Planning

Forestry England Security Services

FORESTRY COMMISSION

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

23 Apr 2026 at 16:44

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Forestry Commission has initiated a procurement process for the provision of Security Services across its sites in England, currently at the planning stage. This opportunity, titled "Forestry England Security Services," falls under the services category and involves multiple sites spread across various districts, including East, West, South, and Central. The planned contract commencement date is 1st September 2026, and it will span five years, ending on 31st August 2031. Interested suppliers are encouraged to engage in preliminary market testing and provide insights on geographical lots and service delivery capacity by the scheduled date of 15th May 2026. Key services include barrier locking, CCTV, and call-outs, with consideration given to segmentation into geographical lots to encourage participation by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

This tender offers robust growth opportunities for businesses specialising in security services, particularly those with capabilities to operate across remote and diverse locations. Entrepreneurs and established companies with expertise in surveillance, monitoring, and physical security can effectively compete for this contract. SMEs are specifically encouraged to participate, benefiting from the lot-based structure which allows tailored service provision across different regions. The procurement method leverages market engagement to refine the scope, ensuring practicality and deliverability, thereby offering a platform for businesses to influence and optimise service delivery models that cater to their strengths.

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

Notice Information

Notice Title

Forestry England Security Services

Notice Description

Forestry England is the largest land manager in England and custodian of the nation's forests. Our mission is to connect everyone with the nation's forests by creating and caring for forests for people to enjoy, wildlife to flourish and businesses to grow. We are seeking expressions of interest for a Security Service contract for multiple sites across the country. Services will include: locking and unlocking gates and toilets, CCTV and alarm system installation, servicing and monitoring, and call outs. The contract will be separated into geographical lots to promote opportunities for Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs). All lots require barrier locking during the morning and/or evening at specified times and site attendance to release vehicles locked in overnight upon request. Some lots require toilet buildings to be locked and/or unlocked, car parking pay machines to be locked and/or unlocked, and CCTV installation and maintenance. The sites included in the contract span all of England with some situated in remote forest locations. A list of indicative Lots and potential contract locations within these Lots can be found below (please note this may not be an exhaustive list of Lots & locations): Lot 1 (East District) - Likely locations include Jeskyns Forest Centre (Kent) & Wendover Forest Centre (Chilterns). Requirement in this lot will include (but not be limited to) barrier locking (AM & PM), site attendance to release vehicles (upon request), toilet building locking (PM). Estimated total value of the Lot = PS89k Lot 2 (West District) - Likely locations include multiple recreation sites and car parks in Forest of Dean (Gloucestershire) & Haldon Forest Centre (Exeter). Requirement in this lot will include (but not be limited to) barrier locking (AM & PM), site attendance to release vehicles (upon request), toilet building unlocking (AM) and locking (PM). Estimated total value of the Lot = PS229k Lot 3 (South District) - Likely locations include Alice Holt Forest Centre. Requirement in this lot will include (but not be limited to) barrier locking (AM & PM), site attendance to release vehicles (upon request), toilet building unlocking (AM) and locking (PM), CCTV installation and maintenance. Estimated total value of the Lot = PS62k Lot 4 (Central District) - Likely locations include Delamere Forest Centre, Cannock Chase Forest Centre & Salcey Forest Centre. Requirement in this lot will include (but not be limited to) barrier locking (AM & PM), site attendance to release vehicles (upon request), toilet building locking (PM). Estimated total value of the Lot = PS155k

Planning Information

If you are interested in bidding for this opportunity, please contact commercial.services@forestryengland.uk marking your email for the attention of Arran Price. We are particularly keen to hear from interested companies regarding their views on the proposed size and distribution of the geographical lots and their capacity to deliver the required services across these lots. Supplier insight on these aspects will help inform our approach and ensure the proposed model is practical and deliverable. 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 contract is still subject to change based on feedback from the market. This preliminary market engagement 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.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-068a21
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/037312-2026
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

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

CPV Codes

79710000 - Security services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£420,000 £100K-£500K
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
23 Apr 2026Yesterday
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
15 May 20263 weeks to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Sep 2026 - 31 Aug 2031 Over 5 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
FORESTRY COMMISSION
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

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
Not specified
Local Authority
South Gloucestershire
Electoral Ward
Stoke Park & Cheswick
Westminster Constituency
Filton and Bradley Stoke

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-068a21-2026-04-23T17:44:16+01:00",
    "date": "2026-04-23T17:44:16+01:00",
    "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-068a21",
    "initiationType": "tender",
    "parties": [
        {
            "id": "GB-PPON-PLRM-7846-HGLG",
            "name": "Forestry Commission",
            "identifier": {
                "scheme": "GB-PPON",
                "id": "PLRM-7846-HGLG"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "620 Bristol Business Park",
                "locality": "Bristol",
                "postalCode": "BS16 1EJ",
                "country": "GB",
                "countryName": "United Kingdom",
                "region": "UKK12"
            },
            "contactPoint": {
                "email": "commercial.services@forestryengland.uk"
            },
            "roles": [
                "buyer"
            ],
            "details": {
                "classifications": [
                    {
                        "id": "publicAuthoritySubCentralGovernment",
                        "scheme": "UK_CA_TYPE",
                        "description": "Public authority - sub-central government"
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ],
    "buyer": {
        "id": "GB-PPON-PLRM-7846-HGLG",
        "name": "Forestry Commission"
    },
    "planning": {
        "milestones": [
            {
                "id": "engagement",
                "type": "engagement",
                "description": "If you are interested in bidding for this opportunity, please contact commercial.services@forestryengland.uk marking your email for the attention of Arran Price. We are particularly keen to hear from interested companies regarding their views on the proposed size and distribution of the geographical lots and their capacity to deliver the required services across these lots. Supplier insight on these aspects will help inform our approach and ensure the proposed model is practical and deliverable. 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 contract is still subject to change based on feedback from the market. This preliminary market engagement 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.",
                "dueDate": "2026-05-15T23:59:59+01:00",
                "status": "scheduled"
            }
        ],
        "documents": [
            {
                "id": "037312-2026",
                "documentType": "marketEngagementNotice",
                "noticeType": "UK2",
                "description": "Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender",
                "url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/037312-2026",
                "datePublished": "2026-04-23T17:44:16+01:00",
                "format": "text/html"
            }
        ]
    },
    "tender": {
        "id": "FCCN004613",
        "legalBasis": {
            "id": "2023/54",
            "scheme": "UKPGA",
            "uri": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents"
        },
        "title": "Forestry England Security Services",
        "description": "Forestry England is the largest land manager in England and custodian of the nation's forests. Our mission is to connect everyone with the nation's forests by creating and caring for forests for people to enjoy, wildlife to flourish and businesses to grow. We are seeking expressions of interest for a Security Service contract for multiple sites across the country. Services will include: locking and unlocking gates and toilets, CCTV and alarm system installation, servicing and monitoring, and call outs. The contract will be separated into geographical lots to promote opportunities for Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs). All lots require barrier locking during the morning and/or evening at specified times and site attendance to release vehicles locked in overnight upon request. Some lots require toilet buildings to be locked and/or unlocked, car parking pay machines to be locked and/or unlocked, and CCTV installation and maintenance. The sites included in the contract span all of England with some situated in remote forest locations. A list of indicative Lots and potential contract locations within these Lots can be found below (please note this may not be an exhaustive list of Lots & locations): Lot 1 (East District) - Likely locations include Jeskyns Forest Centre (Kent) & Wendover Forest Centre (Chilterns). Requirement in this lot will include (but not be limited to) barrier locking (AM & PM), site attendance to release vehicles (upon request), toilet building locking (PM). Estimated total value of the Lot = PS89k Lot 2 (West District) - Likely locations include multiple recreation sites and car parks in Forest of Dean (Gloucestershire) & Haldon Forest Centre (Exeter). Requirement in this lot will include (but not be limited to) barrier locking (AM & PM), site attendance to release vehicles (upon request), toilet building unlocking (AM) and locking (PM). Estimated total value of the Lot = PS229k Lot 3 (South District) - Likely locations include Alice Holt Forest Centre. Requirement in this lot will include (but not be limited to) barrier locking (AM & PM), site attendance to release vehicles (upon request), toilet building unlocking (AM) and locking (PM), CCTV installation and maintenance. Estimated total value of the Lot = PS62k Lot 4 (Central District) - Likely locations include Delamere Forest Centre, Cannock Chase Forest Centre & Salcey Forest Centre. Requirement in this lot will include (but not be limited to) barrier locking (AM & PM), site attendance to release vehicles (upon request), toilet building locking (PM). Estimated total value of the Lot = PS155k",
        "items": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "additionalClassifications": [
                    {
                        "scheme": "CPV",
                        "id": "79710000",
                        "description": "Security services"
                    }
                ],
                "relatedLot": "1"
            }
        ],
        "value": {
            "amountGross": 504000,
            "amount": 420000,
            "currency": "GBP"
        },
        "mainProcurementCategory": "services",
        "specialRegime": [
            "lightTouch"
        ],
        "lots": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "suitability": {
                    "sme": true
                },
                "contractPeriod": {
                    "startDate": "2026-09-01T00:00:00Z",
                    "endDate": "2031-08-31T23:59:59+01:00"
                },
                "status": "planning"
            }
        ],
        "status": "planning"
    },
    "language": "en"
}