Planning

Haldon Forest Park Bike Hire Concession

FORESTRY COMMISSION

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

05 Aug 2025 at 13:33

Summary of the contracting process

The Forestry Commission, a sub-central government public authority, is initiating a tender process for a bike hire concession at Haldon Forest Park, as detailed in a planning notice dated 5th August 2025. Located in the UK South West region, near Exeter, this procurement is in the planning stage with an anticipated engagement milestone due by 31st August 2025. The focus is on recreational services, aiming to cater to a diverse cycling community. The Forestry Commission is expecting to publish tender documents by September 2025, award the lease in December 2025, and have operations start from 1st April 2026, with an overall lease value estimated at £700,000 over a potential 7-year period.

This procurement presents significant growth opportunities for businesses specialising in leisure, sport, and recreational services. Small to medium enterprises (SMEs), particularly those experienced in bicycle rental, workshops, and retail, will find this tender appealing given the park's visitor footfall and the existing cycling infrastructure. Businesses interested can leverage the chance to operate within a recognised visitor hub, enhancing their visibility and potentially expanding their service offerings to an established customer base. The procurement process invites expressions of interest, allowing businesses to contribute feedback that could influence the final scope and terms of the lease, adapting to market capabilities.

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Notice Title

Haldon Forest Park Bike Hire Concession

Notice Description

Forestry England is seeking expressions of interest from operators wishing to deliver bike hire at the Haldon Forest Park Visitor hub. Haldon Forest Park is only 15 minutes from Exeter and Newton Abbot, just off the A38 and 45 minutes from Plymouth. The site https://www.forestryengland.uk/haldon-forest-park attracts approximately 500,000 visits annually. Cycle hire will be for the family/leisure/mountain bike market, there is also the opportunity to run a bike workshop and small bike retail offer. Haldon Forest Park has a great reputation for its offerings to the mountain biking community, it hosts over 22km of dedicated, offical cycle routes, catering to all demographics, skills and abilties. Additionally, there is a dedicated skills area and a pump track. From novices to advanced enthusiasts, there really is something for everyone. The bike hire will be required to operate out of temporary buildings for the duration of the lease. Interested parties are asked to confirm if they would like to run a workshop operation in addition to the bike hire. Currently we anticipate the lease period being a total of 7 years (5+1+1). The draft lease Heads of Terms will be available in the tender documents to be published September 2025. The total value of the lease opportunity over the term will be in the region of PS700,000. We expect to award the lease in December 2025 for the concession to be operational by 1st April 2026. Expressions of Interest Expressions of interest should be submitted via email to commercial.services@forestryengland.uk. Following consideration of the initial expressions of interest, Forestry England may wish to engage in further soft market testing with respondents. Therefore, at this stage the scope of the lease and lease duration is still subject to change based on feedback from the market. This prior information notice does not commit Forestry England to any future procurement or any subsequent decisions based on the output of the market sounding exercise. Forestry England reserves the right not to proceed to a formal procurement process.

Planning Information

This purpose of this engagement is solely to understand the interest in this opportunity

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0581a4
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/046178-2025
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

92 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services


CPV Codes

92000000 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£700,000 £500K-£1M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
5 Aug 20256 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
15 Sep 2025Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
31 Mar 2026 - 31 Mar 2031 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
FORESTRY COMMISSION
Contact Name
Sam Harris
Contact Email
commercial.services@forestryengland.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
BRISTOL
Postcode
BS16 1EJ
Post Town
Bristol
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK5 West of England
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK52 Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire
Delivery Location
TLK South West (England)

Local Authority
South Gloucestershire
Electoral Ward
Stoke Park & Cheswick
Westminster Constituency
Filton and Bradley Stoke

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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