---
title: "Tees River Trust ( Eels for Steel)"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06eb25"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06eb25"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06eb25.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06eb25.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Durham County Council"
published: "2026-08-25"
---

# Tees River Trust ( Eels for Steel)

Buyer: Durham County Council  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06eb25

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## Summary

Durham County Council commissioned works under the “Eels for Steel” requirement, focused on improving river and fish habitats. The scope covers removing culverts, obsolete artificial barriers and other structures, or reducing their effects, alongside creating and restoring riparian habitats. Habitat work includes planting or natural regeneration of suitable grassland, wetland and woodland. The intended environmental outcome is an increase in self-sustaining populations of wild fish. The procurement is categorised as construction work. Delivery is in the Durham and wider Tees area of the North East of England. The buying organisation is Durham County Council, a sub-central public authority, working with Tees Rivers Charitable Trust as the selected delivery organisation.

The procurement is complete and was awarded through a direct award below the threshold, without competition. It was split into one lot. Tees Rivers Charitable Trust received the award for the works. The contract was signed on 24 August 2026 and runs from 31 August 2026 to 30 September 2028. Its value is £100,000 excluding VAT and £120,000 including VAT. The award is active and the contract is active. The process used the Public Contracts Regulations 2023 as its legal basis. The requirement was prioritised against outcomes for self-sustaining wild fish populations, removal or mitigation of artificial river barriers, and restoration of riparian habitats. The published outcome confirms the selected supplier and the agreed delivery period.

This procurement demonstrates demand from Durham County Council for practical river restoration and ecological construction work delivered across the Tees area. A credible future competitor would need experience removing or mitigating culverts, weirs and other obsolete artificial barriers, together with the capability to create or restore riparian grassland, wetland and woodland habitats. Useful expertise would include river engineering, habitat restoration, fisheries management, ecological assessment and environmentally sensitive construction. Suppliers should be able to plan and deliver physical works while supporting measurable improvements in wild fish populations and long-term habitat condition. Experience coordinating permissions, land access, ecological constraints and community or catchment stakeholders would strengthen a case for similar work for this buyer.

## Notice

Find attached the matrix and moderation forms to sign, this is a direct award under the Public Regulations of DCC. Priority: F 1: An increase in self-sustaining populations of the Wild Fish Assemblage. F 1-02: Remove culverts, obsolete artificial barriers and structures or mitigate the impacts of such structures. F 1-03: Create and restore riparian habitats through planting or natural regeneration of appropriate grassland, wetland and woodland habitats

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/080659-2026 |
| Notice type | UK7 - Contract Details Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Works |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Below threshold - without competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 25 Aug 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 24 Aug 2026 |
| Contract period | 31 Aug 2026 - 30 Sep 2028 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £100,000 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Durham County Council |
| Locality | DURHAM |
| Postcode area | Durham |
| Postcode | DH1 5WB |
| 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 & Newton Hall |
| Westminster constituency | City of Durham |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Tees Rivers Charitable Trust |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 45 - Construction work

### Codes

- 45000000 - Construction work

## Release History

- 25 Aug 2026 at 09:45 - Award - UK7 - Contract Details Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/080659-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/080659-2026
  25th August 2026 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- http://www.durham.gov.uk/
- 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-06eb25. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06eb25.json.