First Garden Cities Homes Statutory External Audit

• How the procedure runs: 1. The Procedure This procurement is conducted as a Competitive Flexible Procedure under section 20 of the Procurement Act 2023. The procedure has been designed by First Garden Cities Homes as described in Appendix A to the ITT. It comprises two assessed stages: a written tender stage open to all suppliers, followed by a presentation stage for the highest scoring tenderers. Tenderers may not revise their tenders or fees at any point after the tender deadline. The contract will be awarded to the Most Advantageous Tender: the tender with the highest combined score against the published award criteria set out in the Evaluation Framework, applying the Scoring Schema attached to the ITT as Appendix C. 2. Award Criteria and Weightings Stage 1 Written qualitative questions 45% Fee 40% Stage 2 Presentation 15% 3. Stage 1: Written Tender Any suitably qualified supplier may submit a tender in response to the tender notice. Tenders must be submitted by electronic means only, via the Delta eSourcing portal , by 12:00 noon on Friday 31 July 2026. Tenders comprise: • Confirmation of the conditions of participation set out in the Evaluation Framework, which are assessed on a pass or fail basis. A fail on any condition excludes the tender from further assessment. • Responses to written qualitative questions Q1 to Q6, scored against the 0 to 5 scale in the Scoring Schema and weighted to a maximum of 45 points. A score of 0 or 1 on any question excludes the tender from further assessment. • A completed pricing schedule. The total evaluated fee is scored to a maximum of 40 points using the formula in the Scoring Schema. Each tenderer's Stage 1 total is the sum of its weighted qualitative score and its fee score, to a maximum of 85 points. 4. Intermediate Assessment and Selection for Stage 2 Following moderation of Stage 1 scores, FGCH will carry out an intermediate assessment under s.20(3) PA 2023 to select the tenderers proceeding to the presentation stage: • The two highest ranked tenderers by Stage 1 total will be invited to present. • If two or more tenderers are tied for second place (Stage 1 totals identical to two decimal places), all tied tenderers will be invited, so three or more may present. • Tenderers not invited to present will be notified promptly with feedback on their scores. They retain their Stage 1 scores but cannot be awarded the contract, and will receive an assessment summary when the contract award notice is published. 5. Stage 2: Presentation Invited tenderers will present to an evaluation panel comprising members of FGCH's Audit & Risk Committee on Monday 17 August 2026. The format, prescribed brief, agenda and scoring process are set out in Appendix D to the ITT. Presentations are scored against criteria P1 to P3, each weighted at 5%, to a maximum of 15 points. The presentation is a scored stage of the competition: it is not a clarification exercise and fees will not be discussed. Each presenting tenderer's final score is its Stage 1 total plus its presentation score, to a maximum of 100 points. The presenting tenderer with the highest final score is the Most Advantageous Tender, subject to the tie-break provisions in the Scoring Schema. 6. Award Decision, AGM and Standstill FGCH's standing orders require its statutory auditor to be appointed at the Annual General Meeting. The award decision is therefore subject to, and finalised by, the appointment of the successful tenderer as auditor at the AGM on Thursday 10 September 2026. Tenderers should note that the recommended firm will be named in the AGM papers, which are issued to FGCH's shareholding members in advance of the AGM and before assessment summaries are issued. Following the AGM, FGCH will issue assessment summaries to all assessed tenderers and publish a contract award notice. A standstill period of eight working days, beginning with the first working day after the contract award notice is published, will then apply. The contract will not be entered into before the end of the standstill period.

CPV: Accounting and auditing services

Procedure method

Competitive flexible procedure

Legal basis

UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023

Procurement category

Services

Notice status

Awarded

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

4 Jun 2026, 17:28 BST

Last source update

11 Sept 2026, 08:32 BST

Award evaluation window

Submission end – 10 Sept 2026

Authority reference

FGCH 26-06/1

FTS notice number

2026/S 000-061751

Latest notice

Contract award notice (UK6)

Classification (CPV)

Accounting and auditing services

Delivery area

East of England (UKH2)

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-06ae1e Find a Tender

How it runs

1. The Procedure

This procurement is conducted as a Competitive Flexible Procedure under section 20 of the Procurement Act 2023. The procedure has been designed by First Garden Cities Homes as described in Appendix A to the ITT. It comprises two assessed stages: a written tender stage open to all suppliers, followed by a presentation stage for the highest scoring tenderers.

