Official UK procurement notice
Grounds Maintenance Contract — UK public procurement notice
Authority: Totnes Town Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionTOTNES TOWN COUNCIL
GROUNDS MAINTENANCE SPECIFICATION 2027/28
The contract is for Grounds Maintenance at Totnes Cemetery and Castle Meadow.
Maintenance shall include the removal from the site of all cuttings which are to be disposed of legally.
Hedge and shrub cutting must comply with seasonal restrictions relating to bird nesting.
Grass cutting will include maintaining the grass and any other growth around headstones /monuments/
benches / boundaries to the same height as the surrounding grass. Grass to be cut up to boundary fences
or walls.
The Contractor will comply with all relevant Health and Safety legislation in respect of both the
Contractor's employees and the general public. Suitable and sufficient risk assessments on all work
processes must be provided. Machinery and equipment used must be subject to the necessary servicing
and safety inspections.
The Contractor will give consideration to the area of work and noise levels when funerals are in progress
and not start before 0800 hours given the proximity of residential properties.
The Contractor must hold adequate and current Public Liability Insurance.
The Contractor must comply with the Council's policy banning any use of Glyphosate on Town Council
Read the full description (3,303 more characters)
owned land.
Totnes Cemetery
The Cemetery is shown on the enclosed map A and consists of approximately 7.01 acres.
Grass cutting - 17 cuts per annum, as close to the ground as practicably possible, on the following
frequency - - - - -
1 cut in January or February (prior to wild flower blooming)
1 cut in March (before Easter or Mothering Sunday if Easter is in April)
2 cuts per month April to September
1 cut per month October and November
1 cut in December by the 15th of the month
Grass cutting to take place only on the perimeter of wild areas on the circle (plus paths through the
middle) and on the island containing the Chapel to one mower width.
Raised graves - growth on raised graves to be kept below 30cm as part of the monthly grass cutting
schedule.
Garden of Rest - area to be cut/strimmed and grass blown off the memorial stones/tablets.
Hedge cutting - 1 cut per annum. To be cut on internal sides and tops only.
Shrubs and bushes (see plan provided) - to be trimmed/cut back tight once a year between September
November to form rounded shapes and to remove the year's growth.
Roadside dry stone wall bank - to be kept trimmed and tidy on top and both sides. Any shrubs or brambles
on the bank or overhanging the wall to be kept trimmed and cleared so as not to cause an obstruction to
the public footpath.
Pathways - to be kept clear of any up growing and overhanging vegetation. Weeds to be strimmed. All
debris to be blown off paths.
Itemised quote requested for annual maintenance of the Wild Areas on the circle and the Chapel - to be
cut back annually in late summer, cuttings left for up to two weeks for seed to drop and then cleared.
Winter leaves and debris from trees to be cleared before Easter and before Christmas.
Castle Meadow
Castle Meadow is shown on the enclosed map B and the hedge runs along Collins Road and Lower Collins
Road as highlighted in pink.
Hedge cutting - 1 cut per annum. To be cut on both sides and on top. In the area enclosed by allotments
only outside to be cut.
Grass Cutting - 2 cuts per annum of Castle Meadow to be carried out in June and October, with the
exception of the trial meadow area, to be marked by stakes and roped off prior to these cuts.
Term of contract
The initial contract will be for two years from 1st April 2027 to 31st March 2029.
If both parties are satisfied with the conduct of the contract during the first two years', the contract will
continue into subsequent years with a review after five years.
The Contractor is expected to provide and pay for their own tools, machinery, equipment, materials,
transport and support staff.
Either party shall have the right at any time to terminate this contract by giving not less than 3 months'
notice in writing to the other party.
Contract monitoring
The contractor will be required to co-operate in meeting with the Town Council's appointed officer to
review progress with the contract, and to promptly address any failure in service identified at those
meetings. Contract monitoring meetings will be held as required either on site at Totnes Cemetery or in
the Town Council offices.
Pricing and payment
The agreed cost of the contract, together with VAT (if applicable), will be paid in equal monthly payments
in arrears by the 30th day of the month immediately following the month in which the Services have been
performed.
CPV: Grounds maintenance services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Lot 1RenewalPublished value£60,000
- Value
- £60,000 exc. VAT · £60,000 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- If both parties are satisfied with the conduct of the contract during the first two years', the contract will continue into subsequent years with a review after five years.
What it takes to wini
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 morei
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).
Quotes will be assessed against the following criteria: • Cost • Business Resilience (for example, number of employees, equipment) • Flexibility (for example there will be occasions where planned cemetery maintenance needs to be delayed when there is a burial) • References
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
Planting and maintenance services of green areas (CPV 7731) in North East England — and who usually turns up
Totnes Town Council has too little published record in this market to describe on its own; the North East England market stands beside whatever it has. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Planting and maintenance services of green areas (CPV 7731) →
How the contest usually goes
Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested contracts only — direct awards (including PA 2023 transparency notices) report one bid by definition and are left out. On Procurement Act 2023 notices the count is the tenders assessed at the final stage, not every submission received; pairs compare like with like (VAT-exclusive, or VAT-inclusive on both sides). Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.
Totnes Town Council
no contract notices in Planting and maintenance services of green areas (CPV 7731) in 36 months
Totnes Town Council has published no bid reports, no comparable estimate → award pairs and no award dates that this analysis can use — in Planting and maintenance services of green areas (CPV 7731) (36 months) or across all categories (24 months).
North East England · Planting and maintenance services of green areas (CPV 7731)
contract notices delivered in North East England in 36 months: 53 in CPV 7731 (48 competed, 1 route not published) · 115 in division 77 (100 competed, 9 route not published)
i
How many companies usually bid for work like this.
Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7731), last 36 months: 35 lots. 17 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 8) and 18 from older notices (bids received, middle 3).
Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.
i
How often only one company bid.
Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7731), last 36 months: 35 lots.
High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.
i
Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.
Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7731), last 36 months: 15 pairs.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
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.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7731), last 36 months: 10 notices.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
i
How much of this market goes to small and medium firms.
SME bidders where buyers published the split, otherwise SME winners.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7731), last 36 months: 28 lots.
i
How much work like this goes to companies based in the delivery region.
Awards in this category delivered here where the winner’s registered address is in the region.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7731), last 36 months: 49 awards.
Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.
i
Where this tender’s estimate would land if the usual pattern repeats.
We apply the buyer’s usual movement between estimate and award (or the region’s) to the estimate on this notice.
Based on the North East England market’s usual movement over 15 lots (CPV 7731), applied to the £60,000 estimate on this notice. The range comes from the region’s middle half.
A benchmark, not a price to bid.
Coverage and what to read with care
- Each tile explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two columns are never blended and nothing is filled from a UK-wide figure; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
- Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). About 30 % of award-vs-estimate pairs are exact matches — the buyer published the award at the estimate. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden.
- “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Below threshold - open competition
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Open for tender
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 24 Sept 2026, 12:15 BST
- Last source update
- 24 Sept 2026, 12:15 BST
- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077968Find a Tender
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via portal- Expression of interest (EOI)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 28 Oct 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- —
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
Timeline
3 published dates · Europe/London- Tender notice publishedearlier today24 Sept 2026, 12:15 BST
- Submission deadlinein 34 days28 Oct 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Contract startsin 188 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published24 Sept 2026, 12:15 BSTUK4
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (5)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender