Kishorn Port is preparing to move ahead with the next stage of its redevelopment, with plans for a new deep-water quay expected to create a major contracting opportunity worth around £30m.

The proposed East Quay will extend 150 metres and will be built on newly reclaimed land created during the first phase of the port’s expansion. Once complete, it will offer a water depth of 12 metres below chart datum, strengthening the Wester Ross port’s ability to support offshore wind, decommissioning and wider marine infrastructure projects.

The package is expected to include a range of heavy civil engineering works, including sheet and combi piling, tie rods, concrete capping beams, quay furniture, lighting and service installations. The project will also involve the construction of two piled mooring dolphins, linked to the quay by steel walkway bridges.

A temporary piling bund is set to be formed using rock material generated during the earlier phase of works. That same material will later be repurposed as infill behind the new quay wall, supporting a more efficient use of resources across the redevelopment.

Kishorn Port Limited is expected to shortlist up to five contractors, with the winning bidder appointed as principal contractor. A formal contract notice is anticipated in September, with tender documents expected to follow in November. The current programme points to contract award in April 2027, ahead of a planned construction start in June 2027.

The East Quay project, known as Phase 1B, follows the £42.2m first phase of investment at Kishorn, which has focused on enlarging the port’s dry dock and reclaiming 8.5 hectares of foreshore.

RJ McLeod was appointed principal contractor for Phase 1A under a £20.9m construction contract awarded in June 2025. That phase includes cutting through rock to extend the dry dock by around 100 metres in length and 60 metres in width.

Approximately one million tonnes of excavated material has been moved and reused to form the reclaimed land that will support the future East Quay. The wider works also include new roads, drainage, mooring infrastructure, rock protection and a reinforced-concrete working slab.

Phase 1A remains on track for completion in September or October. Once finished, the expanded dry dock will be able to accommodate vessels up to 260 metres long and 160 metres wide.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise has contributed £24.3m towards the first phase, with the balance funded by Kishorn Port Limited. The support forms part of the Scottish Government’s wider commitment to invest up to £500m over five years in ports and the offshore-wind supply chain.

Should the East Quay contract be awarded at its estimated value, the combined investment across the two main phases of the current expansion would total around £72m.

The latest development continues the long-term revival of Kishorn’s dry dock, which began returning to active use in 2017 after more than two decades of limited activity. The site was originally developed in the 1970s for the construction of the Ninian Central oil platform.

What this means for infrastructure bidders

Projects such as Kishorn’s East Quay highlight the growing complexity of public and private infrastructure procurement. Major marine, energy and civil engineering opportunities now require bidders to respond with greater speed, stronger technical evidence and tighter commercial control.

For contractors targeting large-scale port, energy, decommissioning and offshore wind schemes, the challenge is not just identifying the opportunity. It is producing a high-quality, compliant and differentiated tender response under pressure, often across multiple stakeholders, technical disciplines and submission deadlines.

This is where mytender helps bidding teams work more effectively.

mytender supports organisations by bringing structure, automation and consistency into the tender response process. Teams can use it to manage bid content, accelerate first drafts, improve answer quality and keep submissions aligned with buyer requirements, while maintaining the governance and oversight expected on high-value opportunities.

For businesses competing in sectors such as construction, infrastructure, facilities management, marine services and energy, platforms like mytender can help turn complex procurement documents into clearer, faster and more controlled bid workflows.

Book a demo today!

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

Source note: This article draws on Construction News, supplemented by Public Contracts Scotland

Wirral Council has approved contractor appointments to a new North West Contractor Framework, creating a four-year route for public bodies to procure construction, infrastructure and demolition works across the region.

The framework has been developed with Procure Partnerships and is due to support public-sector projects over a four-year term. Procure Partnerships describes the third iteration of the framework as worth £1.2bn, covering 53 contractors and 13 lots across general construction, infrastructure and demolition.

The council’s decision notice states that the framework will be available to Wirral Council and other North West public-sector contracting authorities, with appointments made following a competitive procurement process under the Most Advantageous Tenders approach.

Six lots cover general construction, six cover infrastructure, and the final lot is reserved for demolition work in Merseyside. Procure Partnerships says the lots are designed to support projects from £50,000 through to major schemes, with construction and infrastructure specialists appointed at different value bands.

