Greater Manchester Region Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) - Concession Contract

Background to the procurement

TfGM is currently tendering for the Provision of Local Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure.

The purpose of this procurement exercise is to enable prospective Suppliers to submit a tender detailing how they would introduce additional chargepoints in predominantly on-street locations on land owned by or under the control of public bodies across Greater Manchester. Utilising funding provided by the Department for Transport for the LEVI programme; this is a collaborative initiative with TfGM (who will be administering the procurement and installation phases) and the 10 Local Authorities that make up the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

The LEVI programme aims to increase the provision of electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the country primarily in areas where local residents do not have access to off street parking or find it difficult to access a chargepoint.

The winning Supplier will be appointed by TFGM on behalf of the wider consortium. The wider consortium is made up of the following Local Authorities:

Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council

Bury Council

Manchester City Council

Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

Rochdale Borough Council

Salford City Council

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council

Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council

As a Tranche 1 authority Greater Manchester as a whole has received £16.158 million of LEVI capital funding with the expectation that this will contribute towards our 2030 targets for electric vehicle charging provision. A number of GM Authorities have also added an additional sum of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) funding to the LEVI amonut, which will make the total available for this project become £17.908 million.

In line with the intention of this funding, TfGM is seeking a Supplier to increase provision of chargepoints, in the following types of locations spread across the region:

Council-owned car parks for both local and destination charging. In regards to the LEVI fund, the car parks in scope would need to be in proximity (roughly 5-min walk) to residential areas and be appropriate for overnight charging.

Off-street locations in the form of hubs on other public-owned land

On-street - including standalone bollards, lamp columns.

Full details of the requirement and context of the procurement can be found in the PSQ and Main Tender documents.

The Procurement

Originally, this procurement exercise was to be completed under the old PCR15 regulations. Pre-market engagement was undertaken under these regulations back in 2024, with a PIN notice being published in August of that same year.

Suppliers wishing to take part in this project are invited to 'express an interest' in order to gain access to the full suite of procurement documents in the e-tendering system (Pro-Contract).

Please allow sufficient time to make your return, as Tender submissions cannot be uploaded and submitted after this return deadline.

Suppliers are to ensure that where possible documents are uploaded and that file names are succinct.

Any questions relating to this procurement must be made via the messaging service on the e-tendering portal and in accordance with the procurement documents.

Suppliers should be aware that due to the nature of the Services required, any Contract formed as a result of this procurement process shall be executed as a deed. Suppliers should seek independent legal advice on the implications of this prior to submitting their tender, where appropriate.

Please note that the contract requirements will be subject to available financial resources, supplier performance and flexibility to meet changing demands.

The value estimated on this notice is the amount of revenue that the successful supplier could achieve over the duration of the contract, based on a minimum of 3000 chargepoints being installed and in place for a 20-year period.

TfGM will be using the Proactis / Pro-Contract e-tendering portal to manage all stages of this Competitive Flexible procedure, the details of which can be found below.

All of the tender documents associated with this Competitive Flexible procedure will be shared with Suppliers right from the beginning but Suppliers are asked to read the 'Tender Process Explanation - READ FIRST' document before any of the other documents, as this will provide guidance as to the process and indicate what documents need completing and when.

As this tender is being ran under the Procurement Act 23, Suppliers will need to ensure that they have registered on the Central Digital Platform (CDP) before submitting their bid for the PSQ stage initially, and Suppliers will be required to share the financial information, associated persons information etc. that they will be relying on for their bid, from the CDP when they submit their response. This information will form part of the evaluation process.