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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

BLC0174 The Provision of Rotary Wing Aircraft Maintenance and Continuing Airworthiness Management

West Yorkshire Combined Authority (or such other successor body, company, organisation who shall have the responsibility of being the contracting authority of the National Police Air Service or any part or parts thereof) · Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 29 Sept 2026, 22:37.

Opportunity overview

This tender opportunity has been issued by BlueLight Commercial who are seeking to award a Contract for the provision of Rotary Wing Aircraft Maintenance and Continuing Airworthiness Management. This contract is being tendered on behalf of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) who are the contracting authority responsible for the National Police Air Service (NPAS) (i.e. NPAS is not a separate, incorporated entity and therefore WYCA currently enters into contractual arrangements on behalf of NPAS). BlueLight Commercial provides commercial support services to police forces and blue light organisations across England and Wales and has been appointed by WYCA to administer the Procurement. NPAS is operated by West Yorkshire Police on behalf of the 43 police forces of England and Wales together with British Transport Police in those areas. NPAS have a national network of bases across England and Wales and a fleet of 20 rotary-wing aircraft and 4 fixed-wing aircraft. NPAS therefore require a supplier to provide maintenance and continuing airworthiness management for their rotary-wing aircraft fleet. This will include the provision of: • Maintenance Services • Continuing Airworthiness Management • Supply Chain, Spare Parts and Obsolescence • Modifications, Design and Installation • Warranty and Third-Party Contract Management • Compliance and Safety Management • Change Management, Mobilisation and transition • Contract Management, Management Information, Service Continuity and Payments The requirement will be tendered as a single supplier contract. The anticipated service commencement date of the Contract is 1st October 2027. Any changes to this commencement date will be communicated to all Bidders through the ‘BlueLight’ e-tendering portal. The length of the Contract Term shall be discussed as part of the negotiation stage and will be confirmed at Final Tenders. Bidders are requested to submit a tender response at Initial Tenders for a minimum 5-year contract term with the possibility of an extension for a further 2-year contract term (5 + 2 years). For clarity, the Contract Notice is published to allow for a contract term that is longer than 5 + 2 years. Accordingly, the Contract Notice is for a 7-year contract term with the possibility of an extension for a further 2-year term (7 + 2 years). The Contract Value is set at £275m which is based on the spend during a 9-year contract term. This value is used to provide the maximum flexibility to allow for any potential volatility in pricing and potential modifications to existing aircraft that may take place. Please note the Contract Commencement is planned for 07/08/2026 with a Service Commencement Date of 01/10/2027 to allow for the mobilisation period. BlueLight Commercial reserves the right to refine the award criteria at Stage 3 of this procurement process, in accordance with Section 24 of the Procurement Act 2023. The final award criteria and associated weightings will be published prior to the invitation of final tenders at Stage 3 of the procurement. Refinements to the award criteria may include, but are not limited to: a. adding sub-criteria to those set out in the tender notice/associated tender documents; b. adding more detail to existing main criteria set out in tender notice/associated tender documents; c. adding more detail to existing sub-criteria set out in the tender notice/associated tender documents; d. changing weightings within the pre-existing range as indicated in the table above. The potential range of the Award Criteria weightings are detailed as follows: Price: 40% - 50% Quality: 40% - 50% Social Value: 10%

Classification

  • CPV34711000 — Helicopters and aeroplanes
  • CPV34731700 — Parts for helicopters
  • CPV42113170 — Rotary equipment
  • CPV50212000 — Repair and maintenance services of helicopters

Lots

  • Lot LOT-0001AED 275m · Source currency differs from tender

Documents and notices

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
BLC0174
Status
active
Has Recurrence
Yes
Above Threshold
Yes
Procurement Method
open
Main Procurement Category
services
How to submit
Tenders must be submitted electronically via https://sell2.in-tend.co.uk/blpd/home
Procurement Method Details
Competitive flexible procedure

Procedure

Features
Stage 1: Initial Tender Stage: Assessment of Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) response, assessment of initial tender responses. Bidders will not be shortlisted at this stage. Stage 2: Negotiation Stage: Invite bidders to negotiate on proposed solutions. Bidders will not be shortlisted at this stage. Stage 3: Final Tender Stage: Assessment of final tenders.

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Recurrence

Dates

Entry 1
Starts
2 Aug 2033, 00:59

Expected award period

Ends
7 Aug 2026, 23:59

Tender Period

Ends
31 Oct 2025, 12:00

Communication

Future Notice Date
2 Jul 2025, 00:59

Submission terms

Electronic Submission Policy
allowed

Languages

en

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
LOT-0001
Status
active
Has Renewal
Yes

Value

Amount
275,000,000
Currency
AED
Including VAT
330,000,000

Renewal

Description
2 year optional extension

Award criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Name
Price
Type
price

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
45
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 2
Name
Quality
Type
quality

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
45
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 3
Name
Social Value
Type
quality
Description
Social Value

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
10
Weight
percentageExact

Contract period

Ends
6 Aug 2033, 23:59
Starts
7 Aug 2026, 00:00
Max Extent Date
6 Aug 2035, 23:59

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
LOT-0001
Related Lot
LOT-0001

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UK
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
34711000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Helicopters and aeroplanes
Entry 2
Id
34731700
Scheme
CPV
Description
Parts for helicopters
Entry 3
Id
42113170
Scheme
CPV
Description
Rotary equipment
Entry 4
Id
50212000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Repair and maintenance services of helicopters

Published documents

Entry 1
Id
L-1
Document Type
biddingDocuments
Entry 2
Id
conflictOfInterest
Description
Not published
Document Type
conflictOfInterest
Entry 3
Id
058697-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK4
Description
Tender notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
tenderNotice
Published
22 Sept 2025, 18:17

Planning and budget

Documents

Entry 1
Id
008413-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK2
Description
Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
marketEngagementNotice
Published
7 Mar 2025, 16:10

Milestones

Entry 1
Id
engagement
Type
engagement
Status
scheduled
Due
28 Mar 2025, 23:59
Description
As part of this market engagement, BLC and NPAS are requesting information from suppliers to further understand the capabilities of the market. A request for information via a written response is being requested in the first instance. As well as a proposed face-to-face market engagement session. This is proposed to be held between Wednesday 2nd and Friday 4th April 2025, the location of this is to be confirmed. Suppliers wishing to attend must register their interest via a message through the portal by 5pm on Wednesday 26th March 2025. Further details of dates and timings will then be provided. BLC reserve the right to only invite Suppliers to this session who can confirm they meet the requested minimum requirements. Further details of this session and the written request for information can be found by expressing interest through the Intend portal. https://sell2.in-tend.co.uk/blpd/publictender-details?tid=286834 As part of this market engagement, BLC reserve the right to also engage directly with the OEM providers of equipment relating to the existing and future rotary wing aircraft.

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Id
GB-PPON-PHYG-7328-ZLQJ
Name
West Yorkshire Combined Authority (or such other successor body, company, organisation who shall have the responsibility of being the contracting authority of the National Police Air Service or any part or parts thereof)

Roles

buyer

Address

Region
UKE42
Country
GB
Locality
Leeds
Postal Code
LS1 2DE
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Wellington House, 40-50 Wellington Street

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Id
publicAuthoritySubCentralGovernment
Scheme
UK_CA_TYPE
Description
Public authority - sub-central government

Identifier

Id
PHYG-7328-ZLQJ
Scheme
GB-PPON

Contact

Organisation 2
Id
GB-COH-12517649
Name
BlueLight Commercial
Role Details
Conducting procurement activity on behalf of the National Police Air Service

Roles

procuringEntity
processContactPoint

Address

Region
UKI32
Country
GB
Locality
London
Postal Code
SW1P 3JS
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Lower Ground 5-8 The Sanctuary

Identifier

Id
12517649
Scheme
GB-COH

Contact

Name
Tony Holmes

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · Leeds · UKE42 · LS1 2DE · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UK · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. ocds-h6vhtk-04eab6-2025-09-22T18:17:22+01:00Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ·