---
title: "Contract for Stafford Borough Council's delivery arrangements for heritage services"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-078be4"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078be4"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078be4.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078be4.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "Stafford Borough Council"
published: "2026-10-20"
---

# Contract for Stafford Borough Council's delivery arrangements for heritage services

Buyer: Stafford Borough Council  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-078be4

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## Summary

Stafford Borough Council is exploring a standalone service to operate and develop its heritage portfolio: Stafford Castle, the Ancient High House and Izaak Walton Cottage. The work sits within heritage management and cultural and visitor-attraction services, including the operation of historic sites and opportunities to develop visitor engagement and community impact. The council has separated these services from its future leisure and Gatehouse Theatre arrangements, which will be considered through other procurement routes. The three assets are in Stafford, and the service is intended to cover the council’s heritage portfolio. The current arrangements place the assets within a wider leisure, theatre and heritage services contract operated by Freedom Leisure. The council has not yet chosen a future delivery model.

This is at the preliminary market-engagement and planning stage: the council is gathering confidential feedback to inform its decisions and any later procurement strategy. It is not an invitation to tender or a commitment to proceed with a procurement. The council’s engagement questionnaire asks interested organisations to respond by noon on Friday 6 November 2026. The current wider services contract is approaching expiry in November 2027. The planned contract period for the heritage service is 1 December 2027 to 30 November 2037. No contract value or budget is stated. The process is described as a single lot, with the service considered as one package. Small and medium-sized businesses and voluntary, community and social enterprises are identified as suitable participants. There are no stated evaluation criteria at this planning stage.

The engagement is relevant to heritage trusts, museum operators, charities, cultural organisations, visitor-attraction operators, social enterprises, leisure trusts with heritage experience, commercial operators and consortia. The council is testing whether the market has the appetite, capability and capacity to take on these three assets as a standalone service. Suppliers with experience in heritage management, museums, cultural services, visitor attractions, educational provision or community-based heritage management are well placed to contribute. It wants views on viable delivery models and partnerships, acceptable risk transfer, subsidy needs and financial sustainability, as well as ways to increase visitor engagement and community impact. This is an opportunity to shape the council’s understanding of market capacity and the information suppliers will need to participate if a future competition is developed; it is not yet a contract to bid for.

## Notice

Stafford Borough Council is reviewing future delivery arrangements for a range of leisure, culture and heritage services as the current contractual arrangements approach expiry in November 2027. Following completion of an options appraisal, the Council has determined that future leisure services and the Gatehouse Theatre will be considered through separate procurement arrangements. In relation to the Council's heritage portfolio, no final decision has yet been taken regarding the preferred delivery model. The Council is therefore undertaking a Preliminary Market Engagement exercise to explore market appetite, capability and capacity to operate and develop the following heritage assets as a standalone heritage service: * Stafford Castle * Ancient High House * Izaak Walton Cottage The facilities currently form part of a wider leisure, theatre and heritage services contract operated by Freedom Leisure. The Council is seeking views from organisations with experience in heritage management, museums, cultural services, visitor attractions, charitable trusts, educational provision, community based heritage management and related sectors. The Council is particularly interested in understanding: * whether there is sufficient market appetite for a standalone heritage contract; * the types of organisations likely to participate in a future procurement process; * appropriate delivery models and partnership structures; * acceptable levels of risk transfer; * subsidy expectations and financial sustainability opportunities; * opportunities to increase visitor engagement and community impact; and * information requirements that would support participation in a future procurement exercise. This notice relates solely to preliminary market engagement and does not constitute a call for competition, invitation to tender or commitment by the Council to commence a procurement process

### Planning Information

The Council has prepared a market engagement
document and questionnaire seeking feedback on
the future operation of the heritage portfolio.
Interested organisations are invited to review the
supporting information and submit a completed
questionnaire by 12:00 noon on Friday 6th November 2026.
The engagement seeks confidential feedback on
the viability of a standalone heritage management
contract, potential delivery models, investment
opportunities, subsidy requirements, contract
structure and operational responsibilities.
The Council welcomes responses from heritage
trusts, museum operators, charities, cultural
organisations, visitor attraction operators, social
enterprises, leisure trusts with heritage experience,
commercial operators and consortium
arrangements.
Responses received through this engagement
exercise will be used to inform the Council's future
decision making regarding the heritage portfolio
and any subsequent procurement strategy.
For further information and access to the
engagement documentation, interested parties
should register via the Council's procurement portal and search for this PME notice
LINK BELOW
https://supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login#

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/099023-2026 |
| 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, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 20 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 1 Dec 2027 - 30 Nov 2037 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| 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 | Stafford Borough Council |
| Locality | STAFFORD |
| Postcode area | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Postcode | ST16 3AQ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLG West Midlands (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLG2 Shropshire and Staffordshire |
| ITL 3 | TLG24 Staffordshire CC |
| Local authority | Stafford |
| Electoral ward | Forebridge |
| Westminster constituency | Stafford |
| Delivery location | TLG2 Shropshire and Staffordshire |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 92 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services

### Codes

- 92300000 - Entertainment services

## Release History

- 20 Oct 2026 at 13:46 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/099023-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/099023-2026
  20th October 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login#
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents
- https://www.staffordshire.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-078be4. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078be4.json.