Award

Appointment of a Creative Team for Blyth Celebrates Festival of Energy

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

Award

21 Nov 2025 at 13:29

Award

28 Aug 2025 at 12:54

Tender

16 Jun 2025 at 13:19

Planning

21 May 2025 at 14:28

Summary of the contracting process

Northumberland County Council, based in Morpeth, has completed the procurement process for the appointment of a Creative Team to manage the inaugural Blyth Celebrates Festival of Energy. This public authority utilised an open procedure under the UKPGA 2023/54 legislation to invite bids, with the tender ID NCC1583, focusing on event and festival organisation services. The contract, covering service delivery in Blyth, is scheduled from October 2025 to March 2026. The tender was concluded with the award on 21st November 2025 to "WALK THE PLANK," a company located in Salford. The procurement tag indicates the process has transitioned from the tender to the contract award stage.

This project presents a valuable opportunity for businesses in the creative events and festival management sector. It caters effectively to organisations capable of delivering high-profile events that engage a wide-ranging audience, including stakeholders from local communities and the energy sector. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with a strong track record in innovative event management, especially those experienced in educational and experiential programmes, could significantly benefit. The Festival of Energy aims to elevate Blyth as a distinguished destination for creativity and renewables, potentially attracting further investments and expanding business portfolios in the region. Businesses interested in future tenders should consider aligning their capabilities with such strategic community and sectoral objectives.

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Notice Title

Appointment of a Creative Team for Blyth Celebrates Festival of Energy

Notice Description

Northumberland County Council has appointed a Creative Team that will design, create, produce and deliver a high profile and impactful inaugural Festival of Energy that will attract interest from a wide-ranging audience including local people of all ages, key partners in Blyth and the national / international arts and renewables / energy sectors. Northumberland County Council (NCC) were successful in attracting PS355,384 from North East Combined Authority (NECA) for a Festival of ENERGY in Blyth, taking place in February 2026 in partnership with ORE Catapult, Port of Blyth and Newcastle University.

Planning Information

Northumberland County Council (NCC) were successful in attracting £355,384 from North East Combined Authority (NECA) for a Festival of ENERGY in Blyth, taking place in February 2026 in partnership with ORE Catapult, Port of Blyth and Newcastle University. We are now inviting Expressions of Interest from exceptional and exciting creative events and festivals companies that have an excellent track record of delivering high quality events, from concept to every aspect of delivery. The Festival of ENERGY is a creative and artistic response to the globally recognised, innovation in renewables, taking place in Blyth, Northumberland. The Festival of ENERGY will offer a key highlight and finale event as part of Blyth Celebrates yearlong cultural programme. The four-day event and participatory programme will develop co-designed content with local communities, building new audiences and attracting visitors to the town securing Blyth as a new visitor destination for creativity and innovation and recognised as a world leader in the renewables sector, reflected in the vision of the Energising Blyth regeneration project. The Festival of ENERGY will deliver an expansive engagement programme from September - December 2025 to explore and delve into the significant renewables sector in Blyth to be showcased and profiled during an intensive long weekend (4 days) in February 2026. The Festival will deliver educational and experiential opportunities through talks, tours, film, interaction and spectacle. We want to demystify and showcase the industry, to capitalise on Blyth's unique economic strength to attract national audiences and support future investment and profile. NCC's procurement process is managed through a new portal called https://www.open-uk.org/ You will need to register on the OPEN portal to ensure you will be able to respond to this opportunity. The timelines currently for this project are outlined below (please note these are not confirmed and are subject to change): Invitation to Tender published - June 2025 Submission deadline for ITT responses - July 2025 Notification of Award - End July 2025 Contract Start - August/September 2025 Festival - late February 2026 The project is due to start in August / September 2025 with the 4-day Festival taking place in late February 2026. Where we hope to attract 10,000 people, engage with 500 local people and 25 volunteers over the project. Please note that this Market Engagement Document is not an invitation to tender, and you are under no obligation to complete it. This document does not form any requirement of an invitation to tender. The Council is issuing this request for information only. No supplier selection or supplier preference is implied. All responses will be treated confidentially and used solely to inform the Council's approach to the future commissioning of services. This Market Engagement document is to be returned to Northumberland County Council by Wednesday 28th May at 12 Noon via the OPEN Tender Portal https://www.open-uk.org/ 1. Market Engagement Questions Q1 Will the timescales outlined above be achievable? Q2 Please advise if you have any queries regarding the event. Q3 The tender documents will be published in June to be returned in July, do you intend to submit a bid? If not please detail your reason why not.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-051b78
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076038-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security


CPV Codes

79952000 - Event services

79953000 - Festival organisation services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£355,000 £100K-£500K
Lots Value
£355,000 £100K-£500K
Awards Value
£355,384 £100K-£500K
Contracts Value
£355,384 £100K-£500K

Notice Dates

Publication Date
21 Nov 20253 months ago
Submission Deadline
11 Jul 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
28 May 2025Expired
Award Date
27 Aug 20255 months ago
Contract Period
27 Oct 2025 - 31 Mar 2026 1-6 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY COUNCIL
Contact Name
Mrs Teresa Skelly
Contact Email
teresa.skelly@northumberland.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
MORPETH
Postcode
NE61 2EF
Post Town
Newcastle upon Tyne
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLC North East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLC42 Northumberland
Delivery Location
TLC North East (England), TLC2 Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear

Local Authority
Northumberland
Electoral Ward
Morpeth Kirkhill
Westminster Constituency
North Northumberland

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

WALK THE PLANK

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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