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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

Appointment of a Creative Team for Blyth Celebrates Festival of Energy

Northumberland County Council · Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 30 Sept 2026, 02:14.

Opportunity overview

Northumberland County Council has appointed a Creative Team that will design, create, produce and deliver a high profile and impactful inaugural Festival of Energy that will attract interest from a wide-ranging audience including local people of all ages, key partners in Blyth and the national / international arts and renewables / energy sectors. Northumberland County Council (NCC) were successful in attracting £355,384 from North East Combined Authority (NECA) for a Festival of ENERGY in Blyth, taking place in February 2026 in partnership with ORE Catapult, Port of Blyth and Newcastle University.

Awarded to

Amounts belong to published awards or contracts. Where several suppliers share one value, it is labelled as shared and is not a supplier-specific allocation.

WALK THE PLANK

Matched by number
Published award value
£355.4k
Awarded
27 Aug 2025
Award ID
1
Status
active
Identifier
GB-COH 03028442
Location
Salford, UKD34, M6 6WF, United Kingdom

Classification

  • CPV79952000 — Event services
  • CPV79953000 — Festival organisation services

Lots

  • Lot 1£355k

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
NCC1583
Status
complete
Above Threshold
Yes
Procurement Method
open
Main Procurement Category
services
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Expected award period

Ends
27 Aug 2025, 23:59

Tender Period

Ends
11 Jul 2025, 12:00

Enquiry period

Ends
3 Jul 2025, 12:00

Submission terms

Electronic Submission Policy
allowed

Languages

en

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
complete

Value

Amount
355,000
Currency
GBP
Including VAT
426,000

Award criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Name
Q1 Initial Concepts
Type
quality

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
15
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 2
Name
Q2 Creative Methodology
Type
quality

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
25
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 3
Name
Q3 Delivery Methodology
Type
quality

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
25
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 4
Name
Q4 Creative Team
Type
quality

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
15
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 5
Name
Q5 Corporate Social Responsibility
Type
quality

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
10
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 6
Name
Price
Type
price

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
10
Weight
percentageExact

Contract period

Ends
31 Mar 2026, 23:59
Starts
5 Sept 2025, 00:00

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UKC2
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 2
Region
UKC
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
79952000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Event services
Entry 2
Id
79953000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Festival organisation services

Published documents

Entry 1
Id
conflictOfInterest
Description
Not published
Document Type
conflictOfInterest
Entry 2
Id
032624-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK4
Description
Tender notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
tenderNotice
Published
16 Jun 2025, 14:19

Planning and budget

Documents

Entry 1
Id
024124-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK2
Description
Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
marketEngagementNotice
Published
21 May 2025, 15:28

