Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
NATURAL ENGLAND
Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
UK
Contact person: Oliver Weeks
E-mail: enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs
Address of the buyer profile: https://defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Environment
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Upland Breeding Bird Surveys - South Pennine Moors SSSI
Reference number: C33870
II.1.2) Main CPV code
79311000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
Call-off under SSSI Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, to determine and describe and quality of:<br/>• Assemblages of breeding birds – Upland moorland and grassland with water bodies <br/>• Aggregation of breeding birds – Golden Plover<br/>• Aggregation of breeding birds – Curlew<br/>• Aggregation of breeding birds – Merlin<br/>• Aggregation of breeding birds – Twite<br/>• at the following sites:<br/>• South Pennine Moors SSSI
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
125 019.43
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
Main site or place of performance:
South Pennine Moors, West Yorkshire
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The purpose of this contract is to: <br/> <br/>• Determine and describe the location(s) and quality of: <br/><br/>• Assemblages of breeding birds – Upland moorland and grassland with water bodies <br/><br/>• Aggregation of breeding birds – Golden Plover<br/><br/>• Aggregation of breeding birds – Curlew<br/><br/>• Aggregation of breeding birds – Merlin<br/><br/>• Aggregation of breeding birds – Twite<br/><br/>• at the following sites:<br/>• South Pennine Moors SSSI<br/><br/>• Make an overall condition assessment of the feature using standardised survey methods.<br/>• Record details of any ‘pressures’ observed at the site which may impact on the condition of the monitored feature(s) <br/>• Suggest where current management is working and, where it is not, why that might that be.<br/>• Make comments on the monitoring specification <br/> <br/>South Pennine Moors SSSI – Background Information<br/><br/>South Pennine Moors SSSI is outstandingly important for its extensive upland habitats and their associated species. The site is the largest area of unenclosed moorland within West Yorkshire and contains the most diverse and extensive examples of upland plant communities in the county. Extensive areas of blanket bog occur on the upland plateaux and are punctuated by species rich acidic flushes and mires. There are also wet and dry heaths and acid grasslands. Three habitat types which occur on the site are rare enough within Europe to be listed on Annex 1 of the EC habitats and Species Directive (92/43) EEC. These communities are typical of and represent the full range of upland vegetation classes found in the South Pennines. <br/><br/>The moorlands support nationally important numbers of golden plover Pluvialis apricaria, curlew Numenius arquata, merlin Falco columbarius and twite Carduelis flavirostris. These species and the rest of the moorland breeding bird assemblage require the mosaic of habitats and large area of the moors for their survival. The blanket bogs are the main breeding grounds for the golden plover and dunlin Calidris alpina. The South Pennine Moors hold 1.3% of the British breeding population of golden plovers. The very large number of meadow pipits Anthus pratensis nesting on the bogs are a major food source for the merlin. The deeper cover provided by the heather provides nest sites for a range of other species. The merlin population of the South Pennine Moors is particularly important. 4.7% of the British population nests on these moors. Golden plover are also known to nest on recently burnt areas of heather. Curlews favour the wet acid grasslands and semi-improved areas on the edge of the moors to breed. A significant number (0.8%) of the British curlew population breed on the South Pennine Moors sharing this habitat with lapwing Vanellus vanellus and in the wettest areas snipe Gallinago gallinago and redshank Tringa totanus. Twite Carduelis flavirostris on the South Pennine Moors represent 1% of the British breeding population. Twite use virtually all the moorland habitats at different stages of their lifecycle. They prefer heather for nesting but also use bracken, boulder screes, grass tussocks and dry stone walls. Feeding on small seeds they utilise grassy areas throughout the moorlands, weedy areas on the moorland edge, semi-improved pastures and even areas of burnt Molinia grassland<br/><br/>The South Pennine Moors SSSI is made up of 165 management units with the interest features of the site occurring across multiple units.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion: Technical
/ Weighting: 60%
Price
/ Weighting:
40%
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition
Justification for selected award procedure:
Service contract to be awarded to the winner or one of winners under the rules of a design contest
Explanation
This is a call-off under framework contract 'SSSI Monitoring and Evaluation', Lot 1. All four Lot 1 Suppliers requested to quote, only two submitted bids.
IV.1.3) Information about a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system
The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
No
Section V: Award of contract
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
22/04/2026
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 2
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 2
Number of tenders received from tenderers from EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 2
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 0
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
The Environment Partnership (TEP) Limited
UK
Genesis Centre, Birchwood Science Park
Warrington
WA3 7BH
UK
E-mail: timross@tep.uk.com
NUTS: UK
The contractor is an SME:
Yes
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot:
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 125 019.43
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
UK
Internet address(es)
URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs
VI.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
UK
Internet address(es)
URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs
VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
UK
Internet address(es)
URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
05/05/2026