Official UK procurement notice
Firepool Regeneration Project - Development Agreement – Taunton, Somerset
Authority: Somerset Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Firepool site is a major brownfield regeneration opportunity located in the heart of Taunton, Somerset’s County Town. The site is strategically positioned between Taunton Railway Station and the River Tone and within the town centre. This location offers excellent transport connectivity and the potential to act as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of Taunton. The Council will consider market feedback on uses; however it has established a set of strategic objectives for the Firepool project, and any future development must align with these: · Deliver a high-quality mixed-use scheme which supports the design principles in the Masterplan and Garden Town themes, particularly: - Placemaking to support Taunton Garden Town, including turning to face the river and connecting the town centre and station. Respond to place and context. - Retaining a focus on public open spaces, public realm and movement through the site and promoting sustainable forms of travel. - Promoting a zero-carbon vision for the site. · Optimise housing outcomes from the site. · Support Taunton’s economic resilience by delivering a mixed-use scheme that is complementary to the town centre and drives economic improvement. · Promote social value contribution from the activities and uses delivered on site. · Support wider regeneration in the local area by ensuring development on site commences at a rapid pace.
- Deliver a commercially viable scheme that balances Council risk and reward. The Council is progressing a Development Agreement route for the development of the Firepool site with likely key conditions focused on programme, phasing and quality.
CPV: Construction work · Development of non-residential real estate · Development of residential real estate
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Somerset Council buys Development services of real estate (CPV 7011), and who usually turns up
Somerset 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: Development services of real estate (CPV 7011) →
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 the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in South West England.
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 52 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 bid24% / 9%
2–330% / 18%
4–619% / 55%
7+27% / 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 estimate29% / 67%
Within ±2%59% / 11%
Above estimate12% / 22%
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 7011Estimate not published
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 11 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid9%
2–318%
4–655%
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
- Works
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 16 Oct 2026, 11:25 BST
- Last source update
- 16 Oct 2026, 11:25 BST
- Authority reference
EPRO1000621/ERFX1003590- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-097835- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07894bFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
16 Oct 2026 → 1 Jan 2028 · 4 dates- Planning notice published5 days ago16 Oct 2026, 11:25 BST
- Today20 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 17 days6 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
The Council is inviting organisations to participate in this preliminary market engagement exercise relating to the development of the Firepool site.
A key part of the PME is for the Council to understand, ahead of launching the procurement in early 2027, the potential for the site and the appetite for a development partnership with the Council.
The Council is seeking written responses from the market on key matters - see Questions 1 to 10 in Section 5 of the document titled “Firepool – Soft Market Testing Brief 2026”.
The Council may, at its discretion, seek clarification of any aspect of any response received from organisations. Such clarifications may be undertaken in writing, through meetings held in person, or via virtual meeting platforms (including Microsoft Teams). The Council reserves the right not to seek clarification and shall be under no obligation to clarify any response or engage in discussions with any organisation.
The Council will consider the input and responses received as part of this PME exercise to help shape how the opportunity is presented to the market. Any resulting procurement process will not reflect any one type of bidding entity or any one organisation's preferred or recommended approaches, and the Council will ensure equal treatment of all tenderers for any procurement exercise(s).
Previous informal market engagement
During November 2025, the Council issued a soft market testing brief to 20 developer organisations representing a range of development models and sectors, including organisations with experience of similar projects and those that had previously expressed interest in the Firepool site. Meetings were held with 11 organisations, and potential partners and stakeholders were also identified for discussion.
Discussions explored the masterplan, the proposed mix of uses, viability, development phasing, delivery structures, procurement options and the factors that would influence a decision to participate in any future procurement process.
Feedback highlighted the importance of flexibility in both uses and phasing, clarity regarding the Council's requirements, and a streamlined procurement process.
Discussions indicated interest in a Development Agreement approach and explored a range of residential uses, complementary commercial, leisure and community uses, potential anchor occupiers, and funding and investment requirements. These views do not represent the Council’s agreed requirements or commitments.
Further engagement
The Council welcomes views from all interested organisations, including those that did not participate in the earlier engagement exercise. Interested organisations can access the PME documents through supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login ↗ under ref EPRO1000621/ERFX1003590
Participation is voluntary. The Council will take appropriate steps to ensure that participation does not amount to any unfair advantages on any organisation or otherwise distort competition.
- Tender notice expectedin 78 days6 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts1 Jan 2028
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published16 Oct 2026, 11:25 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