Milestones

Entry 1
Id
engagement
Type
engagement
Status
scheduled
Due
28 May 2025, 23:59
Description
Northumberland County Council (NCC) were successful in attracting £355,384 from North East Combined Authority (NECA) for a Festival of ENERGY in Blyth, taking place in February 2026 in partnership with ORE Catapult, Port of Blyth and Newcastle University. We are now inviting Expressions of Interest from exceptional and exciting creative events and festivals companies that have an excellent track record of delivering high quality events, from concept to every aspect of delivery. The Festival of ENERGY is a creative and artistic response to the globally recognised, innovation in renewables, taking place in Blyth, Northumberland. The Festival of ENERGY will offer a key highlight and finale event as part of Blyth Celebrates yearlong cultural programme. The four-day event and participatory programme will develop co-designed content with local communities, building new audiences and attracting visitors to the town securing Blyth as a new visitor destination for creativity and innovation and recognised as a world leader in the renewables sector, reflected in the vision of the Energising Blyth regeneration project. The Festival of ENERGY will deliver an expansive engagement programme from September - December 2025 to explore and delve into the significant renewables sector in Blyth to be showcased and profiled during an intensive long weekend (4 days) in February 2026. The Festival will deliver educational and experiential opportunities through talks, tours, film, interaction and spectacle. We want to demystify and showcase the industry, to capitalise on Blyth's unique economic strength to attract national audiences and support future investment and profile. NCC's procurement process is managed through a new portal called https://www.open-uk.org/ You will need to register on the OPEN portal to ensure you will be able to respond to this opportunity. The timelines currently for this project are outlined below (please note these are not confirmed and are subject to change): Invitation to Tender published - June 2025 Submission deadline for ITT responses - July 2025 Notification of Award - End July 2025 Contract Start - August/September 2025 Festival - late February 2026 The project is due to start in August / September 2025 with the 4-day Festival taking place in late February 2026. Where we hope to attract 10,000 people, engage with 500 local people and 25 volunteers over the project. Please note that this Market Engagement Document is not an invitation to tender, and you are under no obligation to complete it. This document does not form any requirement of an invitation to tender. The Council is issuing this request for information only. No supplier selection or supplier preference is implied. All responses will be treated confidentially and used solely to inform the Council's approach to the future commissioning of services. This Market Engagement document is to be returned to Northumberland County Council by Wednesday 28th May at 12 Noon via the OPEN Tender Portal https://www.open-uk.org/ 1. Market Engagement Questions Q1 Will the timescales outlined above be achievable? Q2 Please advise if you have any queries regarding the event. Q3 The tender documents will be published in June to be returned in July, do you intend to submit a bid? If not please detail your reason why not.

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Id
GB-PPON-PJJX-1133-JRGV
Name
Northumberland County Council

Roles

buyer

Address

Region
UKC21
Country
GB
Locality
Morpeth
Postal Code
NE61 2EF
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
County Hall

Details

Classifications

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

Identifier

Id
PJJX-1133-JRGV
Scheme
GB-PPON

Contact

Name
Mrs Teresa Skelly
Organisation 2
Id
GB-COH-03028442
Name
WALK THE PLANK

Roles

supplier

Address

Region
UKD34
Country
GB
Locality
Salford
Postal Code
M6 6WF
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
37-41 Cobden Street

Details

Vcse
No
Scale
sme
Sheltered Workshop
No
Public Service Mission Organization
No

Identifier

Id
03028442
Scheme
GB-COH

Contact

Additional Identifiers

Entry 1
Id
PTBL-9969-CCNJ
Scheme
GB-PPON

Award information

Award 1
Id
1
Date
28 Aug 2025, 00:00
Status
active
Above Threshold
Yes
Main Procurement Category
services
Assessment Summaries Date Sent
28 Aug 2025, 00:00

Items

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UKC2
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 2
Region
UKC2
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
79952000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Event services
Entry 2
Id
79953000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Festival organisation services

Value

Amount
355,384
Currency
GBP
Including VAT
426,460

Documents

Entry 1
Id
051980-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK6
Description
Contract award notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
awardNotice
Published
28 Aug 2025, 13:54

Suppliers

Supplier 1
Id
GB-COH-03028442
Name
WALK THE PLANK

Milestones

Entry 1
Id
1
Type
futureSignatureDate
Status
scheduled
Due
9 Sept 2025, 23:59

Related lots

1

Contract period

Ends
31 Mar 2026, 23:59
Starts
10 Sept 2025, 00:00

Standstill Period

Ends
8 Sept 2025, 23:59

Contracts and changes

Entry 1
Id
1
Title
Appointment of a Creative Team for Blyth Celebrates Festival of Energy NCC1583
Status
active
Award ID
1
Date Signed
27 Oct 2025, 00:00
Above Threshold
Yes
No Agreed Metrics Rationale
None required

Value

Amount
355,384
Currency
GBP
Including VAT
426,460

Period

Ends
31 Mar 2026, 23:59
Starts
27 Oct 2025, 00:00

Documents

Entry 1
Id
076038-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK7
Description
Contract details notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
contractNotice
Published
21 Nov 2025, 13:29

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · Morpeth · UKC21 · NE61 2EF · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKC2 · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKC · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. ocds-h6vhtk-051b78-2025-11-21T13:29:15ZPreliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ·