Official UK procurement notice
Pay and Display Machine Maintenance and Associated Back-office System, Hardware Upgrades, and PSP Service
Authority: Herefordshire Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionContract for maintenance and hardware upgrades for the council's existing stock of 73 pay and display machines. To Include associated back-office systems, and Payment Service Provider service to facilitate contactless card payments.
Background:
Herefordshire Council currently owns 73 pay and display machines of varying age for its off-street and on-street car parks within Herefordshire. A recent review of the machines, manufactured and maintained by Metric Group Ltd, has found that most are anticipated to have a few years of operational use remaining. The council therefore needs to ensure continued maintenance of the existing machines and associated back-office system, as well a number of hardware upgrades and compatible Payment Service Provider service (PSP) for pay-by-card options.
Appointing a new supplier would require either wholescale replacement or significant overhauls to the existing machines, resulting in wasted utility of the current stock and disproportionate costs and operational disruption.
This award is being made under s41(1)(a) of the Procurement Act 2023 with reference to Schedule 5.
Paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 provides that a direct award is permitted when:
The following conditions are met in relation to the public contract-
(a)due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and
(b)there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works.
Paragraph 7 of Schedule 5 provides that direct award is permitted when:
The public contract concerns the supply of goods, services or works by the existing
supplier which are intended as an extension to, or partial replacement of, existing goods,
services or works in circumstances where-
(a) a change in supplier would result in the contracting authority receiving goods, services or works that are different from, or incompatible with, the existing goods, services or works, and
(b) the difference or incompatibility would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance.
CPV: Car park management services · Parking meters
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedProcedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Cancelled
- 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
- 30 May 2025, 12:39 BST
- Last source update
- 10 Mar 2026, 17:13 GMT
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-021534- Latest notice
- Procurement termination notice (UK12)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0529a9Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Technical Reasons; Additional Repeat Extension Partial Replacement
- Published justification
Background:
Herefordshire Council currently owns 73 pay and display machines of varying age for its off-street and on-street car parks within Herefordshire. A recent review of the machines, manufactured and maintained by Metric Group Ltd, has found that most are anticipated to have a few years of operational use remaining. The council therefore needs to ensure continued maintenance of the existing machines and associated back-office system, as well a number of hardware upgrades and compatible Payment Service Provider service (PSP) for pay-by-card options.
Appointing a new supplier would require either wholescale replacement or significant overhauls to the existing machines, resulting in wasted utility of the current stock and disproportionate costs and operational disruption.
Paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 provides that a direct award is permitted when:
The following conditions are met in relation to the public contract-
(a)due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and
(b)there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works.
Paragraph 7 of Schedule 5 provides that direct award is permitted when:
The public contract concerns the supply of goods, services or works by the existing supplier which are intended as an extension to, or partial replacement of, existing goods, services or works in circumstances where-
(a) a change in supplier would result in the contracting authority receiving goods, services or works that are different from, or incompatible with, the existing goods, services or works, and
(b) the difference or incompatibility would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
30 May 2025 → 10 Mar 2026 · 5 dates- Planning notice published30 May 2025, 12:39 BST
- Market engagement20 Jun 2025, 23:59 BST
Herefordshire Council has published this Request for Information on the 'Supplying the Southwest Portal'. To view the documentation related to this market engagement activity you will need to register on the portal if you are not already registered with Procontract, and express an interest in the opportunity.
To register with Procontract on the Supplying the Southwest Portal, click on the link below or copy and paste the link into your browser's address bar: www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk ↗
- Contract starts358 days ago1 Nov 2025
- Standstill ends310 days ago18 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMT
- Latest notice published228 days ago10 Mar 2026, 17:13 GMT
Notice history
7 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 30 May 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published30 May 2025, 12:39 BSTUK2
- Transparency notice published9 Dec 2025, 09:54 GMTUK5
- Status changed to complete9 Dec 2025, 09:54 GMT
- Procurement method changed9 Dec 2025, 09:54 GMT
- Contract award notice published9 Dec 2025, 14:54 GMTUK6
- Contract signature expected2 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Procurement termination notice published10 Mar 2026, 17:13 GMTUK12
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2025-05: 1 release · 30 May 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metric Group Ltd3 Jan 2026 – 2 Jan 2029 · up to 2 Jan 2030Extensions: One possible extension of up to 12 month. · Options: Spare and replacement parts will be available for purchase if required (where not covered by the maintenance agreement). | £475,000 | 19 Nov 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · Metric Group Ltd
- Signed
- date not published
- Value
- —
- Period
- … – 31 Oct 2028
- Status
- cancelled (9 Mar 2026), A change in contract scope is required. New notices will be published accordingly.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- METRIC GROUP LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Procurement termination notice Procurement termination notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender