---
title: "North Northamptonshire Council Bus Framework Mini Competition CONTRACT"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-077cf7"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-077cf7"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-077cf7.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-077cf7.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "North Northamptonshire Council"
published: "2026-09-29"
---

# North Northamptonshire Council Bus Framework Mini Competition CONTRACT

Buyer: North Northamptonshire Council  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-077cf7

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## Summary

North Northamptonshire Council procured the operation of existing bus service 16, a local passenger transport service running between Thrapston and Kettering Leisure Village, with projections to Raunds. The service is required Monday to Saturday. The council also wanted to test the price of expanding the service, so the requirement included pricing for that potential extension as well as operating the existing route. The work is road passenger transport in North Northamptonshire. This was a competitive mini-competition under a bus services framework, rather than a standalone open tender. The service supports scheduled connections between the named towns and the leisure village; its specified operating days and route define the core requirement.

The procurement has been awarded to Midland Red (South) Limited. The award is recorded as pending. The award date was 16 September 2026 and its value is £488,940. The contract period runs from 25 October 2026 to 4 September 2027, with a stated maximum extent to 31 August 2030 through optional annual extensions. The council used a selective procedure and made the award through a competitive framework mini-competition. The competition had one lot, marked complete. The award concerns the existing bus service and proposed expansion pricing. No evaluation criteria or scoring basis are stated in the available procurement details. A future contract signature was scheduled for 23 October 2026.

For a supplier considering this buyer’s future bus-service requirements, the evidence here points to a need for the capability to operate a scheduled local service six days a week, connecting Thrapston with Kettering Leisure Village and serving projections to Raunds. Credibility would rest on being able to deliver dependable passenger transport across that route and to price both the existing service and a possible expansion. The council ran this as a competitive call-off from a bus services framework, so suppliers would need access to the relevant framework route to compete in a similar mini-competition. The selected provider was a large bus operator, indicating that the requirement was awarded to a supplier operating at substantial scale; the data gives no specific fleet, staffing, accreditation or performance thresholds.

## Notice

North Northamptonshire Council requires the operation of bus service 16 on Monday to Saturdays. This contract is for the provision of existing bus service 16 between Thrapston and Kettering Leisure Village and Thrapston with projections to Raunds. The Council wishes to test the price for the expansion of the service.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/092089-2026 |
| Notice type | UK6 - Contract Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Award under framework |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 29 Sep 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 16 Sep 2026 |
| Contract period | 25 Oct 2026 - 4 Sep 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £488,940 |
| 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 | North Northamptonshire Council |
| Locality | CORBY |
| Postcode area | Northampton |
| Postcode | NN17 1QG |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLF East Midlands (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLF2 Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire |
| ITL 3 | TLF25 North Northamptonshire |
| Local authority | North Northamptonshire |
| Electoral ward | Corby West |
| Westminster constituency | Corby and East Northamptonshire |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | MIDLAND RED (SOUTH) LIMITED |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 60 - Transport services (excl. Waste transport)

### Codes

- 60100000 - Road transport services

## Release History

- 29 Sep 2026 at 18:25 - Award - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/092089-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/092089-2026
  29th September 2026 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- http://www.stagecoachbus.com
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/api/1.0/ocdsReleasePackages/ocds-h6vhtk-05d849
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents
- https://www.northnorthants.gov.uk/

## 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-077cf7. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-077cf7.json.