---
title: "218_26 Specialist Vehicle Contract Hire/Leasing"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-051d0c"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-051d0c"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-051d0c.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-051d0c.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Tender"
buyer: "LEICESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL, TRADING AS ESPO"
published: "2026-04-15"
---

# 218_26 Specialist Vehicle Contract Hire/Leasing

Buyer: LEICESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL, TRADING AS ESPO  
Current stage: Tender  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-051d0c

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## Summary

Leicestershire County Council, operating as ESPO, is actively inviting tenders for a framework agreement focusing on the hire and leasing of specialist vehicles. This procurement process, currently at the tender stage, encompasses diverse categories of vehicles such as refuse collection vehicles, sweepers, gully emptiers, buses, and minibuses. By engaging in an open procedure, ESPO aims to facilitate contracts that span regions across the United Kingdom. Interested parties should submit their tenders by 12:00 on 15 May 2026, with an enquiry period ending on 8 May 2026. The procurement is framed under the legal jurisdiction of the Procurement Act 2023, with award announcements expected by 18 June 2026.

This tender process presents significant growth opportunities for businesses, particularly for those specialising in vehicle manufacturing or leasing services. Given the inclusion of lots such as refuse collection and winter maintenance vehicles, companies producing or supplying different types of specialist vehicles could benefit immensely. The framework is structured to promote competitive tendering, offering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) a meaningful chance to participate. With a substantial gross value of £50,000,000 and the extension option for contracts, participants have the potential to secure robust commercial engagements over the next few years.

## Notice

ESPO is a public sector-owned professional buying organisation offering a comprehensive range of procurement services, including access to over 100 free-to-access framework solutions for the wider public sector. ESPO are establishing a framework for the medium/long term hire/lease of specialist vehicles, including internal combustion engine and alternatively fuelled options. The Framework is divided into 9 lots: Lot 1. Refuse collection vehicles (RCV's) Lot 2. Sweepers Lot 3. Winter maintenance vehicles Lot 4. Gully emptiers Lot 5. Buses and minibuses Lot 6. Tippers Lot 7. Loaders Lot 8. Other specialist vehicles Lot 9. Mixed specialist vehicle fleet Note: The value per lot as captured in this notice is for the overall framework (with this same overall value being captured per lot), as ESPO offers no guarantees or estimates of value that may pass through each individual lot (but the overall usage across all lots is not expected to exceed this overall framework value). Please refer to the tender documents for further details (including further details on each of the lots) - the closing date for submission of Tenders is 12:00 (12 noon / 12pm) on 15 May 2026. To tender (please proceed to step (e) if an expression of interest has already been completed): (a) Go to https://www.eastmidstenders.org/ (b) Register (if not already registered on ProContract); (c) Search for tender opportunity '218_26' (via "View Opportunities" from the EastMidsTenders Portal); (d) Express an interest; (e) Download the tender documents (from the ProContract Activity summary screen). Any questions or clarifications relating to this tender opportunity should be submitted to ESPO as a message on the eProcurement Portal, once an Expression of interest has been completed.

### Lot Information

Lot 1. Refuse collection vehicles (RCV's)

This lot covers the contract hire/lease of ICE and alternatively fuelled refuse collection vehicles (RCVs) of varying weights/capacities comprising chassis and bodies/bin lifts including but not limited to: RCVs under 18t, RCV's 18t and above and RCVs for food waste collection to meet the requirements of eligible public sector bodies.

Lot 2. Sweepers

This lot covers the contract hire/lease of ICE and alternatively fuelled sweeper vehicles of varying weights/capacities to meet the requirements of eligible public sector bodies.

Lot 3. Winter maintenance vehicles

This lot covers the contract hire/lease of ICE and alternatively fuelled winter maintenance vehicles of varying weights/capacities comprising chassis and bodies/snowploughs to meet the requirements of eligible public sector bodies.

Lot 4. Gully emptiers

This lot covers the contract hire/lease of ICE and alternatively fuelled gully emptiers of varying weights/capacities comprising chassis and bodies to meet the requirements of eligible public sector bodies.

Lot 5. Buses and minibuses

This lot covers the contract hire/lease of ICE and alternatively fuelled buses and minibuses of varying weights/capacities comprising chassis and bodies to meet the requirements of eligible public sector bodies.

Lot 6. Tippers

This lot covers the contract hire/lease of ICE and alternatively fuelled tippers of varying weights/capacities comprising chassis and tipper bodies to meet the requirements of eligible public sector bodies.

