Official UK procurement notice
Former Sorting Office, Edward Street, Blackpool, FY1 1BA
Authority: BLACKPOOL COUNCIL (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionOn behalf of Blackpool Council (The Council), CBRE (working with Walker Sime) are undertaking Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) in respect of the development opportunity known as the Former Sorting Office, Blackpool Town Centre.
Blackpool has an exciting £2bn+ Regeneration Programme underway across the town centre, with this property identified as a key part of driving Blackpool’s economic growth to create employment and new development.
This property was formerly home to a Royal Mail Sorting Office which closed in 2015. It is part of a wider freehold site which is locally known as the Old Post Office, which is a separate Grade II Listed property, which has separate development proposals and is therefore not included in this opportunity.
The whole site, which includes both the subject Former Sorting Office and Old Post Office, secured an £8m grant from the Government’s “Capital Regeneration Project” (CRP) Fund ” in 2023, on the basis of a proposed Hotel development. Since being awarded the grant, the Council has acquired the site and undertook certain remedial works.
The property is neo renaissance styled, which has attractive prominence and scale. Whilst not listed by Historic England, it is locally listed and located within Conservation Area. The ground and upper floors of the property are largely open plan. An additional structure was added to the roof to form a fourth floor, which is in a state of disrepair. The front façade is in a reasonable condition, with the rear façade in a state of disrepair. The site includes a large inner courtyard, and it is envisaged that this will be split appropriately between the subject property (Former Sorting Office) and the Old Post Office, subject to the requirements of both redevelopments.
The Council's objectives of this PME are to:
- support development of requirements and approach
- alert the market of the upcoming opportunity
- identify suppliers that may be able to deliver the scheme
- gauge the level of market interest
- seek feedback to a number of areas of the development opportunity
Further detail of the development opportunity is available in the Former Sorting Officer Development Opportunity Brochure and supporting Expression of Interest Questionnaire which is available at the link provided in this notice.
All enquiries and further information can be obtained from:
- Email: [email protected]
- Brochure Link: indd.adobe.com/view/2de17a38-b227-4… ↗
The Council reserves the right to amend any of the information contained within any of the PME documents prior to commencement of the procurement process and publication of the Tender Notice.
CPV: Hotel construction work · Site preparation work · Urban development construction work
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How BLACKPOOL COUNCIL buys Building construction work (CPV 4521), and who usually turns up
BLACKPOOL COUNCIL’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Building construction work (CPV 4521) →
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.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in North West England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 35 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 bid16% / 12%
2–325% / 36%
4–641% / 30%
7+19% / 21%
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 estimate0% / 43%
Within ±2%72% / 17%
Above estimate28% / 40%
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 45Estimate not published
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 45. The comparison uses that group.
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 250 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid10%
2–327%
4–628%
7+34%
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
- Unspecified in notice
- 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
- 23 Oct 2026, 16:24 BST
- Last source update
- 23 Oct 2026, 16:24 BST
- Authority reference
Former Sorting Office, Edward Street, Blackpool, FY1 1BA- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-100715- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078f86Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
23 Oct 2026 → 1 Mar 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published1 day ago23 Oct 2026, 16:24 BST
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 34 days27 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
This PME exercise is being carried out pursuant to Section 16 of the Procurement Act, 2023.
Please see the 'Descriptions' section of this notice for the Council's objectives of this PME exercise.
The information submitted will not be used to evaluate, score, rank, shortlist or exclude any parties from any potential future procurement process.
Participation in this PME is not a prerequisite for participation in any future procurement and organisations that do not submit an Expression of Interest will still be able to participate in any formal tender process.
A data room will be made available for parties to access.
The Expression of Interest Form, a copy of which will be available in the data room, will specifically set out information requested by the Council.
Parties will be able to submit further information & documents with any Expression of Interest.
The deadline for PME Expressions of Interest submissions is 12.00pm on Friday 27th November 2026.
Submissions are to be made to CBRE.
Please see the General Conditions set out in Marketing brochure which apply to this PME.
- Contract startsin 127 days1 Mar 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published23 Oct 2026, 16:24 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