---
title: "Joint Venture Partner for the Durham Innovation District"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-040454"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-040454"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-040454.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-040454.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL"
published: "2025-05-29"
---

# Joint Venture Partner for the Durham Innovation District

Buyer: DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-040454

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-040454)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-040454.json)

## Summary

Durham County Council is seeking a Joint Venture Partner to develop the Aykley Heads site within the emerging Durham Innovation District, located in County Durham, United Kingdom. This procurement falls under the real estate services category and aims to create up to 4,000 jobs through the development of 39,000 square metres of commercial floorspace. The process, initiated through a competitive dialogue method and selective procurement, is currently active and in the tender stage with a submission deadline on 10th November 2023. The partnership seeks businesses skilled in creating, managing, and sustaining Innovation Districts, with a long-term interest spanning approximately 15-25 years.

The tender offers significant opportunities for growth in sectors such as research, advanced manufacturing, green jobs, digital, fintech, life sciences, and satellite applications. Companies that specialise in real estate, construction, technical consultancy, and research services will find this procurement particularly attractive. The partnership requires an experienced entity capable of sharing both risk and reward, maintaining programme control, and expanding the development scope throughout County Durham to foster economic growth. Businesses with capabilities in creating value through long-term asset management and strategic partnerships are well-suited to compete for this tender.

## Notice

Durham County Council are seeking a Joint Venture Partner to develop the council owned Aykley Heads site, as a catalyst for the new Durham Innovation District. The 15ha site is within single council ownership; has outline planning permission for 39,000 square metres of commercial floorspace for up to 4,000 jobs. It sits within a wider 60ha area of the city that is the emerging Durham Innovation District, encompassing the new University Business School and Milburngate, a 450,000 sq ft mixed-use development. Aykley Heads and the Durham Innovation District will provide a platform to maximise the benefits of economic growth. It will identify key areas of opportunity, including research and advanced manufacturing, green jobs, electronics, digital and creative, fintech, life sciences and satellite applications sectors. Inward investment will also be directly focused on these specialisms and ecosystems to create sustainable supply chains and jobs across the county and beyond. Although the Joint Venture will initially focus on the Aykley Heads location, the JV scope (of goods, works and services) may be expanded in the future to cover wider County Durham area opportunities in order to support the strategic objectives of the Council and it's Partners.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Durham County Council are seeking a Joint Venture Partner to develop the council owned Aykley Heads site, as a catalyst for the new Durham Innovation District. The 15ha site is within single council ownership; has outline planning permission for 39,000 square metres of commercial floorspace for up to 4,000 jobs. It sits within a wider 60ha area of the city that is the emerging Durham Innovation District, encompassing the new University Business School and Milburngate, a 450,000 sq ft mixed-use development. Aykley Heads and the Durham Innovation District will provide a platform to maximise the benefits of economic growth. It will identify key areas of opportunity, including research and advanced manufacturing, green jobs, electronics, digital and creative, fintech, life sciences and satellite applications sectors. Inward investment will also be directly focused on these specialisms and ecosystems to create sustainable supply chains and jobs across the county and beyond. This procurement is to appoint a JV partner who will seek to retain a long-term interest in the development beyond the construction phase and has the experience and expertise of creating, running and managing an Innovation District. This will ensure: -The partner brings expertise & desire to hold assets over the long term -A partnership approach which shares risk and reward with partner -That the council can retain high level of control on programme, use and quality -Council control can be further protected through phased approach of land transfer in to JV -The council has the benefit of a partner with long term commitment to the site -The partner would bring long term management experience and capability Although the Joint Venture will initially focus on the Aykley Heads location, the JV scope (of goods, works and services) may be expanded in the future to cover wider County Durham area opportunities in order to support the strategic objectives of the Council and it's Partners.

Options: The term of the JV is anticipated, and likely be in the region of 15-25 years to deliver the shared Visions and Outcomes but may be subject to extension by mutual consent.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/028324-2025 |
| Notice type | Planning Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Competitive dialogue |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Planning, Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 29 May 2025 |
| Submission deadline | 10 Nov 2023 |
| Future notice date | 8 Oct 2023 |
| Award date | 29 Apr 2025 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL |
| Locality | DURHAM |
| Post town | Durham |
| Postcode | DH1 5UQ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear |
| ITL 3 | TLC41 Durham |
| Local authority | County Durham |
| Electoral ward | Framwellgate and Newton Hall |
| Westminster constituency | City of Durham |
| Delivery location | TLC1 Tees Valley and Durham |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | MUSE PLACES |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 09 - Petroleum products, fuel, electricity and other sources of energy
- 45 - Construction work
- 50 - Repair and maintenance services
- 55 - Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services
- 65 - Public utilities
- 66 - Financial and insurance services
- 70 - Real estate services
- 71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services
- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services
- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

### Codes

- 09000000 - Petroleum products, fuel, electricity and other sources of energy
- 45000000 - Construction work
- 50700000 - Repair and maintenance services of building installations
- 50800000 - Miscellaneous repair and maintenance services
- 55000000 - Hotel, restaurant and retail trade services
- 65000000 - Public utilities
- 66100000 - Banking and investment services
- 70000000 - Real estate services
- 70100000 - Real estate services with own property
- 71200000 - Architectural and related services
- 71300000 - Engineering services
- 71400000 - Urban planning and landscape architectural services
- 71500000 - Construction-related services
- 71600000 - Technical testing, analysis and consultancy services
- 71700000 - Monitoring and control services
- 73100000 - Research and experimental development services
- 73200000 - Research and development consultancy services
- 73300000 - Design and execution of research and development
- 79900000 - Miscellaneous business and business-related services

## Release History

- 29 May 2025 at 08:41 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/028324-2025
- 10 Oct 2023 at 17:11 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/029897-2023
- 27 Sep 2023 at 16:18 - Planning - Planning Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/028558-2023

## Notice URLs

- http://www.durham.gov.uk
- http://www.nepo.org

## 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-040454. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-040454.json.