---
title: "Ground Care and Plant for Defra Group Fleet Services"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0671f4"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0671f4"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0671f4.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0671f4.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "ENVIRONMENT AGENCY"
published: "2026-06-04"
---

# Ground Care and Plant for Defra Group Fleet Services

Buyer: ENVIRONMENT AGENCY  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0671f4

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## Summary

The Environment Agency is currently in the planning stage of a procurement process titled "Ground Care and Plant for Defra Group Fleet Services," aimed at establishing a comprehensive long-term contract for ground care equipment across the Defra Group. The main industry categories include specialist agricultural and forestry machinery, trailers, mowers, and mechanical excavators, among others. This procurement, located primarily in the United Kingdom, is under the competitive flexible procedure, supported by Defra Group Commercial. The project is anticipated to be split into four lots over a six-year period, from 27th November 2026 to 26th November 2032, with an estimated total replacement value of £69 million excluding VAT. Key dates include a future notice expected by 14th July 2026.

This tender represents significant opportunities for businesses involved in the provision of specialist agricultural, forestry, and machinery equipment to participate in a substantial government contract with an estimated gross value of £82.8 million. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs) are particularly encouraged to participate, providing a platform for business growth through consistent supply to a major governmental body. Engagement activities, such as a forthcoming preliminary market engagement event and the potential for individual meetings, present chances for businesses to interact with the Defra Group, align their offerings with the project's needs, and enhance their competitive edge in securing lots.

## Notice

Defra Group requires a modern, sustainable, and optimised ground care equipment fleet to support operational delivery across the Group. The purpose of this project is to establish a long-term, Defra Group-wide contract for the supply of grounds maintenance equipment, led by the Environment Agency (as the main customer), with access available for the whole Group. The contract will provide a consistent, streamlined, and effective approach to sourcing ground care and plant assets, ensuring operational readiness across Defra sites. The contract is expected to be split into 4 lots with a timeframe of six years. The total value of potential equipment replacements is estimated at PS69 million (excluding VAT) over the contract period.

### Planning Information

The Engagement will be conducted in two parts: 
Part 1: Request for Information (RFI) 
So that the Authority can understand capability in the market and any factors that need to be considered in designing the procurement, please complete the Request for Information (RFI) using the following link:
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=UCQKdycCYkyQx044U38RAi0JGfu8yXhLg1yOuERPYLtURUM2TFI2Mkc3R0FHWVJNNVA1Sk05WDdHNi4u
The form will be open for three weeks. The deadline for responding to this form is 12:00 Monday 13th April 2026. 
Part 2: Preliminary-Market Engagement Event (PME) 
The Environment Agency (Defra Group Fleet Services, DGFS), supported by Defra Group Commercial (DgC), is hosting a virtual PME event (via Microsoft Teams) on Thursday 16th April 2026 (16/04/26). Details to be confirmed. 
Please use the appropriate response box in the RFI form to sign up to this event if you are interested in finding out more about this opportunity.
At the Authority's discretion, we may host individual meetings with suppliers following the initial PME event. This is expected to take place in the week commencing 20th April 2026, and would be for the Authority to gain more of an understanding of the market. If this is to take place, an invitation will be sent to suppliers following the preliminary market engagement event.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/053062-2026 |
| Notice type | UK1 - Pipeline Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Competitive flexible procedure |
| Tender suitability | SME, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 4 Jun 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 14 Jul 2026 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 27 Nov 2026 - 26 Nov 2032 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £69,000,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | ENVIRONMENT AGENCY |
| Additional buyers | DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1P 4DF |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 16 - Agricultural machinery
- 34 - Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation
- 42 - Industrial machinery
- 43 - Machinery for mining, quarrying, construction equipment

### Codes

- 16310000 - Mowers
- 16600000 - Specialist agricultural or forestry machinery
- 16700000 - Tractors
- 34223300 - Trailers
- 42122000 - Pumps
- 42420000 - Buckets, shovels, grabs and grips for cranes or excavators
- 43262100 - Mechanical excavators

## Release History

- 4 Jun 2026 at 16:22 - Planning - UK1 - Pipeline Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/053062-2026
- 23 Mar 2026 at 17:04 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/026488-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/053062-2026
  4th June 2026 - Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/026488-2026
  23rd March 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome
- https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=UCQKdycCYkyQx044U38RAi0JGfu8yXhLg1yOuERPYLtURUM2TFI2Mkc3R0FHWVJNNVA1Sk05WDdHNi4u
- 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-0671f4. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0671f4.json.