Major names on the higher-value construction lots include Morgan Sindall, Kier, Wates, Willmott Dixon, Tilbury Douglas, Vinci, Galliford Try, Graham, Bowmer & Kirkland and BAM Construction. John Sisk & Son also appears on the largest construction lot, which covers schemes above £30m.

On the infrastructure side, the higher-value lots feature contractors including Graham, John Sisk & Son, Galliford Try, BAM Nuttall, Costain, AE Yates, Jones Bros Ruthin, Lagan Aviation & Infrastructure, Spencer Rail Engineering and John F Hunt Regeneration.

Procure Partnerships said the framework allows public-sector clients to use NEC and JCT contract forms, with call-offs available through single-stage or two-stage mini-competitions as well as direct award. It said direct awards may be made using objective criteria such as framework ranking, overhead and profit rates, hourly rates and performance against key indicators.

The framework also retains a regional supply-chain focus. Procure Partnerships said 64 per cent of appointed contractors are SMEs, alongside larger national contractors.

The demolition lot has been awarded to J Freeley, with John F Hunt Regeneration listed as reserve contractor in the council decision notice.

What the framework means for bidders

For contractors, the framework points to the continued importance of public-sector pipeline access in the North West. Suppliers appointed to the framework will be positioned for projects across local government, education, healthcare, housing and other public-sector estates.

For firms that were not appointed, the structure still matters. Frameworks of this scale often shape future subcontracting, joint venture and specialist package opportunities, particularly where larger contractors require regional delivery partners.

Where mytender fits in

Frameworks such as the North West Contractor Framework show why bid teams need more than a document folder and a last-minute writing sprint. Public-sector competitions now demand evidence-led responses, consistent compliance checks, clear social-value commitments and the ability to reuse approved bid content quickly and accurately.

At mytender, we built our platform specifically for bid writing and tender management. Rather than acting as a general-purpose writing tool, mytender helps teams manage their pipeline, collaborate on responses, generate strong first drafts, organise content libraries and retrieve relevant information when deadlines are tight.

For contractors pursuing frameworks, mini-competitions or direct-award opportunities, this means previous answers, case studies, accreditations, evaluator feedback and approved evidence can be kept in one place and reused with greater confidence. The strongest AI-assisted bid writing still depends on the quality of the content behind it, which is why good bid-library governance is central to how teams should approach tendering in 2026 and beyond.

Book a demo today

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

_{Source note: This article draws on Construction News; supplemented by Wirral Council and Procure Partnerships public records.}

Sustainability is becoming a practical benchmark for major infrastructure work, not just a corporate pledge. On the M4, FM Conway has shown how road construction can be delivered with a much smaller carbon footprint by combining cleaner equipment, improved paving methods and lower-carbon materials. The project reportedly reduced emissions by 630 tonnes of CO2e, around half the level expected from a conventional design.

The result also highlights the growing importance of collaboration across infrastructure supply chains. FM Conway framework delivery manager Andy Weymouth credited partnership working as a key factor in the scheme’s success, underlining how sustainable construction often depends on coordination between contractors, clients, suppliers and delivery teams.

At the same time, construction technology is becoming more advanced across the sector. Drones, once mainly used for aerial photography and basic site surveys, now support mapping, stockpile measurement, progress tracking, thermal inspections and comparisons between planned and completed work. With GPS, photogrammetry, LiDAR and autonomous flight capabilities, they are helping project teams collect data more safely and efficiently, especially on large or hazardous sites.

Renewable energy infrastructure is also gathering pace. In Scotland, Vestas has installed a 6.2MW EnVentus turbine at the Sanquhar II site in Dumfries and Galloway. It is the first of 44 turbines planned for the 308MW project, which is expected to become the UK’s fourth-largest onshore wind farm when complete.

Boardroom and investment activity are shifting alongside these delivery trends. Fluor has appointed former US Navy Admiral James F. Caldwell Jr to its board, adding him to the Audit and Governance Committees and bringing its board size to 11. In the US, NABTU and BlackRock have signed an agreement intended to support infrastructure investment, strengthen supply chains and create more opportunities for the construction workforce, particularly around AI and energy-related development.

Why mytender.io Matters for Infrastructure Bids

Winning infrastructure work increasingly depends on more than technical capability. Buyers want evidence, speed, accuracy, sustainability credentials, commercial confidence and a clear story that proves the supplier can deliver. For bid teams, that creates a constant challenge: more complex tenders, tighter deadlines and higher expectations, often with the same limited resources.

mytender.io helps teams respond to that pressure with an AI-powered bid writing platform built to make tender responses faster, sharper and easier to manage. Instead of starting from a blank page or chasing information across old documents, teams can analyse requirements, draft stronger responses, check compliance and collaborate in one place. The result is a more controlled bid process, with less time lost to manual drafting and more time spent improving the strategy behind the submission.

For construction, facilities management and infrastructure firms, this matters because every bid is a chance to turn hard-won project experience into future revenue. Sustainability results, delivery credentials, safety records, social value commitments and technical expertise all need to be presented clearly and convincingly. mytender.io gives bid teams a better way to shape that evidence into responses that feel complete, relevant and client-focused.

The real value is not just speed. It is confidence. Confidence that requirements have not been missed. Confidence that the response is aligned to the buyer’s priorities. Confidence that teams can submit higher-quality work without burning out before the deadline.

For firms bidding regularly, even small improvements in speed, consistency and quality can make a meaningful difference. A demo is the simplest way to see where mytender.io could remove friction from the current bid process and help teams focus on what matters most: producing submissions that are easier to manage, stronger to read and better positioned to win.

Book a demo today!

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

Subscribe now

_{Source note: This article draws on reporting first published by IndexBox, with additional context on mytender.io from the company’s own materials.}

A major new residential tower has been proposed for Birmingham city centre, with developer Bluecastle Capital seeking permission to redevelop the former Marks & Spencer building at 42 High Street.

The plans would replace the long-vacant 1950s department store with a 53-storey build-to-rent scheme containing 729 homes. If approved and delivered, the tower could rise to around 172 metres, placing it among the tallest buildings in Birmingham.

The site sits in a prominent city-centre location close to Moor Street station and the future Birmingham Curzon Street HS2 station. The project team has positioned the scheme as more than a housing development, describing it as a new pedestrian link between the station quarter and the city centre.

At ground level, the proposal includes flexible commercial space for retail or food and beverage use, alongside a redesigned public realm. Around the base of the building, the plans set out new landscaping, lighting, public art and improved routes along High Street, Carrs Lane and Moor Street Queensway.

Squire & Partners has designed the tower for Bluecastle Capital, working with Layer Studio on the landscape and public realm elements. The architectural concept includes a setback, colonnaded base intended to open up the street edge, with a similar design language repeated at the top of the building. A further setback at level 48 would provide residents with shared amenities, including lounges and a landscaped terrace.

The proposals also reference the reuse of material from the demolition of the existing building, with reclaimed elements intended to be incorporated into the residents’ terrace. According to the application, just over half of the targeted site area would become publicly accessible under the plans.

The existing building, designed by Birmingham architect James M Munro & Son, has stood empty since Marks & Spencer closed the store in 2003. Historic England issued a certificate of immunity from listing for the property in January, removing one possible barrier to redevelopment.

The scheme forms part of the wider City Central Heart Prospectus, a regeneration framework prepared by Gensler. That vision identified the potential for thousands of new homes and several hectares of public space across a series of city-centre development opportunities.

Bluecastle Capital chief executive Ed Williams said the project is intended to support the continued regeneration of central Birmingham. Squire & Partners partner Bettina Brehler said the design responds to the surrounding civic context through its material approach, architectural rhythm and expanded pedestrian routes.

If consented, the tower would join a growing cluster of high-rise residential projects in Birmingham, including ONE Eastside, Octagon, 2 Snow Hill Plaza and Edition Birmingham.

Where mytender.io fits into major development opportunities

Large regeneration schemes like this can generate significant opportunities for contractors, consultants and suppliers, from demolition and enabling works through to fit-out, landscaping, facilities management and long-term building services.

For built-environment firms targeting public and private-sector opportunities, mytender.io provides AI-powered software designed to help teams produce bid responses more efficiently. Rather than a general-purpose writing assistant, it is a specialist tool focused on proposal quality and procurement workflows that translates project requirements and past experience into structured content. Used carefully, this platform reduces manual drafting time while ensuring that final judgment, compliance reviews, and commercial strategy remain firmly in the hands of human experts.

Book a demo today

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

Confidence across the UK construction sector has strengthened noticeably, with Lloyds Bank’s latest Business Barometer showing a 10-point rise to 56 per cent.

The improvement appears to be driven mainly by firmer customer demand, which construction firms identified as the biggest reason for their more positive outlook. Better financing conditions, including easing pressure around interest rates, were the next most common factor behind the rise in sentiment.

The survey suggests that many firms are now preparing for growth rather than simply managing short-term uncertainty. More than two-thirds of construction businesses said they expect activity to increase over the next 12 months, while almost two-thirds said they plan to expand their workforce over the same period.

The results, gathered during the first half of July, put construction confidence well above the sector’s 12-month average of 47 per cent.

Max Jones, director and head of construction at Lloyds Bank, said the figures indicate that businesses in the sector are becoming more prepared to think beyond their immediate pipeline of work. He said the renewed optimism points to firms investing in the people and capacity needed to meet future demand, after a period in which many had been focused on reacting to uncertain market conditions.

The research was conducted by Ipsos and included responses from 186 construction businesses, as part of a wider poll of 1,200 UK companies.

Across the economy as a whole, UK business confidence also improved in July, rising by five points to 49 per cent.

The findings add to signs that sentiment in construction may be stabilising, although other indicators remain more cautious. The S&P Global UK Construction PMI for June found that 38 per cent of firms expected output to rise over the next year, compared with 19 per cent forecasting a decline. Optimism in that survey was linked to public sector work, infrastructure spending and the restart of previously delayed projects, although overall confidence remained below its long-term average.

What this means for construction bid teams

Rising confidence is likely to put more pressure on construction firms to compete effectively for new work. As demand improves and more public sector and infrastructure opportunities come forward, the ability to respond quickly, clearly and compliantly to tenders will become increasingly important.

That is where platforms such as mytender.io may become more relevant for contractors, consultants and suppliers. The platform is positioned as AI tender-response software that helps teams turn previous tender responses and business collateral into new bid content, while supporting tasks such as tender research, client research, bid drafting and written edits.

For construction companies expecting a busier year, tools like mytender.io could help reduce the administrative burden of bidding, improve consistency across submissions and give teams more time to focus on strategy, compliance and win themes.

Book a demo today

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

The Glasgow School of Art is preparing the next major stabilisation phase for the fire-damaged Mackintosh Building, with proposals to remove the external scaffold that has surrounded the landmark since 2018 and replace it with a new internal support arrangement.

The planned package, expected to move forward from summer 2027 if final design work and statutory consents are secured, would mark a significant shift in how the Category A-listed building is protected. Instead of relying on the current leased scaffold and external shoring, GSA intends to install a temporary internal retention system designed to support the surviving structure for at least 15 years.

The enabling works are also expected to include a temporary roof, selected permanent steelwork, and internal repairs required before the new support system can be put in place. Some of the steelwork would remain as part of the building’s long-term structure, with a design life of 50 years.

Funding for this phase will come from the insurance settlement linked to the 2018 fire. GSA has said that the project represents the most practical and affordable next step identified in its strategic outline business case addendum.

Removing the scaffold would bring the remaining external elevations back into public view for the first time in years. It would also reduce the school’s dependence on the temporary support system currently wrapped around the building.

However, the works would not return the Mackintosh Building to use. Instead, they are intended to create a safer and more durable base from which future reinstatement could be planned and delivered.

GSA has made clear that keeping the leased scaffold in place indefinitely is not financially sustainable and does not materially advance the building towards restoration. The school has estimated that faithful reinstatement would cost around £265m, roughly five times its annual turnover.

The board of governors has concluded that GSA cannot responsibly carry the full cost of reinstatement by itself without putting the wider institution at financial risk. The school now plans to seek support from civic, government, commercial and philanthropic partners for later stages of the project.

Board chair Ann Priest said GSA remains committed to seeing the Mackintosh Building rebuilt, but that the school must balance that ambition against its long-term financial stability. She also said the building has the potential to play a wider role in Glasgow’s future, supporting innovation, regeneration and economic growth.

GSA’s business case points to the Mackintosh Building as a possible anchor for a wider creative and cultural production district around Garnethill and Sauchiehall Street. That approach would position the restoration not only as a heritage project, but as part of a broader city-led regeneration programme supported by government and other partners.

Architect and GSA governor Stephen Hodder said the first phase would allow the building’s surviving elevations to be seen again while creating a stronger platform for future restoration work, guided by the school’s Conservation Management Plan.

Historic Environment Scotland has also welcomed the direction of travel. Chief executive Katerina Brown said discussions with GSA had already begun and described the announcement as an important step in securing the building’s long-term future.

