Official UK procurement notice
Provision of Seasonal Grounds Maintenance Staff
Authority: The District Council of Folkestone and Hythe (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionFolkestone & Hythe District Council (F&HDC) wishes to select and appoint a suitable supplier for the provision of seasonal labour for grounds maintenance work and invites organisations to submit a tender to meet F&HDC's requirements.
The roles include Seasonal Gardeners, Seasonal Mobile Toilet Cleaners, Seasonal Park Keepers, Seasonal Sports Attendants and any other additional seasonal roles as required by the Grounds Maintenance department. The annual season begins by Easter each year until end of October.
The contract is anticipated to start 1 January 2027 and continue for a period of 3 years (with the option to extend for a further period (or periods) of up to 24 months months).
Interested suppliers can visit the Kent Business Portal (www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/respond/GFY35JJVWQ ↗). To quote you must complete and return the "Invitation to Tender Response Document" via the portal.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Aug 2029, 23:59 BST.
CPV: Supply services of commercial or industrial workers
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£1,275,000
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).
Published sub-criteria (7)
- CANDIDATE SELECTION AND INDUCTION: 12%
- EQUALITY, FAIRNESS, AND LOCAL EMPLOYMENT: 10%
- PERFORMANCE MAANGEMENT: 10%
- CONTRACT MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING: 6%
- PRESENTATION: 6%
- PRICE (CHARGE RATE): 50%
- VALUE FOR MONEY AND COST TRANSPARENCY: 6%
Published award criteria (7)
- PRICE (CHARGE RATE): You are required to submit a percentage mark-up to the pay rate of assignments, which shall be referred to as the charge rate. The charge rate must be inclusive of all costs associated with providing the service, including (but not limited to) staff pay, holiday pay, National Insurance, PAYE, statutory sick pay, auto enrolment (work place pension), plus your over heads and margin, and any additional costs, losses and expenses.
- CANDIDATE SELECTION AND INDUCTION: How will you ensure each candidate is suitable, trained, inducted and ready to start? You should include how you will • evidence candidates have the correct skills and experience; • ensure candidates have the qualifications, licences etc for each assignment; and • conduct essential due diligence including DBS checks, references, health screenings, right-to-work check, identity checks, and modern slavery checks. max. 1000 words
- EQUALITY, FAIRNESS, AND LOCAL EMPLOYMENT: How will you promote opportunities to local residents within the district? And how will you identify any reasonable adjustments required by candidates before and during an assignment? Your answer should include how you will • provide face-to-face and in-person support to candidates and TAW; • document reasonable adjustments; • monitor and review candidates' support needs; and • ensure the F&HDC and Hiring Manager receive sufficient information to assess, implement and maintain appropriate support arrangements. max. 1000 words
- PERFORMANCE MAANGEMENT: How will you manage and response to complaints about staff or the service? How will you use feedback from Hiring Managers to improve the service and candidate selection and management? max. 1000 words
- VALUE FOR MONEY AND COST TRANSPARENCY: How will you monitor and report on the financial performance of the service? Your answer should include • how you will monitor, review and communicate the costs of running the service and the impact of statutory costs; • what information you will share with the Council; and • what controls are in place to avoid incorrect or unauthorized charges. max. 750 words
- CONTRACT MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING: Explain how you will monitor, review and report on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) during the term of the contract. Your answer should identify key risks and what preventative and corrective measures you will implement to maintain the required performance levels. max. 750 words
- PRESENTATION: You are asked to give a 20-minute presentation covering the following points: • the main risks to service quality and how you will mitigate them; • how you will demonstrate the delivery of a consistent, reliable service throughout the contract term; • how you will evidence that you're delivering all contractual requirements throughout the contract term; • how you will use lessons learned from complaints, cancellations or poor performance to improve the service; and • what excellent service will look like under this contract and how you will measure it. (Full instructions regarding presentations are provided in the ITT Instructions document)
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
- Price carries 56 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 5.6 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £849,224 (twice the annual value).
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula. Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How The District Council of Folkestone and Hythe buys Supply services of personnel including temporary staff (CPV 7962), and who usually turns up
The District Council of Folkestone and Hythe’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: Supply services of personnel including temporary staff (CPV 7962) →
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 registered in South East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside South East 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 32 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 bid5% / 0%
2–318% / 17%
4–618% / 50%
7+59% / 33%
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 estimate41% / 35%
Within ±2%41% / 41%
Above estimate18% / 24%
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 7962Published estimate£1.3m
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.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid4%
2–38%
4–622%
7+66%
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.
Based on 1 comparable award. Each lot reflects its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Middle 50%£1.3m
Estimate£1.3m
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners LimitedWorked for this buyer | FHDC Economic Strategy 2026-29notice published Feb 2026 | — | — | Similar wording and category |
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| £16m34 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 20 live · £23m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=12 | |
| £5.9m2 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago | 1 live · £66k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 12% below n=3 | |
| £1.5m15 awards in 36m · last this month | 2 live · £73k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 17% below n=3 | |
| £3.2m37 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 14 live · £1.9m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=1 | |
| £2.4m5 awards in 36m · last 5 months ago | 2 live · £466k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=4 |
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- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Open for tender
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 1 Aug 2029
- First published
- 21 Oct 2026, 12:23 BST
- Last source update
- 21 Oct 2026, 12:23 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 4 Dec 2026
- Authority reference
FH2610210- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-099423- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078cb8Find a Tender
- Risks
Please note Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) may result in significant changes to the council's structure, responsibilities, or service requirements during the term of any resulting contract. The council reserves the right to vary the terms of the contract, or to exercise its right to terminate the contract early in accordance with the contract's standard termination provisions (as set out in the draft Terms and Conditions at Appendix C). The council does not accept any liability or responsibility for any costs incurred by a tenderer (whether directly or otherwise) in relation to the preparation or submission of an offer, or any potential loss of earnings or profits if the contract is varied or terminated early as a result of the review.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via ProContract (Due North)- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 16 Nov 2026, 13:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 6 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
You must submit your tender via the Kent Business Portal (www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/respond/GFY35JJVWQ ↗). We cannot accept tenders returned by post or email.
Timeline
21 Oct 2026 → 1 Jan 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published1 day ago21 Oct 2026, 12:23 BST
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Clarification questions byin 16 days6 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 25 days16 Nov 2026, 13:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 44 days4 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 71 days1 Jan 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published21 Oct 2026, 12:23 BSTUK4
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- 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 (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender