Planning

SCC South Local Bus Service

SOUTHEND-ON-SEA CITY COUNCIL

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

17 Mar 2026 at 14:11

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Southend-on-Sea City Council is initiating a preliminary market engagement exercise in anticipation of potentially procuring a new South Local Bus Service. The process is currently in the planning stage, with a market engagement event scheduled for 31st March 2026, and its deadline for interest set at 30th March 2026. The council, identified as a sub-central public authority, will host the event online via Teams, addressing various aspects such as service overview and procurement timeline. This tender falls under the public road transport services category and aims to enhance connectivity between Southend Travel Centre and various local points, including London Southend Airport and Temple Farm Industrial Estate. Interested parties from small and medium enterprises are encouraged to engage, as the procurement seeks service providers to stimulate regional transport improvement, with the contract estimated to begin on 18th October 2026.

This opportunity presents significant potential for business growth, particularly for companies specialising in public transport services and solutions. Those capable of offering innovative logistics and bus services that address the current connectivity gaps will find this tender appealing. The envisaged bus service will cater to residential areas and local businesses, thereby stimulating urban transit and facilitating access to key destinations without detours into city centres—enhancing the appeal for businesses catering to regional connectivity requirements. Enterprises with expertise in public road transport and a desire to expand operations within the United Kingdom, specifically the Essex region, will be well-suited to compete. With an estimated gross value of £1,200,000, this contract provides opportunities for sustained local economic advancement. Interested businesses can liaise with Southend-on-Sea City Council to learn more about participation possibilities in this evolving project.

Find more tenders on our Open Data Platform.
How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

SCC South Local Bus Service

Notice Description

Southend-on-Sea City Council (SCC) seeks to engage the market through this Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise in preparation for the potential procurement of a South Local Bus Service. The detail of which can be found in the Engagement section below. Scope: Description: Currently there are no commercial bus services which provide a service with a direct link into Airport land, operating between Southend Travel Centre and London Southend Airport and Temple Farm Industrial Estate. This new bus service will support residents within St. Laurence; Prittlewell; St. Luke's; Southchurch; Victoria; Kursall; Milton Wards and enable new connections across the city. Consultation for the BSIP identified many residents wanted to see a route from the Eastern area of Southend-on-Sea into London Southend Airport and considered that such a service could enable new connections across the city and avoid the need to travel into the city centre to change buses. This new bus service will also support local businesses along the route including the Temple Farm Industrial areas of the city, that have no, or very few, bus services linking them direct to other parts of the city. Contract dates (estimated): * 18 October 2026 to 21 October 2028 * Possible extension to 20 October 2029 * (2 years + 1 year) Engagement: Engagement deadline 30 March 2026 Engagement process description: Southend-on-Sea City Council will be holding an online Teams market engagement event for this service on 31st March 2026 (subject to availability). The Market Engagement Event will cover the following: - Overview of the Service - Proposed Procurement Approach - Indicative Procurement Timeline - Q&A Session with Suppliers The Council will use all reasonable endeavours to respond to questions raised within the session. The session will be recorded. To register your interest in this opportunity, please email Procurement at lucygayler@southend.gov.uk and provide the following information: - Name of your registered organisation - Names and Email Addresses of Attendees for the Market Engagement Event - Acceptance of your availability. Important Information: Respondents are advised that the purpose of this notice is to engage in dialogue with the market. The scope of service, date of publication or potential contract value should not be taken as a final "version" of requirement. This notice is not a call for competition to procure any services and is not published to reduce time limited for the receipt of tenders. Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or (lack) to this notice. Nor shall a response to this notice guarantee an invitation to participate in any future procurement process that Southend-on-Sea City Council may conduct.

Planning Information

Engagement process description Southend-on-Sea City Council will be holding an online Teams market engagement event for this service on 31st March 2026 (subject to availability). The Market Engagement Event will cover the following: - Overview of the Service - Proposed Procurement Approach - Indicative Procurement Timeline - Q&A Session with Suppliers The Council will use all reasonable endeavours to respond to questions raised within the session. The session will be recorded. To register your interest in this opportunity, please email Procurement at lucygayler@southend.gov.uk and provide the following information: - Name of your registered organisation - Names and Email Addresses of Attendees for the Market Engagement Event - Acceptance of your availability. Important Information: Respondents are advised that the purpose of this notice is to engage in dialogue with the market. The scope of service, date of publication or potential contract value should not be taken as a final "version" of requirement. This notice is not a call for competition to procure any services and is not published to reduce time limited for the receipt of tenders. Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or (lack) to this notice. Nor shall a response to this notice guarantee an invitation to participate in any future procurement process that Southend-on-Sea City Council may conduct.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-066c5a
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/024109-2026
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

60 - Transport services (excl. Waste transport)

CPV Codes

60112000 - Public road transport services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£1,200,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
17 Mar 20265 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
1 May 20262 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
17 Oct 2026 - 21 Oct 2028 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
SOUTHEND-ON-SEA CITY COUNCIL
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
SOUTHEND-ON-SEA
Postcode
SS2 6FA
Post Town
Southend-on-Sea
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLH East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLH3 Essex
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLH31 Southend-on-Sea
Delivery Location
TLH31 Southend-on-Sea
Local Authority
Southend-on-Sea
Electoral Ward
Victoria
Westminster Constituency
Southend East and Rochford

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

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. 