The programme will require planning permission, listed building consent and other statutory approvals before work can begin. The commercial case identifies likely packages covering temporary retention, permanent steelwork, temporary roofing and other enabling works.

The existing contractor is expected to submit a tender for dismantling and removing the current scaffold and shoring under its original appointment, subject to commercial review.

Why Projects Like This Matter for Tender Teams

Complex heritage, regeneration and public-sector construction projects can create opportunities well beyond the headline contract. A programme such as the Mackintosh Building stabilisation phase may involve specialist contractors, temporary works experts, steelwork suppliers, roofing teams, conservation consultants, access providers, professional services and wider supply-chain partners.

For businesses that want to compete for this kind of work, preparation is often the difference between reacting late and submitting a credible, evidence-led bid. Heritage and public-sector projects typically require more than technical capability. Bidders may need to demonstrate conservation experience, programme control, risk management, social value, stakeholder engagement, statutory approvals knowledge and financial resilience.

This is where platforms such as mytender.io can be useful. mytender.io is an AI-powered bid and tender writing platform designed to help organisations produce stronger, more compliant tender responses. Its tools support bid drafting, content retrieval, collaboration, compliance checking and the reuse of approved evidence from previous submissions.

For contractors and consultants tracking public-sector construction and regeneration opportunities, a tool like mytender.io can help teams move faster when tender documents are released. Rather than starting from a blank page, bid teams can draw on past case studies, accreditations, method statements and evidence libraries, then shape those materials around the buyer’s specific questions and scoring criteria.

That matters on projects like the Mackintosh Building, where the winning submission is likely to depend on trust, evidence and precision as much as price. The organisations best placed to compete will be those that can clearly show relevant experience, understand the constraints of working with a nationally significant historic building, and respond to every requirement with well-structured, compliant and persuasive answers.

Book a demo today

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

The Ministry of Defence has set out plans for a major renewal of the UK’s military estate, with three long-term infrastructure programmes expected to direct around £60bn into Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force sites over the next decade.

The investment sits within the government’s Defence Investment Plan, published on 30 June 2026, which sets out how the MoD intends to modernise capability, improve readiness and support the UK-based defence industry. The wider plan is backed by £298bn of defence investment over the next four years.

At the centre of the estate programme are Project Royal Oak, Project Castra and Project Trenchard, each focused on a different branch of the armed forces.

Project Royal Oak is the largest of the three, allocating £26bn over 10 years to naval infrastructure. The programme will fund major upgrades at Faslane, Portsmouth and Devonport, with the government describing it as the most significant naval base upgrade programme for more than four decades.

For the British Army, Project Castra will provide £24bn over the same period. Its purpose is to modernise ageing facilities, improve resilience across the estate and address long-running underinvestment in military infrastructure. The MoD has indicated that industry will play a closer role in delivery, positioning contractors and suppliers as partners in the programme rather than simply transactional providers.

The RAF-focused Project Trenchard is worth £10bn over 10 years. It will cover airfield works, passenger and freight facilities, accommodation, utilities and other base infrastructure. Planned airfield upgrades include runway resurfacing at RAF Brize Norton, RAF Coningsby, RAF Valley and RAF Waddington.

The MoD has said Project Trenchard is intended to tackle years of decline across RAF sites and ensure bases remain safe, compliant and capable of supporting operational needs.

Although the headline funding commitments have been announced, the Defence Investment Plan does not yet explain how the three programmes will be divided into packages, procured or brought to market. That leaves contractors awaiting further detail on frameworks, contract structures, timelines and route-to-market decisions.

Alongside the 10-year programme announcements, the plan identifies £22.7bn for defence infrastructure and estate spending between 2026/27 and 2029/30. Within that four-year allocation, the largest published line is £10.3bn for facilities management.

Other allocations include £2.7bn for service family accommodation, £2.3bn for defence estate optimisation, £1.9bn for overseas bases, £1.5bn for technical capital works and £1.4bn for single living accommodation. Those published categories add up to £20.1bn, leaving £2.6bn not broken down in the plan.

The broader Defence Investment Plan also includes £63.6bn for the Defence Nuclear Enterprise over four years, covering work linked to submarines, warheads, nuclear fuel and supporting infrastructure.

For the construction and infrastructure supply chain, the scale of planned work represents a major opportunity. However, the absence of detailed procurement information means businesses will need to monitor future announcements closely, particularly around delivery models, eligibility requirements and how the MoD intends to prioritise UK-based suppliers with long-term domestic commitments.

What this means for bid teams, and where mytender.io can help

A programme of this scale is likely to generate a large volume of complex opportunities across construction, facilities management, technical works, accommodation, utilities and specialist defence infrastructure. For contractors, consultants and suppliers, the challenge will not only be identifying relevant tenders but responding quickly, accurately and competitively.

mytender.io is an AI-powered tender and bid-writing platform designed to help teams streamline the proposal process. Its Microsoft Word integration supports faster RFP responses, text refinement, research, content retrieval from a data library and AI-assisted bid writing. Software listings for the platform also describe features such as automated first drafts, collaboration tools, smart content libraries, compliance checking, tender analytics and pipeline management.

For firms targeting MoD, defence estate or public-sector infrastructure opportunities, tools such as mytender.io can help reduce the manual burden of bid production while improving consistency across submissions. In a market where major frameworks and work packages may attract intense competition, the ability to reuse approved content, check compliance against tender requirements and produce stronger first drafts could become a practical advantage.

Book a demo today!

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

Eastleigh Borough Council has begun the process of appointing a design-and-build partner for a major new housing phase at its One Horton Heath development in Hampshire.

The contract relates to the Upper Acre parcel, the second residential phase within the wider One Horton Heath masterplan. The package is valued at £100m excluding VAT, or £120m including VAT, and will deliver 424 homes across a mix of tenures.

As well as the new homes, the appointed contractor will be responsible for delivering supporting works including roads, utilities, landscaping, open space and associated infrastructure. The council intends to use the JCT Design and Build Contract 2024 for the project.

One Horton Heath is one of the largest strategic development sites in the area. Covering around 310 acres to the east of Eastleigh, the wider scheme has outline consent for up to 2,500 homes, alongside a local centre, primary school, employment space, transport links, sports facilities and public open space.

Eastleigh Borough Council acquired the site in 2018 and secured outline planning consent in October 2025. According to the authority, a significant proportion of the strategic infrastructure needed to support future housing delivery has either already been installed or is currently under construction.

The Upper Acre phase moved forward after reserved matters approval was granted in March 2026, following an application submitted in December 2025.

The current programme indicates that construction is expected to begin in March 2027. The first homes are scheduled for completion in September 2027, with final handover targeted for May 2030.

The procurement is being conducted under the Procurement Act 2023 through a competitive flexible procedure. The first stage will require interested suppliers to complete a procurement-specific questionnaire as part of the conditions of participation process. A shortlist of suppliers will then be invited to submit tenders.

The tender stage is currently expected to involve a single submission followed by interviews. However, the council has retained the option to add further stages if required, including a best and final offer process.

Tender submissions are due by 17 November 2026.

The Upper Acre procurement follows the council’s recent announcement of a separate planned £40m tender for the design-and-build delivery of a 192-home housing scheme in Hampshire.

What This Means for Contractors

For contractors active in residential construction, infrastructure delivery and public-sector housing, the Upper Acre opportunity represents a significant long-term pipeline project. The scale of the package, the mixed-tenure nature of the homes and the requirement to deliver both residential units and enabling infrastructure mean bidders will need to demonstrate more than simple build capability.

Strong submissions are likely to require clear evidence of programme management, housing delivery experience, supply chain control, social value, health and safety performance, design coordination and the ability to work within a live strategic development environment.

The use of the Procurement Act 2023 and a competitive flexible procedure also means bidders should expect a process that places emphasis on both compliance and quality. Early preparation will be important, particularly around project-specific evidence, relevant case studies, delivery methodology and interview readiness.How mytender.io Can Help

Opportunities of this scale place significant pressure on bid teams. A £100m design-and-build housing tender can involve large volumes of documentation, complex compliance requirements, technical responses, social value commitments and multiple internal contributors.

How mytender.io can help

mytender.io helps contractors respond to opportunities like this faster, more consistently and with greater control. The platform uses AI-powered bid writing workflows to support tender analysis, compliance checking, first-draft creation and continuous improvement across bid submissions.

For construction and infrastructure businesses, mytender.io can help teams quickly identify the key requirements in tender documents, structure responses around the buyer’s evaluation criteria, reuse relevant evidence from previous bids and improve the consistency of technical and commercial submissions.

