Services Concession Contract for Port Operation Services at the Port of Ramsgate

Thanet District Council as Statutory Harbour Authority is seeking to award a Services Concession Contract for the operation, equipping, enhancement, promotion, management and maintenance of a 17.8 acre site and two roll on/roll off berths (the “Berths”) (which are approximately 2.42 acres) and surrounding portside land at the Port of Ramsgate (the “Site”).

The contract will be for an initial period of twenty (20) years, with the option to extend for a further period of five (5) years. Thanet District Council is conducting the procurement in accordance with the requirements of the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 (as amended) (“CCR 2016”).

The Council received a grant from the Levelling Up Fund ("LUF") in 2021, and has committed to allocating part of the LUF funding towards investment in infrastructure at the Site. The Council intends to make £4.5 million LUF funding available to the Concessionaire by way of a grant agreement for the purposes of delivering capital works at the Site. Bidders will be required, in addition to their proposals for the delivery of the Services, to set out their proposals for delivering any capital works in their tenders.

An overview of the intended procurement process (which includes the ability to have dialogue with shortlisted Bidders) is as follows:

Stage 1 - Combined Qualification and Invitation to Submit Initial Tenders Stage (ISIT Stage)
Stage 2 - Dialogue
Stage 3 - Invitation to Submit Final Tenders
Stage 4 - Preferred Bidder Stage
Stage 5 - Contract Award

Thanet District Council intends to invite a maximum of three (3) Bidders to participate in Dialogue following the ISIT Stage.

Bidders should note that they will be required to enter into a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to access certain information which is designated as confidential and/or commercially sensitive. Please refer to the procurement documents for further information.

Please see the procurement documents for further details available from the Kent Business Portal contract opportunity page (www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk).