The final tenders from the three shortlisted bidders were given to the council on 10 April 2013. These are currently being assessed against a set of detailed criteria focusing on both quality and value of money.
A formal announcement on the appointment of a preferred bidder will be made in June 2013.
Before reaching this stage, the project team has been through a comprehensive procurement programme, which began in October 2011 with the confirmation of funding by the Department for Transport and the subsequent publication of the Contract Notice in the OJEU.
The various stages in the procurement process and the timetable are shown in the illustration below.
Due to the complexity of the project, and the potential for bidders to propose different technical, financial and legal solutions, the Council has used the procurement regulations’ competitive dialogue procedure to procure the project.
| PROCUREMENT STAGE 1: Final planning and preparation | October 2011 – January 2012 |
| Issue OJEU Notice | October 2011 |
| PROCUREMENT STAGE 2: Prequal period | October 2011 – December 2011 |
| PROCUREMENT STAGE 3: Selection of bidders (evaluation of PQQ responses) | December 2011 – February 2012 |
| Issue Invitation to Participate in the Dialogue (ITPD) | March 2012 |
| PROCUREMENT STAGE 4: The Dialogue (and Draft Final Tenders) | March 2012 – February 2013 |
| PROCUREMENT STAGE 5: Final tenders | February 2013 – April 2013 |
| PROCUREMENT STAGE 6: Evaluation and bid clarification | May 2013 – June 2013 |
| PROCUREMENT STAGE 7: Preferred bidder | June 2013 – October 2013 |
| CONTRACT AWARD | October 2013 |
