Annual Festive Lights

Manchester City CouncilcontractFind a TenderRef ocds-h6vhtk-050566Procurement Act 2023SME suitablepending
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Estimated value

Awarded value

£1.9m

Awarded 14 Aug 2025

Suppliers

3

3 SME

Lots

3

3 awarded

Published

15 Aug 2025

Description

This procurement is for Design & Provision of Manchester's Christmas Lighting Scheme. The contract period will be for 5 years. It is intended for the contract to commence 07th November 2025. The procurement encompasses the following lots: Lot 1 - Core Lighting Scheme: The Supplier will be required to install and maintain energy-efficient LED Lighting in existing tree locations as identified in Appendix I. This lot also includes the provision of artistic high-quality motifs, fit with the city centre in existing column mounts, and the installation of artistic and dynamic displays in the existing fixing points on Deansgate and King Street as identified in Appendix I. Suppliers will be asked to provide a scheme based on gold, silver and bronze options for each specific location The Bronze level package for an area will be at standard level provision, with options to upgrade the content to silver and gold. MCC and partners will select the appropriate scheme for each individual location - and seek private sector sponsorship to upgrade key areas in line with stakeholder ambitions. Lot 2 - Ground Level Feature Installations: The Supplier will be required to provide creative solutions to install up to 8 ground level feature installations within Manchester city centre. Lot 3 - New large Scale Santa Feature: The Supplier will be required to design, manufacture, install, derig, store and maintain a new iconic Santa feature for Manchester, each year across the term of the 5-year contract.

Scope

Reference
P-0336
Commercial tool
Standalone contract
Contract dates
07 Nov 2025 to 06 Nov 2030
CPV classifications
31522000
79952000
Contract locations
North West England, United Kingdom
Particular suitability
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)

Award criteria

Criteria the buyer will use to evaluate bids.

NameDescriptionTypeWeighting
QualityFor the Quality Criterion suppliers will be scored on their responses to the relevant quality questions within the Tender Questionnaire. Suppliers must score at least a mean average score of 3 (i.e. Suppliers must score at least 36% out of the total 60% for the Quality Criterion) across the Quality criteria as a whole. Tenders that fail to meet this score threshold will not be considered further. The Council may also, at its discretion, exclude a tender that scores 0 or 1 on any individual criterion. Further details on the award criteria can be found within the procurement documentation.quality60.00%
Social ValueSuppliers must self-certify that they and their subcontractors pay the Real Living Wage and do not operate zero hour contracts. Suppliers that fail to do this will be excluded and their tenders will not be considered further. For the Social Value Criterion suppliers will be scored on their responses to the relevant Social Value questions within the Tender Questionnaire. Further details on the award criteria can be found within the procurement documentation.quality20.00%
EnvironmentFor the Environment Criterion suppliers will be scored on their responses to the relevant Environment questions within the Tender Questionnaire. Further details on the award criteria can be found within the procurement documentation.quality10.00%
PriceSuppliers are required to complete the Pricing Schedule within the procurement documentation for all lots they wish to tender for. The Price score will be calculated following the relevant methodology set out within the Award Criteria section of the ITT document. Suppliers that fail to complete and provide the Pricing Schedule, in full, for the relevant lot(s) applied for, will be excluded and their tenders will not be considered further.price10.00%

Participation

Conditions suppliers must meet to bid.

See procurement documents

Submission & procedure

Procedure
Open procedure

Award details· 3 awards

Awarded supplier(s), contract period and value as published in the award notice.

Awarded value

£758k

Award date

14 Aug 2025

Contract start

07 Nov 2025

Contract end

06 Nov 2030

Lots · 3 total

Divisions of the contract. Each lot can be awarded separately.

View all →
LotTitleEst. valueStatus
1Core Lighting Scheme£850kcomplete
2Ground Level Feature Installations£650kcomplete
3New large scale Santa Feature£450kcomplete