ED0373-25 Sidmouth & East Beach Coastal Defence Scheme, Engineering Construction Works.

Prior to proceeding with the open tender procurement process, EDDC aims to assess the level of market interest and engage suppliers on key aspects of the project proposal.

This work involves specialised expertise in a complex marine environment; therefore, prospective contractors will be expected to demonstrate extensive experience and knowledge in marine settings and heritage structure management.

EDDC is seeking feedback on feasible proposals regarding the scheme’s timeline, budget, effort, and supply chain management - specifically, the impacts and affordability of the proposed rock structures as detailed in the outline design, including lead times for rock procurement and the necessary specialised marine equipment.

The objective of this project is to develop and implement coastal defence measures to safeguard Sidmouth and East Beach from erosion and flooding. The aims include assessing market capacity and capability, identifying innovative solutions and best practices, and ensuring alignment with industry standards and expectations.

As part of the preparation, EDDC will be conducting exercise inviting suitably qualified and experienced suppliers who may have an interest in this project to complete the attached questionnaire located within section 13 & 14 to assist EDDC gain a better understanding of the feasibility of their requirements, buildability approach, mitigation strategies and the capacity of the market to deliver the scheme.

In responding, you should understand that detailed and lengthy submissions are not necessary at this stage. Nonetheless, we welcome any pertinent information on your organisation’s capability and views on an approach to successfully undertake the commission. All information provided in this exercise will be treated in confidence in accordance with Data Protection Act 2018 and will NOT be considered in any future tender evaluation exercise.

Information gathered will be used in the development on feasible methods, costing and on the most suitable approach to meeting the operational, environmental and regulatory needs of the scheme.

Any information provided in response to this preliminary market engagement exercise marked as commercially sensitive will be treated as such. Participants are asked to identify any of the information supplied in the course of this exercise which should not be disclosed because of its sensitivity. In doing so participants must specify the reasons for its sensitivity and specify the period for which the information will remain sensitive.

The EDDC project team and/or Dorset County Council’s procurement team, will endeavour to consult with a concerned participant about sensitive information before making a decision on any Freedom of Information (FOI) requests received. The final decision on any FOI request rests with the relevant public body, subject to applicable law.

EDDC will take into account statements of confidentiality and commercial sensitivity that are provided by participants and will endeavour to consult with participants about sensitive information before making a decision on any FOI request received but the EDDC will make its own assessment and decision on these issues.

Publication of Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) notice

• EDDC issue Supplier Questionnaire and supporting information. 20 May 2025

Conduct Site visit attendance (AM) session.

Venue: Sidmouth Town Beach 16 Jun 2025

Conduct Collaborative Q&A (PM) session.

Venue: Kennaway House, Sidmouth EX10 8NG 16 Jun 2025

Deadline for Supplier PME Questionnaire return date. 30 Jun 2025

EDDC plan to conduct the following activities:

• Preliminary Market Engagement Notice: A notice will be published to invite interested parties to participate in the engagement process.
• Supplier day and site visit with questions and answers session: EDDC will be coordinating 1 Supplier Day site visit with Q&A session being held afterwards on the same day with parties to discuss project details and gather input.

Supplier day attendance:

• Suppliers are requested to notify EDDC’s Project Manager by no later than 17:00 on Friday, 6 June, if they intend to attend the Supplier Day session on June 20.
• The Project Manager can be reached at [email protected] to confirm attendance numbers and venue logistics.
• Questionnaires and Surveys: EDDC have provided a questionnaire to collect detailed feedback on specific aspects of the project which can be found within section 13 & 14 of this document – “suppliers response”.

In addition, depending on the volume of responses, the EDDC may wish to follow up the questionnaire with an additional Q&A workshop with interested Parties. The workshop will provide an opportunity for further mutual understanding of any potential risk, issues, assumptions and questions that may not have previously been considered.

EDDC request in advance of this of the supplier day if you could send us any questions that you would like to discuss at the Q&A event or any specific issues that you would like to raise and discuss. The supplier day will be strictly restricted to potential suppliers, key members of EDDC’s project team along with key members of the Clients Advisory and Stakeholder Group for representation where appropriate. In the event that the EDDC cannot accommodate the volume of individual meeting requests, EDDC will look to schedule additional supplier days to accommodate the suppliers, but this will be assessed and agreed after the PME has been published.