Instead of starting from a blank page, bid teams can use mytender.io to accelerate the first draft, strengthen compliance alignment and give subject-matter experts more time to focus on value, differentiation and win strategy.

For contractors targeting public-sector frameworks, housing programmes and major design-and-build opportunities, mytender.io provides a practical way to reduce bid workload while improving the quality and discipline of the tender response process.

Book a demo today!

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

Northern Trains is testing supplier interest ahead of a major new rail infrastructure framework valued at up to £300m.

The proposed agreement would support investment across Northern’s train care centres, depots and station estate throughout the north of England. It is expected to start in March 2027 and run for five years, with a possible three-year extension taking it through to February 2035.

The framework is valued at £300m excluding VAT, or £360m including VAT, and is expected to be accessible to SMEs as well as larger contractors.

Northern said the framework forms part of its wider asset management and capital delivery plans, giving the operator access to a pre-qualified group of suppliers able to deliver a broad range of infrastructure projects across its operational property portfolio.

The proposed structure is split into four lots.

The first lot covers internal building works and fit-out activity, including storage areas, fire systems, waste security, heating, ventilation and related building services.

The second lot focuses on access systems, alongside solutions for removing, moving and handling components across operational sites.

The third lot is aimed at wider multidisciplinary rail infrastructure delivery. This includes track, signalling, telecoms, electrification, civil engineering, buildings, geotechnical works, highways, drainage, environmental works, mechanical and electrical systems, high-voltage infrastructure and train servicing facilities.

The fourth lot is dedicated to specialist design-and-build facilities for train servicing and maintenance. This includes controlled-emission toilet systems, fuelling, sanding, cleaning and associated environmental infrastructure.

Northern’s estate is spread across a wide geographic area, meaning the framework will need to support a range of works packages across depots, train care centres and stations while keeping railway services running.

Suppliers will be expected to work safely within live railway environments, meet sector-specific regulatory requirements and manage projects in a way that protects asset performance and limits disruption to day-to-day operations.

Northern is also looking for contractors capable of handling several projects at the same time, while contributing to continuous improvement over the life of the framework.

Before moving to formal procurement, the operator is seeking market feedback on the proposed lot structure, call-off mechanisms, pricing approaches, subcontracting opportunities and risk allocation.

A virtual pre-market engagement session is scheduled for 14 July, with a supplier questionnaire and selected one-to-one meetings expected to follow.

Where mytender.io can support bidders

For contractors targeting frameworks of this scale, the challenge is not only technical capability but also the ability to produce compliant, evidence-led and persuasive submissions across multiple lots.

A £300m rail infrastructure opportunity will likely require bidders to respond to complex questions covering safety, delivery methodology, live environment working, programme control, risk management, social value, sustainability, supply chain management and continuous improvement.

mytender.io helps bidding teams manage that complexity by using AI to support tender analysis, compliance checking, content generation and response improvement.

The platform can help contractors quickly identify requirements, map answers against evaluation criteria, structure high-quality draft responses and ensure evidence is aligned to the buyer’s priorities.

For rail, infrastructure and facilities management suppliers, this can be particularly valuable where frameworks demand detailed operational experience, strong safety credentials and clear proof of delivery capability.

With opportunities such as Northern’s proposed infrastructure framework, mytender.io enables bid teams to work faster, improve consistency and focus more time on strategy, differentiation and win themes.

Book a demo today!

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

Southern Construction Framework has begun procurement for its sixth-generation construction framework, marking a significant expansion of its offer to public sector organisations across England.

Hampshire County Council has issued the invitation to tender for the new four-year framework, which is scheduled to run from 4 May 2027 to 3 May 2031. Contractors have until 27 August 2026 to submit their bids.

SCF is jointly delivered by Hampshire County Council and Devon County Council. Since the original framework was introduced in 2006, it has supported around £10bn of public sector construction activity, with approximately £500m of projects delivered each year.

The next-generation framework, known as SCF6, will include 10 lots covering London, the South East and the South West, alongside new national lots designed for larger and more complex programmes. Earlier market engagement valued the framework at approximately £5.4bn.

SCF6 is intended to support a wide range of public sector construction needs, from local schemes valued up to £30m through to major and mega projects worth £10m to more than £100m.

The framework will continue to use SCF’s established two-stage, fully managed procurement model, with contractors able to apply for selected regional or national lots, subject to the bidding rules set out in the tender documentation.