Tenderers may not revise their tenders or fees at any point after the tender deadline.

The contract will be awarded to the Most Advantageous Tender: the tender with the highest combined score against the published award criteria set out in the Evaluation Framework, applying the Scoring Schema attached to the ITT as Appendix C.

2. Award Criteria and Weightings

Stage 1

Written qualitative questions 45%

Fee 40%

Stage 2

Presentation 15%

3. Stage 1: Written Tender

Any suitably qualified supplier may submit a tender in response to the tender notice. Tenders must be submitted by electronic means only, via the Delta eSourcing portal , by 12:00 noon on Friday 31 July 2026. Tenders comprise:

• Confirmation of the conditions of participation set out in the Evaluation Framework, which are assessed on a pass or fail basis. A fail on any condition excludes the tender from further assessment.
• Responses to written qualitative questions Q1 to Q6, scored against the 0 to 5 scale in the Scoring Schema and weighted to a maximum of 45 points. A score of 0 or 1 on any question excludes the tender from further assessment.
• A completed pricing schedule. The total evaluated fee is scored to a maximum of 40 points using the formula in the Scoring Schema.

Each tenderer's Stage 1 total is the sum of its weighted qualitative score and its fee score, to a maximum of 85 points.

4. Intermediate Assessment and Selection for Stage 2

Following moderation of Stage 1 scores, FGCH will carry out an intermediate assessment under s.20(3) PA 2023 to select the tenderers proceeding to the presentation stage:

• The two highest ranked tenderers by Stage 1 total will be invited to present.
• If two or more tenderers are tied for second place (Stage 1 totals identical to two decimal places), all tied tenderers will be invited, so three or more may present.
• Tenderers not invited to present will be notified promptly with feedback on their scores. They retain their Stage 1 scores but cannot be awarded the contract, and will receive an assessment summary when the contract award notice is published.

5. Stage 2: Presentation

Invited tenderers will present to an evaluation panel comprising members of FGCH's Audit & Risk Committee on Monday 17 August 2026. The format, prescribed brief, agenda and scoring process are set out in Appendix D to the ITT. Presentations are scored against criteria P1 to P3, each weighted at 5%, to a maximum of 15 points. The presentation is a scored stage of the competition: it is not a clarification exercise and fees will not be discussed.

Each presenting tenderer's final score is its Stage 1 total plus its presentation score, to a maximum of 100 points. The presenting tenderer with the highest final score is the Most Advantageous Tender, subject to the tie-break provisions in the Scoring Schema.

6. Award Decision, AGM and Standstill

FGCH's standing orders require its statutory auditor to be appointed at the Annual General Meeting. The award decision is therefore subject to, and finalised by, the appointment of the successful tenderer as auditor at the AGM on Thursday 10 September 2026. Tenderers should note that the recommended firm will be named in the AGM papers, which are issued to FGCH's shareholding members in advance of the AGM and before assessment summaries are issued.

Following the AGM, FGCH will issue assessment summaries to all assessed tenderers and publish a contract award notice. A standstill period of eight working days, beginning with the first working day after the contract award notice is published, will then apply. The contract will not be entered into before the end of the standstill period.

Submission deadline

31 Jul 2026, 12:00 BST

Clarification deadline

24 Jul 2026, 12:00 BST

Submission channel

Official e-sourcing portal

Electronic submission

Allowed

Accepted languages

en

• BUZZACOTT AUDIT LLPAwarded supplierGB-COH: OC329687GB-PPON: PRXQ-7695-CDRV 130 Wood Street, London, London, EC2V 6DLContact emailShow contact details