--- title: "Haldon Forest Park Bike Hire Concession" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0581a4" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0581a4" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0581a4.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0581a4.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "FORESTRY COMMISSION" published: "2025-08-05" --- # Haldon Forest Park Bike Hire Concession Buyer: FORESTRY COMMISSION Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0581a4 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0581a4) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0581a4.json) ## Summary The Forestry Commission, a sub-central government public authority, is initiating a tender process for a bike hire concession at Haldon Forest Park, as detailed in a planning notice dated 5th August 2025. Located in the UK South West region, near Exeter, this procurement is in the planning stage with an anticipated engagement milestone due by 31st August 2025. The focus is on recreational services, aiming to cater to a diverse cycling community. The Forestry Commission is expecting to publish tender documents by September 2025, award the lease in December 2025, and have operations start from 1st April 2026, with an overall lease value estimated at £700,000 over a potential 7-year period. This procurement presents significant growth opportunities for businesses specialising in leisure, sport, and recreational services. Small to medium enterprises (SMEs), particularly those experienced in bicycle rental, workshops, and retail, will find this tender appealing given the park's visitor footfall and the existing cycling infrastructure. Businesses interested can leverage the chance to operate within a recognised visitor hub, enhancing their visibility and potentially expanding their service offerings to an established customer base. The procurement process invites expressions of interest, allowing businesses to contribute feedback that could influence the final scope and terms of the lease, adapting to market capabilities. ## Notice Forestry England is seeking expressions of interest from operators wishing to deliver bike hire at the Haldon Forest Park Visitor hub. Haldon Forest Park is only 15 minutes from Exeter and Newton Abbot, just off the A38 and 45 minutes from Plymouth. The site https://www.forestryengland.uk/haldon-forest-park attracts approximately 500,000 visits annually. Cycle hire will be for the family/leisure/mountain bike market, there is also the opportunity to run a bike workshop and small bike retail offer. Haldon Forest Park has a great reputation for its offerings to the mountain biking community, it hosts over 22km of dedicated, offical cycle routes, catering to all demographics, skills and abilties. Additionally, there is a dedicated skills area and a pump track. From novices to advanced enthusiasts, there really is something for everyone. The bike hire will be required to operate out of temporary buildings for the duration of the lease. Interested parties are asked to confirm if they would like to run a workshop operation in addition to the bike hire. Currently we anticipate the lease period being a total of 7 years (5+1+1). The draft lease Heads of Terms will be available in the tender documents to be published September 2025. The total value of the lease opportunity over the term will be in the region of PS700,000. We expect to award the lease in December 2025 for the concession to be operational by 1st April 2026. Expressions of Interest Expressions of interest should be submitted via email to commercial.services@forestryengland.uk. 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 lease and lease duration is still subject to change based on feedback from the market. This prior information 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. ### Planning Information This purpose of this engagement is solely to understand the interest in this opportunity ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/046178-2025 | | 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 | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 5 Aug 2025 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 15 Sep 2025 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 31 Mar 2026 - 31 Mar 2031 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £700,000 | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Planning | | Lots status | Planning | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | FORESTRY COMMISSION | | 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) | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 92 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services ### Codes - 92000000 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services ## Release History - 5 Aug 2025 at 13:33 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/046178-2025 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/046178-2025 5th August 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - https://www.forestryengland.uk - https://www.forestryengland.uk/haldon-forest-park - 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-0581a4. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0581a4.json.