AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
Hertfordshire County Council has published details of a signed, active concession contract for local electric vehicle charging infrastructure. One award covers three lots, with Zest Eco Ltd, Believ Limited and Urban Fox Networks (UK) Limited named against Lots 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
Published outcomeThe contract was awarded through an open procedure. The published contract record is active, is dated as signed on 9 April 2026, and runs to 31 March 2040, with a council option for a further year.
Market significanceThis is a long-term, £200 million net (£240 million gross) EV-charging infrastructure concession covering three lots in Hertfordshire. The published value applies to the single contract covering all three lots and is not allocated among suppliers or lots.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
3 supplier records analysed
Zest Eco Ltd
93% confidenceAward 1 · Lots LOT-0001 · Not separately published GBP · Active award; source naming links supplier to Lot 1
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The supplier party is named “Lot 1 - Zest Eco Ltd”; the published signed-contract document is described as “Lot 1 - Zest Eco Ltd redacted Contract”. Award 1 covers LOT-0001 to LOT-0003 collectively.
Believ Limited
93% confidenceAward 1 · Lots LOT-0002 · Not separately published GBP · Active award; source naming links supplier to Lot 2
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The supplier party is named “Lot 2 - Believ Limited”; the published signed-contract document is described as “Lot 2 - Believ Limited redacted contract”. Award 1 covers LOT-0001 to LOT-0003 collectively.
Urban Fox Networks (UK) Limited
93% confidenceAward 1 · Lots LOT-0003 · Not separately published GBP · Active award; source naming links supplier to Lot 3
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The supplier party is named “Lot 3 - Urban Fox Networks (UK) Limited”; the published signed-contract document is described as “Lot 3 - Urban Fox Networks (UK) Limited”. Award 1 covers LOT-0001 to LOT-0003 collectively.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Notice type
99% confidenceContract details notice on Find a Tender
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Process notice_type states “Contract details notice on Find a Tender”.
Procurement status
98% confidenceComplete
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Tender status is “complete”; all three listed lots are also marked “complete”.
Award status
98% confidenceActive
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Award 1 has status “active”.
Contract status
98% confidenceActive
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Contract 1 has status “active”.
Contract signature
99% confidenceSigned on 9 April 2026
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Contract 1 records dateSigned as 2026-04-09 and includes three documents typed “contractSigned”.
Latest published update
98% confidence20 October 2026
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The latest release and the contract-details notice document are dated 2026-10-20; the amendment says “Publication of final redacted contract”.
VALUES
Published values explained
Published contract value, excluding VAT
99% confidence£200,000,000
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Contract 1 value amount is 200000000 GBP; amountGross is separately stated as 240000000 GBP.
Published contract value, including VAT
99% confidence£240,000,000
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Contract 1 value amountGross is 240000000 GBP.
Value allocation
98% confidenceShared contract value across three lots; supplier and lot allocations not published
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The single contract and single award cover LOT-0001, LOT-0002 and LOT-0003, while no individual award, lot or supplier value is supplied.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Contract signed
99% confidence9 April 2026
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Contract dateSigned is 2026-04-09T00:00:00+01:00.
Contract start
99% confidence9 April 2026
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Contract period startDate is 2026-04-09T00:00:00+01:00.
Core contract end
99% confidence31 March 2040
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Contract period endDate is 2040-03-31T23:59:59+01:00.
Maximum extent date
99% confidence31 March 2041
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Contract period maxExtentDate is 2041-03-31T23:59:59+01:00.
Latest notice publication
98% confidence20 October 2026
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Contract notice document 099009-2026 has datePublished 2026-10-20T13:26:56+01:00.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Requirement
99% confidenceProvision of local electric vehicle charging infrastructure
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The procurement title states “Provision of Local Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure”.
Lot structure
99% confidenceThree lots: LOT-0001, LOT-0002 and LOT-0003
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Tender data lists three lots and Award 1 relates to all three.
Delivery area
97% confidenceHertfordshire (UKH23)
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Each award item gives delivery region UKH23; the buyer is Hertfordshire County Council.
Published activity categories
97% confidenceVehicle-related maintenance, street-furniture installation, energy services, electrical-equipment installation, electric vehicles, engineering/construction, electrical installation, software and software-related services
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Each award item lists these CPV classifications.
Commercial classification
99% confidenceConcession
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Tender specialRegime lists “concession”.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procedure
99% confidenceOpen procedure
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Tender procurementMethod is “open” and procurementMethodDetails is “Open procedure”.
Legal basis
98% confidenceProcurement Act 2023
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Tender legalBasis identifies UKPGA 2023/54.
Threshold status
99% confidenceAbove threshold
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Contract aboveThreshold is true.
Competition information
99% confidenceNumber of bids, evaluation results and award rationale not published in the supplied record
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No bid counts, scores, evaluation information or award rationale are provided.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Core term
99% confidenceFrom 9 April 2026 to 31 March 2040
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Contract period startDate is 9 April 2026 and endDate is 31 March 2040.
Extension option
99% confidenceUp to one additional year at the Council’s sole discretion
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Renewal description states a 15-year core period with an option to extend for one year at the sole discretion of the Council.
Maximum possible end date
99% confidence31 March 2041
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Contract maxExtentDate is 2041-03-31.
Signed-contract publications
98% confidenceThree lot-labelled contract documents are published, including redacted documents for Lots 1 and 2
View supporting evidence
Contract documents include Lot 1 Zest Eco Ltd redacted Contract, Lot 2 Believ Limited redacted contract, and Lot 3 Urban Fox Networks (UK) Limited, all typed contractSigned.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Market structure
93% confidenceThree suppliers are named for three lots under one active, long-duration concession contract
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Award 1 and Contract 1 cover three lots; supplier and signed-document labels associate Zest Eco Ltd with Lot 1, Believ Limited with Lot 2, and Urban Fox Networks (UK) Limited with Lot 3.
Value interpretation
99% confidenceThe £200 million net and £240 million gross figures should be treated as contract-level values, not as awards to any individual supplier
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Only one aggregate contract value is published for a contract spanning all three lots, with no lot or supplier breakdown.
Supplier opportunity context
96% confidenceThe concession includes infrastructure, installation, energy and software-related activity categories
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Published CPVs encompass construction, electrical installation, street furniture, energy services, software and software-related services.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Supplier identity presentation
99% confidenceSupplier names retain lot prefixes in the source and no verified legal company names were supplied
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Source supplier names are “Lot 1 - Zest Eco Ltd”, “Lot 2 - Believ Limited” and “Lot 3 - Urban Fox Networks (UK) Limited”; verified_company_name is null for each. This analysis removes the lot labels for readability, but the names remain unverified legal identities.
Supplier-to-lot mapping
93% confidenceMapping is evidenced by supplier and contract-document labels, rather than separately structured per-lot awards
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Award 1 names all three suppliers and covers all lots collectively; the supplier party names and contract-document descriptions embed the lot references.
Information not supplied in the published notice
99% confidenceNo individual lot values, supplier allocations, lot titles, lot descriptions, bid counts, award date, evaluation results or pricing breakdown are supplied
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Relevant fields are null or absent in the supplied award, lot and process data.
Conflict-of-interest publication
99% confidenceNot published
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The tender documents list the conflict-of-interest document with description “Not published”.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- The published £200 million excluding-VAT and £240 million including-VAT values apply to the collective three-lot contract; no supplier, award or lot allocation is published.
- Source supplier names include lot prefixes and no verified legal company names were supplied. Names are therefore presented as source-derived, unverified identities without their lot prefixes.
- The source uses one collective award and one collective contract for three lots. Supplier-to-lot links are derived from the lot-prefixed supplier names and lot-labelled signed-contract document descriptions, not explicit standalone award allocations.
- Lot titles, lot descriptions, individual lot values, bid counts, award date, evaluation detail, award rationale and pricing details were not supplied in the published notice.
- The conflict-of-interest document is marked “Not published” in the supplied tender data.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
Hertfordshire County Councilelectric vehicle charging infrastructureEV charging concessionZest Eco LtdBeliev LimitedUrban Fox Networks UK Limitedpublic procurement
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who are the suppliers named in the Hertfordshire EV charging infrastructure contract?
Zest Eco Ltd is named for Lot 1, Believ Limited for Lot 2, and Urban Fox Networks (UK) Limited for Lot 3. The source names include these lot labels; verified legal company names were not supplied.
What is the value of the contract?
The published aggregate value is £200 million excluding VAT and £240 million including VAT. It covers all three lots and is not allocated among individual suppliers or lots.
When does the contract run?
The published period runs from 9 April 2026 to 31 March 2040, with a Council option to extend by up to one year to 31 March 2041.
Has the contract been signed?
Yes. The contract record gives a signature date of 9 April 2026 and lists three documents as signed-contract publications.
ProcuraAxis award analysis supplements, but does not replace, the official award notice, contract data or procurement documents. “Awarded” does not by itself prove that a contract has been signed.