Lot 7. Loaders

This lot covers the contract hire/lease of ICE and alternatively fuelled hook and skip loaders vehicles of varying weights/capacities comprising chassis and hook/skip loader units/bodies to meet the requirements of eligible public sector bodies.

Lot 8. Other specialist vehicles

This lot covers the contract hire/lease of ICE and alternatively fuelled other specialist vehicles (eg. mobile library vehicles, hot boxes, chassis cabs, etc) of varying weights/capacities to meet the requirements of eligible public sector bodies.

Lot 9. Mixed specialist vehicle fleet

This lot covers the contract hire/lease of ICE and alternatively fuelled mixed specialist vehicles (i.e., all vehicles referred to in lots 1- 8) of varying weights/capacities to meet the requirements of eligible public sector bodies. This is for tenderers to indicate if mixed fleet is something that they can offer.

### Planning Information

Supplier engagement is to be undertaken, with the details to be covered broadly encompassing the following:
a) the scope of the framework proposed for renewal
b) the customer requirements proposed within, i.e., vehicle types, descriptions, hire periods, etc.
c) changes/developments/risks in the marketplace to be accounted for, if any
d) abilities to meet the renewed framework's requirements
e) other feedback on the proposed procurement strategy
f) other industry points of note/suggestions 
Engagement is being undertaken via a Request for Information (RFI) questionnaire hosted on the EastMidsTenders eProcurement Portal (www.eastmidstenders.org). The deadline for responding to the RFI is 17:00 (5pm) on 09 January 2026.
Suppliers wishing to participate in the RFI MUST first express an interest as follows:
(a) Go to https://www.eastmidstenders.org/; (b) Register (if not already registered on ProContract); (c) Search for opportunity '218_26' (via "View Opportunities" from the EastMidsTenders Portal); d) Express an interest.
Suppliers can access and respond to the RFI questionnaire in the Messages section of the eProcurement Portal (via the Activity dashboard once an expression of interest has been registered). Any questions or clarifications should similarly be submitted to ESPO as a message on the eProcurement Portal.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/034176-2026 |
| Notice type | UK4 - Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Framework |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning, Tender |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 15 Apr 2026 |
| Submission deadline | 15 May 2026 |
| Future notice date | 28 Nov 2025 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 30 Jun 2026 - 30 Jun 2030 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £41,666,667 |
| Lots value | £41,666,667 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Active |
| Lots status | Active |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | LEICESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL, TRADING AS ESPO |
| Locality | LEICESTER |
| Post town | Leicester |
| Postcode | LE19 1ES |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLF East Midlands (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLF2 Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire |
| ITL 3 | TLF22 Leicestershire CC and Rutland |
| Local authority | Blaby |
| Electoral ward | Enderby |
| Westminster constituency | South Leicestershire |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 34 - Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation

### Codes

- 34114400 - Minibuses
- 34121000 - Buses and coaches
- 34134000 - Flatbed and Tipper trucks
- 34139000 - Chassis
- 34142200 - Skip loaders
- 34143000 - Winter-maintenance vehicles
- 34144410 - Gully emptiers
- 34144431 - Suction-sweeper vehicles
- 34144440 - Gritter vehicles
- 34144510 - Vehicles for refuse
- 34144511 - Refuse-collection vehicles
- 34144512 - Refuse-compaction vehicles
- 34144710 - Wheeled loaders
- 34144760 - Mobile library vehicles
- 34223370 - Tipper trailers
- 34921100 - Road sweepers

## Release History

- 15 Apr 2026 at 11:51 - Tender - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/034176-2026
- 16 Dec 2025 at 16:36 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/083539-2025
- 22 May 2025 at 10:15 - Planning - UK1 - Pipeline Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/024615-2025

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/034176-2026
  15th April 2026 - Tender notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/083539-2025
  16th December 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/024615-2025
  22nd May 2025 - Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.eastmidstenders.org/
  To tender (please proceed to step (e) if an expression of interest has already been completed): (a) Go to https://www.eastmidstenders.org/ (b) Register (if not already registered on ProContract); (c) Search for tender opportunity '218_26' (via "View Opportunities" from the EastMidsTenders Portal); (d) Express an interest; (e) Download the tender documents (from the ProContract Activity summary screen).

## Notice URLs

- https://www.espo.org/
- https://www.espo.org/amfile/file/download/file/9608/
- https://www.espo.org/legal
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## 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-051d0c. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-051d0c.json.