{
    "tag": [
        "compiled"
    ],
    "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-066c5a-2026-03-17T14:11:37Z",
    "date": "2026-03-17T14:11:37Z",
    "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-066c5a",
    "initiationType": "tender",
    "parties": [
        {
            "id": "GB-PPON-PJDT-6566-GZNX",
            "name": "Southend-on-Sea City Council",
            "identifier": {
                "scheme": "GB-PPON",
                "id": "PJDT-6566-GZNX"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "Civic Centre, Victoria Avenue, Southend On Sea, Essex",
                "locality": "Southend-on-Sea",
                "postalCode": "SS2 6FA",
                "country": "GB",
                "countryName": "United Kingdom",
                "region": "UKH31"
            },
            "contactPoint": {
                "name": "Lucy Gayler",
                "email": "Lucygayler@southend.gov.uk"
            },
            "roles": [
                "buyer"
            ],
            "details": {
                "classifications": [
                    {
                        "id": "publicAuthoritySubCentralGovernment",
                        "scheme": "UK_CA_TYPE",
                        "description": "Public authority - sub-central government"
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ],
    "buyer": {
        "id": "GB-PPON-PJDT-6566-GZNX",
        "name": "Southend-on-Sea City Council"
    },
    "planning": {
        "milestones": [
            {
                "id": "engagement",
                "type": "engagement",
                "description": "Engagement process description Southend-on-Sea City Council will be holding an online Teams market engagement event for this service on 31st March 2026 (subject to availability). The Market Engagement Event will cover the following: - Overview of the Service - Proposed Procurement Approach - Indicative Procurement Timeline - Q&A Session with Suppliers The Council will use all reasonable endeavours to respond to questions raised within the session. The session will be recorded. To register your interest in this opportunity, please email Procurement at lucygayler@southend.gov.uk and provide the following information: - Name of your registered organisation - Names and Email Addresses of Attendees for the Market Engagement Event - Acceptance of your availability. Important Information: Respondents are advised that the purpose of this notice is to engage in dialogue with the market. The scope of service, date of publication or potential contract value should not be taken as a final \"version\" of requirement. This notice is not a call for competition to procure any services and is not published to reduce time limited for the receipt of tenders. Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or (lack) to this notice. Nor shall a response to this notice guarantee an invitation to participate in any future procurement process that Southend-on-Sea City Council may conduct.",
                "dueDate": "2026-03-30T23:59:59+01:00",
                "status": "scheduled"
            }
        ],
        "documents": [
            {
                "id": "024109-2026",
                "documentType": "marketEngagementNotice",
                "noticeType": "UK2",
                "description": "Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender",
                "url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/024109-2026",
                "datePublished": "2026-03-17T14:11:37Z",
                "format": "text/html"
            }
        ]
    },
    "tender": {
        "id": "DN807556",
        "legalBasis": {
            "id": "2023/54",
            "scheme": "UKPGA",
            "uri": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents"
        },
        "title": "SCC South Local Bus Service",
        "description": "Southend-on-Sea City Council (SCC) seeks to engage the market through this Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise in preparation for the potential procurement of a South Local Bus Service. The detail of which can be found in the Engagement section below. Scope: Description: Currently there are no commercial bus services which provide a service with a direct link into Airport land, operating between Southend Travel Centre and London Southend Airport and Temple Farm Industrial Estate. This new bus service will support residents within St. Laurence; Prittlewell; St. Luke's; Southchurch; Victoria; Kursall; Milton Wards and enable new connections across the city. Consultation for the BSIP identified many residents wanted to see a route from the Eastern area of Southend-on-Sea into London Southend Airport and considered that such a service could enable new connections across the city and avoid the need to travel into the city centre to change buses. This new bus service will also support local businesses along the route including the Temple Farm Industrial areas of the city, that have no, or very few, bus services linking them direct to other parts of the city. Contract dates (estimated): * 18 October 2026 to 21 October 2028 * Possible extension to 20 October 2029 * (2 years + 1 year) Engagement: Engagement deadline 30 March 2026 Engagement process description: Southend-on-Sea City Council will be holding an online Teams market engagement event for this service on 31st March 2026 (subject to availability). The Market Engagement Event will cover the following: - Overview of the Service - Proposed Procurement Approach - Indicative Procurement Timeline - Q&A Session with Suppliers The Council will use all reasonable endeavours to respond to questions raised within the session. The session will be recorded. To register your interest in this opportunity, please email Procurement at lucygayler@southend.gov.uk and provide the following information: - Name of your registered organisation - Names and Email Addresses of Attendees for the Market Engagement Event - Acceptance of your availability. Important Information: Respondents are advised that the purpose of this notice is to engage in dialogue with the market. The scope of service, date of publication or potential contract value should not be taken as a final \"version\" of requirement. This notice is not a call for competition to procure any services and is not published to reduce time limited for the receipt of tenders. Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or (lack) to this notice. Nor shall a response to this notice guarantee an invitation to participate in any future procurement process that Southend-on-Sea City Council may conduct.",
        "items": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "additionalClassifications": [
                    {
                        "scheme": "CPV",
                        "id": "60112000",
                        "description": "Public road transport services"
                    }
                ],
                "deliveryAddresses": [
                    {
                        "region": "UKH31",
                        "country": "GB",
                        "countryName": "United Kingdom"
                    }
                ],
                "relatedLot": "1"
            }
        ],
        "value": {
            "amountGross": 1200000,
            "currency": "GBP"
        },
        "mainProcurementCategory": "services",
        "aboveThreshold": true,
        "lots": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "suitability": {
                    "sme": true
                },
                "contractPeriod": {
                    "startDate": "2026-10-18T00:00:00+01:00",
                    "endDate": "2028-10-21T23:59:59+01:00",
                    "maxExtentDate": "2029-10-20T23:59:59+01:00"
                },
                "hasRenewal": true,
                "status": "planning"
            }
        ],
        "communication": {
            "futureNoticeDate": "2026-05-01T23:59:59+01:00"
        },
        "status": "planning"
    },
    "language": "en"
}