---
title: "De Minimis Agreements to the 68 Bus Route within Bedford Borough"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06f4aa"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f4aa"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f4aa.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f4aa.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Bedford Borough Council"
published: "2026-09-08"
---

# De Minimis Agreements to the 68 Bus Route within Bedford Borough

Buyer: Bedford Borough Council  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06f4aa

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## Summary

Bedford Borough Council is procuring public road transport services for the 68 bus route in Bedford, operated by Grant Palmer Ltd. The requirement covers four service enhancements: extending the route to Wilkinson Road; increasing peak-time frequency in Stewartby; providing Stewartby weekend peak services; and serving Stewartby Broadmead Road. The agreements are intended to enhance the existing registered bus service and respond to local transport needs. Delivery is centred on Bedford, with specific service activity in Stewartby and at Wilkinson Road and Stewartby Broadmead Road. This is a passenger transport operation rather than a vehicle supply, construction or consultancy requirement, and is relevant to bus operators and transport providers able to deliver scheduled local bus services.

The procurement is complete and was awarded by direct award to Grant Palmer Ltd. The council used a de minimis agreement because the requirement enhances an existing registered bus route and was considered impossible to tender. The award date was 8 September 2026. The awarded value is £298,710 including tax, for one lot. The contract period runs from 3 October 2026 to 2 October 2027, with the agreement scheduled for signature by 2 October 2026. The four agreements are subject to periodic review using passenger data, assessment of the service’s social necessity and available budget. The selected supplier is Grant Palmer Ltd, based in Flitwick. The procurement’s stated category is public road transport services.

For a future requirement of this kind, credible suppliers would need to operate scheduled local bus services and have the operational capacity to enhance an existing registered route across Bedford and Stewartby. The award demonstrates demand for targeted route extensions, additional peak-time frequency and weekend peak provision, rather than a wholly new network. Relevant capability includes planning and running reliable passenger services, adapting timetables and routes, and managing delivery across several linked service changes. Suppliers should also be able to provide passenger data for periodic performance and service-need reviews, and show that they can work within public-sector budget constraints. Existing local route knowledge and the ability to support socially necessary transport would strengthen a competing operator’s position when this type of requirement next reaches the market.

## Notice

Bedford Borough Council intends to award deminimus agreements to the 68 bus route operated by Grant Palmer in Bedford. There are 4 agreements in place for the 68 service provided by Grant Palmer, which are the following - Enhancement of the service to include Wilkinson Road, increased frequency of peak time services in Stewartby, Stewartby weekend peak services and Stewartby Broadmead Road. Agreements will be made for a period of 1 year, subject to periodic review following analysis of passenger data, social necessity of the service and available budget.

### Procurement Information

De minimis agreements to enhance existing registered bus route, therefore impossible to tender.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/084944-2026 |
| Notice type | UK5 - Transparency Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Direct award |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 8 Sep 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 3 Oct 2026 - 2 Oct 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £298,710 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Pending |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Bedford Borough Council |
| Locality | BEDFORD |
| Postcode area | Milton Keynes |
| Postcode | MK42 9AP |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLH East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLH2 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire |
| ITL 3 | TLH24 Bedford |
| Local authority | Bedford |
| Electoral ward | Cauldwell |
| Westminster constituency | Bedford |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Grant Palmer Ltd |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 60 - Transport services (excl. Waste transport)

### Codes

- 60112000 - Public road transport services

## Release History

- 8 Sep 2026 at 14:25 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/084944-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/084944-2026
  8th September 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- 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-06f4aa. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f4aa.json.