are:

  • At least two (2) contracts must demonstrate the delivery of a refurbishment scheme to a building of Listed status or Heritage in nature
  • At least two (2) contracts with a value of £10m+
  • At least one (1) contract where the works are undertaken in a live building environment (phased/ sectional/ clients in occupation)

Suppliers that demonstrate this minimum experience within their case studies will achieve a pass, and will then have their contract examples evaluated against the selection criteria. The council's selection criteria requirements are and their relative weighting out of 100 are as follows:

  • Local supply chain (10)
  • Social value (10)
  • Contractor Design(20)
  • Environmental (10)
  • Programme (20)
  • Added Value (10)
  • Change Management and budget control (20)

Suppliers will be ranked according to their scores for their submitted contract examples, with the highest scoring five suppliers to be shortlisted to receive the Invitation to Tender. The council is under no obligation to shortlist to the maximum of five suppliers, and reserves the right to select a reduced shortlist.

Stage 2: Invitation to Tender

Shortlisted suppliers will receive the invitation to tender and will be required to submit a qualitative and pricing response by the response deadline. The tenders will be evaluated on a Cost and Quality split of 50:50 respectively. The award criteria and sub-criteria is as follows:

  • Method Statements (15)
  • - Working in a live building / Working on a listed building (5)
  • - Construction Phase, Site Plan and Logistics (5)
  • Programme (5)
  • Resourcing (5)
  • - Key delivery team (2)
  • - Work packaging and resourcing (3)
  • Communication (5)
  • Contractor Design Portion (10)
  • Social Value and Environmental (5)
  • Interview (10)
  • Cost (50)

Note the evaluation criteria will be fully defined upon the publication of the 2nd stage tender where there may be changes to the wording, scoring criteria, and sub-criteria.

All compliant submissions will be evaluated in accordance with the award criteria set out in this notice and in the procurement documents, with the most advantageous tender being the supplier who achieves the highest score.

After the receipt and evaluation of tenders the Council reserves the right to seek clarification from any bidder about the contents of their submission. As part of the evaluation process the Council reserves the right to hold clarification meetings with some or all of the shortlisted tenderers.

While the tender process, including Stage 1 and Stage 2 award criteria and weightings are set out in this notice and the published procurement documents, the council reserves the right to amend any element of the tender process, in accordance with Section 31 of the Procurement Act, 2023.

Before entering into a contract with the winning supplier, the council reserves the right to hold a pre-contract award meeting. The purpose of this meeting will be to ensure all parties clearly understand the expectations of the contract, before formally signing.

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: In-tend · Who buys & how to bid on In-tend
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free · one account per buying organisation's portal · reCAPTCHA on signup
Requests to participate (first stage)
30 Mar 2026, 17:00 BST
Submission deadline
30 Mar 2026, 17:00 BST
Clarification deadline
16 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

Timeline

23 Feb 2026 → 22 Oct 2026 · 6 dates
  1. Tender notice published246 days ago
    23 Feb 2026, 18:37 GMT
  2. Clarification questions by225 days ago
    16 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
  3. Latest notice published216 days ago
    25 Mar 2026, 14:51 GMT
  4. Submission deadline211 days ago
    30 Mar 2026, 17:00 BST
  5. Award decision expected by22 days ago
    5 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
  6. Contract starts6 days ago
    22 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 23 Feb 2026
  1. Tender notice published
    23 Feb 2026, 18:37 GMT
    UK4
  2. Tender notice published
    3 Mar 2026, 10:49 GMT
    UK4
  3. Published value updated to £13,800,000
    3 Mar 2026, 10:49 GMT
    was £15,800,000
  4. Tender notice published
    25 Mar 2026, 14:51 GMT
    UK4
Published amendments (1)

Change of the deadline to 30 March 17:00

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Rother District Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PGTY-8935-BVDP Town Hall, London Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, South East, TN39 3JXContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender
  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender
  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender