Tees Valley opens £1.3bn transport supplier engagement

Tees Valley Combined Authority has opened preliminary market engagement for a transport investment programme with an estimated value of £1.3 billion including VAT, inviting construction and infrastructure suppliers to help shape its future procurement and delivery arrangements.

The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) published the engagement notice on 11 November 2026, outlining a programme covering rail, highways, bus and public transport infrastructure, active travel, and transport technology. The proposals extend across Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees.

The programme is at an early procurement planning stage. Individual projects have not yet been packaged into contracts, and the authority has not selected the procurement routes or commercial structures through which future works would be commissioned.

TVCA expects the programme to generate several separate procurement exercises rather than one construction contract. Its published notice provides an indicative delivery period from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2032, although those dates do not establish commencement or completion milestones for individual schemes.

The proposed investment is intended to improve transport connections within Tees Valley, linking residential communities, employment areas, town centres, and important regional infrastructure. Its scope encompasses different modes of transport and a substantial range of engineering disciplines, requiring procurement arrangements that can accommodate projects with differing technical and commercial characteristics.

Highway construction may involve pavement works, drainage, earthworks, junction alterations, and temporary traffic management. Such activities often need to be coordinated with existing traffic flows and underground utilities, particularly where construction takes place within the boundaries of an operational road.

Rail infrastructure introduces a different set of delivery constraints. Access to the railway, protection of operational systems, signalling interfaces, and the possession periods available for construction can influence how works are designed and programmed. Specialist rail contractors may therefore be required alongside organisations delivering conventional civil engineering activities.

Bus infrastructure and active travel schemes can involve more localised construction, including road layout changes, pedestrian and cycle facilities, and improvements to existing public transport interchanges. Their delivery may still require substantial coordination where works affect established roads, utility networks, or commercial premises.

The mix of work illustrates why the authority is seeking supplier input before determining how contracts should be structured. Different engineering requirements, project values, and construction locations may favour different procurement packages, particularly where individual schemes involve specialist equipment or must be delivered alongside an operational transport network.

TVCA is also exploring the creation of a programme-wide supplier ecosystem to support cooperation between the authority, delivery partners, contractors, and specialist suppliers. The published notice identifies the possible use of the Framework Alliance Contract FAC-1 as one option for establishing collaborative arrangements.

FAC-1 provides a contractual structure through which organisations involved in related projects can agree arrangements for cooperation alongside their underlying construction and professional services contracts. Its potential application is being examined as part of the market engagement exercise, rather than having been selected as the definitive contracting model.

A collaborative structure may be particularly relevant where separate projects require access to the same infrastructure corridors or draw on common construction resources. Traffic management, utility diversions, materials deliveries, and specialist labour can create scheduling dependencies between schemes, even when they are commissioned through different contracts.

Programme coordination can also influence how design information is developed and transferred between organisations. Where one project changes a road layout, drainage arrangement, or utility connection, neighbouring works may need to account for the resulting conditions. Establishing how those interfaces will be managed is a practical consideration in developing the overall procurement strategy.

The authority has not specified whether it will appoint a single programme delivery partner, multiple framework suppliers, separate project contractors, or a combination of these arrangements. Supplier feedback is intended to inform those decisions before individual opportunities are advertised.

TVCA held an initial supplier launch event on 9 November to introduce the programme and its emerging commercial approach. Attendance was restricted by venue capacity, with invitations issued to a range of organisations and an emphasis on regional businesses where possible.

The authority intends to make the event materials and a preliminary market engagement questionnaire available to the wider supply chain. Businesses that did not attend the event will therefore have an opportunity to review the proposals and submit feedback on the developing procurement arrangements.

The published engagement also identifies opportunities to involve smaller businesses and voluntary, community, and social enterprises. Their participation may depend on the size and structure of future packages, the specialist work available, and the commercial conditions applied to individual contracts.

Access for smaller suppliers can be affected by requirements for financial capacity, technical accreditation, insurance, and evidence of previous delivery. Package size and the arrangements for subcontracted work may also influence whether specialist regional businesses can participate directly or through larger contractors.

These considerations form part of the commercial planning exercise rather than a confirmed set of supplier requirements. The authority has not announced the final evaluation criteria, contract values, or eligibility conditions that will apply to future procurement opportunities.

The £1.3 billion estimate covers the programme described in the market engagement notice and includes VAT. It should not be interpreted as an allocation to a particular contractor, a confirmed construction contract, or evidence that every proposed project has secured final funding approval.

Subsequent opportunities will be developed and advertised separately, subject to the relevant procurement and project approval processes. The authority has indicated that further market engagement may take place as the programme progresses, although no additional event dates have been confirmed.

Responses to the current consultation are invited until 1 March 2027. They will inform the commercial and procurement approach before the authority establishes the arrangements through which individual transport schemes can move towards contract award and construction.