---
title: "Helicopter Services for Aerial Surveillance in Support of Plant Health Operations"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-029811"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-029811"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-029811.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-029811.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "FORESTRY ENGLAND"
published: "2021-03-03"
---

# Helicopter Services for Aerial Surveillance in Support of Plant Health Operations

Buyer: FORESTRY ENGLAND  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-029811

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## Summary

The Forestry England, a national agency focused on environmental protection, has completed the tender process for helicopter services to support plant health operations across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The title of this contract is "Helicopter Services for Aerial Surveillance in Support of Plant Health Operations". The procurement method was an open procedure and is aimed at providing essential aerial surveillance and photography services. While the specific dates and deadlines are not detailed, interested suppliers should note that operational flexibility is crucial given the environmental variables impacting service delivery.

This tender presents significant opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with capabilities in providing piloted helicopter services, particularly those experienced in aerial surveillance and environmental monitoring. Businesses that can demonstrate rapid response and operational flexibility in their service delivery will be well-positioned to compete. With potential fluctuations in demand based on plant health conditions, suppliers that are agile and capable of adapting to changing requirements may find strategic advantages in this contracting process.

## Notice

Provision of helicopter services for aerial surveillance and photography for plant health purposes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

### Lot Information

Lot 1

We will be awarding a framework agreement for the supply of helicopter services for aerial surveillance and photography for plant health purposes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This framework agreement requires provision of helicopter services for aerial surveillance and is therefore not suitable for suppliers of UAV (drone) services. Due to the legal nature of the requirement for this tender we cannot provide precise financial estimates. We cannot forward forecast the occurrence of disease, any impacts or the budget we can make available. The value of this framework agreement could therefore change subject to these parameters. Our objective for this framework agreement is to work in close association with the successful bidder to provide expert helicopter services for aerial surveillance and photography for plant health purposes. This will enable us to generate results that are of benefit to the whole forest estate in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This surveillance work is seen as key to improving the Forestry Commission's knowledge of tree pest and disease progression and evaluating results of controls already implemented. As the customer on this framework contract the Forestry Commission will aim to provide operational information to the Contractor as soon as it available to help with the successful completion of the contract. There is an expectation of rapid response from the successful bidder, upon our request, to provide piloted aircraft for the work detailed in the framework contract. Due to the nature of the work required and the time frame involved, a high degree of flexibility is required once a call-off contract has been issued. Operational flexibility is required due to the variable timing of the spring leaf flush, weather conditions, disease progression, photographic conditions, and for contingency planning. A provisional plan will be drawn up between Forestry Commission's Plant Health Forestry (Tree Health) contacts and the Contractor to cover the peak period of April to October but a high degree of flexibility will be required when consolidating the plan and providing rapid response to flight plan requests.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/004274-2021 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 3 Mar 2021 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 16 Feb 2021 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £1,500,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | FORESTRY ENGLAND |
| Locality | BRISTOL |
| Post town | Bristol |
| Postcode | BS16 1EJ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLK South West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLK5 West of England |
| ITL 3 | TLK52 Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire |
| Local authority | South Gloucestershire |
| Electoral ward | Stoke Park & Cheswick |
| Westminster constituency | Filton and Bradley Stoke |
| Delivery location | TLK South West (England) |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 2 |
| Supplier names | CASTLE AIR; GB HELICOPTERS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 34 - Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation
- 35 - Security, fire-fighting, police and defence equipment
- 60 - Transport services (excl. Waste transport)

### Codes

- 34711000 - Helicopters and aeroplanes
- 34711500 - Helicopters
- 35612300 - Support helicopters
- 35612500 - Search and rescue helicopters
- 60424120 - Hire of helicopters with crew

## Release History

- 3 Mar 2021 at 16:32 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/004274-2021

## Notice URLs

- https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:563043-2020:TEXT:EN:HTML
- https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=570685912
- https://www.forestryengland.uk/

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-029811. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-029811.json.