AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
The Education Authority has published a contract award notice for a four-year framework for grounds maintenance and grass-cutting machinery. Six suppliers are named on a single shared award, but the award remains pending and the notice schedules signature after the standstill period.
Published outcomePending framework award to M Large Tree Services, DA FORGIE, R D MECHANICAL SERVICES LTD, A.J. ARMSTRONG & SONS LTD, LAIRD GRASS MACHINERY LIMITED and Downpatrick Farm & Garden Supplies Ltd.
Market significanceThe framework has a stated shared value of £12 million excluding VAT (£14.4 million including VAT) across six suppliers and a broad Northern Ireland education and public-sector user base.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
6 supplier records analysed
M Large Tree Services
98% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · Not individually stated; part of shared £12,000,000 excluding VAT award value GBP · Pending awardee
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Award 1 names M Large Tree Services among suppliers; no supplier allocation is published.
DA FORGIE
99% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · Not individually stated; part of shared £12,000,000 excluding VAT award value GBP · Pending awardee
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Award 1 names DA Forgie; verified legal name is DA FORGIE. No supplier allocation is published.
R D MECHANICAL SERVICES LTD
99% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · Not individually stated; part of shared £12,000,000 excluding VAT award value GBP · Pending awardee
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Award 1 names R D Mechanical Services Ltd; verified legal name is R D MECHANICAL SERVICES LTD. No supplier allocation is published.
A.J. ARMSTRONG & SONS LTD
99% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · Not individually stated; part of shared £12,000,000 excluding VAT award value GBP · Pending awardee
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Award 1 names AJ Armstrong & Sons Ltd; verified legal name is A.J. ARMSTRONG & SONS LTD. No supplier allocation is published.
LAIRD GRASS MACHINERY LIMITED
99% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · Not individually stated; part of shared £12,000,000 excluding VAT award value GBP · Pending awardee
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Award 1 names Laird Grass Machinery Limited; verified legal name is LAIRD GRASS MACHINERY LIMITED. No supplier allocation is published.
Downpatrick Farm & Garden Supplies Ltd
98% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · Not individually stated; part of shared £12,000,000 excluding VAT award value GBP · Pending awardee
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Award 1 names Downpatrick Farm & Garden Supplies Ltd; no supplier allocation is published.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Procurement status
99% confidenceComplete procurement; award status pending
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Tender status is "complete"; award 1 status is "pending".
Award announcement
99% confidenceContract award notice published 16 October 2026
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Award-notice document 098028-2026 is dated 2026-10-16.
Award decision date
98% confidence15 October 2026
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Award 1 date and assessment summaries sent date are 2026-10-15.
Standstill
98% confidenceEnds 27 October 2026
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Award 1 standstillPeriod endDate is 2026-10-27T23:59:59+00:00.
Planned signature milestone
98% confidence28 October 2026
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Award milestone type futureSignatureDate is scheduled for 2026-10-28.
Planned framework period
98% confidence1 November 2026 to 31 October 2030
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Award contractPeriod states startDate 2026-11-01 and endDate 2030-10-31.
VALUES
Published values explained
Shared award value excluding VAT
99% confidence£12,000,000
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Award 1 value amount is 12000000 GBP.
Shared award value including VAT
99% confidence£14,400,000
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Award 1 value amountGross is 14400000 GBP.
Individual supplier and lot values
99% confidenceNot published
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The single award lists six suppliers and one lot but contains no allocations.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Preliminary market engagement notice
98% confidence21 April 2026
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Release history records planning notice 036219-2026 dated 2026-04-21.
Tender notice published
99% confidence7 July 2026
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Release history records tender notice 063598-2026 dated 2026-07-07.
Tender deadline
99% confidence7 August 2026, 23:59:59 BST
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Process submission_deadline is 2026-08-07T23:59:59+01:00.
Award notice published
99% confidence16 October 2026
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Award-notice document datePublished is 2026-10-16T14:44:13+01:00.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Procurement type
99% confidenceFramework agreement for grounds maintenance machinery
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Tender techniques state hasFrameworkAgreement true; title and description identify grounds maintenance machinery.
Lot structure
99% confidenceOne lot
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Tender and award each reference lot 1 only.
Goods covered
99% confidenceAgricultural and gardening machinery, mowers, lawnmowers, tractors, tractor accessories and grounds-maintenance equipment
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Award item lists the relevant CPV classifications.
User base
96% confidenceEducation Authority schools and centres, other named Northern Ireland schools and bodies, Libraries NI and associated organisations
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Tender description identifies the intended participating bodies.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procedure
99% confidenceOpen procedure
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Tender procurementMethod is open and procurementMethodDetails is Open procedure.
Legal regime
98% confidenceNorthern Irish devolved regulations under the Procurement Act 2023
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Tender legal basis is UKPGA 2023/54; buyer details state GB-NIR devolved regulations apply.
Tenderers named in source
98% confidenceSeven tenderers, of whom six are named on the pending award
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Parties identify seven tenderers including MPM Specialist Vehicles Ltd; award 1 lists six suppliers.
Evaluation results
99% confidenceNot published
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No scores, ranking, prices or evaluation narrative are supplied.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Framework call-off approach
98% confidenceAdditional purchases may be made while the framework is valid; buyer reserves the right to run secondary competitions
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Award options description states these rights.
Options
99% confidenceYes
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Award hasOptions is true.
Contract conclusion
99% confidenceNot evidenced
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Award status is pending and signature is a future scheduled milestone.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Commercial structure
98% confidenceMulti-supplier, single-lot framework with secondary competition capability
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One award names six suppliers for lot 1; options state the buyer may run secondary competitions.
Value interpretation
99% confidenceThe £12 million figure is a framework-level shared value, not confirmed spend or an allocation to any supplier
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One award value is published for six suppliers, with no allocations or call-off values.
Market opportunity
94% confidencePotential supply route spans a broad Northern Ireland education and related public-body estate
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Tender description lists a wide range of eligible schools, centres, Libraries NI and other bodies.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Award status and signature
99% confidencePending award; not a signed or active contract
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Award status is pending, while a future signature date is scheduled for 28 October 2026.
Shared award allocation
99% confidenceSupplier-level, lot-level and call-off values are not supplied
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Six suppliers share award 1 for lot 1 with a single overall value.
Supplier name normalisation
99% confidenceThe source supplier value "AJ Armstrong & Sons Ltd" differs from supplied verified legal name "A.J. ARMSTRONG & SONS LTD"; the verified legal name is used
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Supplier record flags supplier_name_mismatch true and supplies verified company name NI605915.
Supplier verification coverage
98% confidenceM Large Tree Services and Downpatrick Farm & Garden Supplies Ltd have no supplied verified legal-company match
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Both supplier records have supplier_identity_status not_applicable and no verified company name.
Information not supplied in the published notice
99% confidenceNo evaluation scoring, bidder prices, award rationale, individual allocations, signed-contract confirmation or detailed lot title/description is provided
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These fields are absent from the supplied award, lot and supplier data.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- The notice reports a pending award rather than a concluded or signed contract; actual framework commencement is not evidenced.
- The stated £12 million excluding VAT value is shared across six pending awardees and is not allocated by supplier, lot or call-off.
- No award rationale, evaluation scores, tender prices, bidder ranking or detailed pricing is published.
- M Large Tree Services and Downpatrick Farm & Garden Supplies Ltd have no supplied verified legal-company match; their published source names are retained as unverified.
- Lot 1 has no separately published title, description or value.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
Education Authoritygrounds maintenance machinerygrass cutting machineryNorthern Ireland procurementframework agreementDA FORGIER D Mechanical ServicesA.J. Armstrong & SonsLaird Grass Machinery
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Has the grounds machinery framework been signed?
No. The award is marked pending, with signature scheduled after the standstill period.
What is the value of the award?
The published shared framework value is £12m excluding VAT (£14.4m including VAT). No amount is allocated to individual suppliers.
Who are the named pending awardees?
M Large Tree Services, DA FORGIE, R D MECHANICAL SERVICES LTD, A.J. ARMSTRONG & SONS LTD, LAIRD GRASS MACHINERY LIMITED and Downpatrick Farm & Garden Supplies Ltd.
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.