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ANDBC Preliminary Market Engagement Exercise - Appointment of an Operating Partner for a Creative Innovation Hub in Holywood, Co.Down

Ards and North Down Borough Council

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

07 Sep 2026 at 12:11

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Ards and North Down Borough Council is planning to appoint an operating partner for a Creative Innovation Hub in Holywood, County Down. The partner will manage the hub and assume responsibilities and risks under the eventual contract. The hub is intended to provide secure, connected and technically capable accommodation for micro and small businesses, start-ups and growing firms in the digital, creative and screen industries. It may also accommodate larger established anchor tenants and provide a flexible short-term base for foreign direct investment projects supported by Northern Ireland Screen. The wider purpose is to build a creative-technology ecosystem, improve skills and employability, and support economic growth across Ards and North Down and the Belfast Region City Deal area. The service category covers hub operation, information technology, film, video and television production-related activity in Northern Ireland.

This procurement is at the planning and pre-market engagement stage, not a formal tender. The Council intends to run a competitive tender under the Procurement Act 2023, with the operating partner appointed early enough to inform the later design of the hub. The Council expects the market engagement exercise to inform its requirements, participation conditions, award criteria and tender documents. Expressions of interest and completed questionnaires are expected by 18 September 2026, with a possible virtual information session for interested suppliers. The hub’s indicative operating period is 1 September 2027 to 31 August 2037, with renewal potentially extending to 31 August 2047. The project has capital funding of £8,921,200 from the Belfast Region City Deal and £1.1 million from the Council, with further private-sector funding required.

The future procurement is likely to suit an organisation able to operate and commercially develop a specialist innovation or creative-industry workspace, rather than a conventional property-management provider alone. Relevant capability may include managing secure, high-connectivity technical facilities; supporting start-ups, smaller digital and creative businesses, established anchor tenants and short-term inward-investment projects; and understanding the operational needs of screen, film, television and wider creative-technology users. Suppliers should be prepared to take on management responsibilities and associated contractual risks at an early project-development stage, while contributing operational and commercial requirements to the hub’s design. Experience of building business ecosystems, improving skills and employability, and maximising the long-term economic performance of innovation or sector-focused facilities would place organisations well for the later competition. The Council is using this engagement to identify capable suppliers and shape the conditions for participation and evaluation.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

ANDBC Preliminary Market Engagement Exercise - Appointment of an Operating Partner for a Creative Innovation Hub in Holywood, Co.Down

Notice Description

Ards and North Down Borough Council is currently preparing to initiate a procurement process to appoint an Operating Partner for a Creative Innovation Hub in Holywood, Co.Down. The Holywood Innovation Hub is a project funded through investment from the Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) and Ards and North Down Borough Council. It will focus on micro and small businesses within the digital, creative and screen industries: providing facilities and a secure environment to meet specific security, connectivity and technical needs. The proposed hub is intended to provide accommodation for the creative technology sector, specifically for start-up and smaller firms seeking to grow within the sector. It would also seek to provide accommodation for larger established 'anchor' tenants and potentially act as a short-term flexible base for FDI projects supported by NI Screen. The proposed hub is also intended to create an ecosystem within the creative technology sector: improving skills and employability across Ards and North Down and the overall Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) region. A primary reason for market failure in this sector is stated as a lack of suitable accommodation. This project will address this situation, supporting the growth of firms in the digital creative sector beyond the initial 'work from home' phase. The capital funding requirement for the proposal is PS8,921,200 from the BRCD, with a further contribution of PS1.1m from Ards and North Down Borough Council (ANDBC), further funding is required from the private sector to unlock this funding. ANDBC intends to appoint an operator for the Innovation Hub at an early stage of project development. The operator will assume management responsibilities and associated risks as set out in the final contractual structure. The operator will be appointed prior to the procurement of the Integrated Consultancy Team (ICT) responsible for the design of the Innovation Hub, enabling operational requirements and commercial considerations to be incorporated into the design and helping to maximise the hub's long-term economic performance. Prior to initiating the procurement, the Council is undertaking an Expression of Interest (EoI) and Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) Exercise . This EoI/PME exercise is being conducted pursuant to section 16 of the Procurement Act 2023 for the purposes of: (a) developing the Council's requirements and approach to the procurement; (b) designing conditions of participation and award criteria; (c) preparing the tender notice and associated tender documents; and (d) identifying suppliers capable of performing the proposed contract. The pre-market engagement is intended to facilitate high-level conversations to identify potential interested suppliers and capabilities to inform the Council's procurement approach. A summary of the opportunity is detailed in the brochure and questionnaire documents that can be accessed via the CfT documents area (Resource ID 6717503) on the eTendersNI platform (https://etendersni.gov.uk).

Planning Information

The Council may invite interested suppliers to a virtual information session with Council officers to discuss the forthcoming opportunity and is asking interested suppliers to complete an expression of interest and questionnaire. The Council's intention is to commence a competitive tender process under the Procurement Act 2023 through eTendersNI. Interested suppliers will not be advantaged or prejudiced by participation or non-participation in the pre-market engagement. Participation or non-participation in this PME exercise will not prevent any supplier from participating in any future procurement process. For the avoidance of doubt, this is the scoping phase of the project and is not part of a formal procurement process. In accordance with section 82 of the Procurement Act 2023, the Council will take all reasonable steps to ensure that no conflict of interest puts any supplier at an unfair advantage or disadvantage in relation to this procurement. To ensure a level playing field for all parties and without breaching commercial confidentiality, all relevant information shared or gathered during this engagement will be made available to all potential suppliers as part of the forthcoming competitive tender process. This market engagement process does not commit the Council to any course of action and is not a formal part of the tender process that will follow. Suppliers who wish to participate in the market engagement exercise should complete the Expression of Interest form and PME questionnaire which can be downloaded from the CfT documents area of Resource ID 6717503 on eTendersNI (https://etendersni.gov.uk). The expression of interest and questionnaire must be completed and returned via the CfT's Messaging area on eTendersNI in accordance with the instructions detailed in the PME Questionnaire document or by emailing procurement@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk. There are no formal tender documents to be completed other than the expression of interest and questionnaire. **Please Note: All completed questionnaires must be submitted via the CfT's (Resource ID 6717503) messaging area on eTendersNI (https://etendersni.gov.uk) or by emailing procurement@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk **.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06f35c
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/084340-2026
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
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

92 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services

CPV Codes

72222300 - Information technology services

92111000 - Motion picture and video production services

92112000 - Services in connection with motion-picture and video-tape production

92221000 - Television production services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
7 Sep 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Sep 2027 - 31 Aug 2037 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
Ards and North Down Borough 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
BANGOR
Postcode
BT20 4BT
Postcode Area
Northern Ireland
Country
Northern Ireland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLN Northern Ireland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLN0 Northern Ireland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLN09 Ards and North Down
Delivery Location
TLN09 Ards and North Down
Local Authority
Ards and North Down
Electoral Ward
Castle
Westminster Constituency
North Down

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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