SCF has positioned the new framework as an evolution of its existing model, with a continued focus on early contractor involvement, collaborative working, value creation and public sector outcomes.

The current SCF5 framework, valued at £4.5bn, is due to expire on 1 May 2027. Contractors appointed to SCF5 include major tier one firms such as Bowmer & Kirkland, Galliford Try, Kier, Mace, Morgan Sindall and Willmott Dixon.

SCF6 Lot Structure

• Lot 1: Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

• Lot 2: Devon and Somerset, excluding areas covered by Lot 3

• Lot 3: North Somerset, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, and Gloucestershire

• Lot 4: Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex

• Lot 5: London, East Sussex, Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire

• Lot 6: South

• Lot 7: South West

• Lot 8: London and South East

• Lot 9: England – Major

• Lot 10: England – Mega

  Source SCF Announcement*

What This Means for Contractors

SCF6 represents a major opportunity for contractors targeting long-term public sector construction work. With a combination of regional and national lots, the framework is likely to attract strong competition from established tier one contractors, regional specialists and businesses with the capability to support complex public sector programmes.

Given the scale, structure and managed procurement approach, successful bidders will need to demonstrate more than technical capability. Strong submissions will need to show clear evidence of collaboration, delivery certainty, social value, cost management, risk control, sustainability and experience working within public sector environments.

How mytender.io Can Help Contractors Compete

Framework opportunities such as SCF6 place significant pressure on bid teams. The volume of documentation, compliance requirements, quality responses and evidence gathering can be substantial, particularly when contractors are bidding across multiple lots or regions.

mytender.io helps contractors manage this process more efficiently by using AI to support the end-to-end bid writing workflow. The platform can help teams extract tender requirements, structure responses, align answers to scoring criteria, identify compliance gaps and generate stronger first drafts using approved company knowledge.

For contractors pursuing major frameworks, this can reduce the time spent on manual drafting and document review, while helping bid teams focus more attention on strategy, differentiation and win themes.

In a competitive framework environment, where quality, evidence and consistency are critical, mytender.io gives contractors a smarter way to manage complex submissions and improve bid outcomes

Book a demo today!

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

Kier Construction has been appointed to deliver a major regeneration project in Walsall, with the contract valued at around £35.4 million.

The scheme, led by Walsall Council, will support the creation of a new Adult Learning Centre and improve key routes between Walsall railway station and the town centre. It forms part of a wider programme aimed at strengthening the town’s civic, commercial and public spaces.

The contract includes pre-construction and professional services, enabling works for the learning centre, demolition activity around Park Street, and the main design-and-build construction package.

Kier was selected through Lot 2 of Pagabo’s Major Works framework via a direct award. The works will be delivered under NEC4 design-and-build contract arrangements.

According to the contract notice, the programme is scheduled to run from 30 April 2025 until 18 February 2028. The notice also confirms that Walsall Council has set aside contingency funding to deal with any unexpected requirements that arise during delivery.

Designed by Associated Architects, the project will deliver a new adult learning facility as well as significant improvements to the surrounding public realm.

A central element of the scheme is the demolition of properties at 38–46 Park Street and 1–4 Butlers Passage. This will make way for a new public square featuring landscaping, lighting and upgraded pedestrian areas.

Further works will focus on improving Station Street and Park Street, including new steps and a ramped access route to the Saddlers Centre entrance. Park Mall will also be remodelled, including the addition of a new roof.

The project will also improve access to Walsall station, with a new lift and staircase planned for platform one. A new entrance to the shopping centre from Station Street will also be created, helping to improve movement between the station, retail areas and the wider town centre.

How mytender.io supports construction businesses bidding for public sector work

Projects like Walsall’s Connected Gateway and Adult Learning Centre show the scale and complexity of public sector construction opportunities in the UK. For contractors, consultants and supply chain partners, winning this type of work depends on producing compliant, persuasive and well-structured bid responses.

mytender.io helps bid teams improve the quality and efficiency of their tender submissions. The platform supports businesses with AI-powered bid writing, helping them draft stronger responses, align answers with buyer requirements and reduce the time spent producing tender documentation.

For construction firms working across frameworks, local authority projects and regeneration schemes, mytender.io can help teams respond more consistently, reuse proven content more effectively and focus their efforts on the areas that matter most to evaluators.

By combining bid-writing expertise with AI, mytender.io gives teams a faster and more structured way to produce high-quality submissions for competitive public sector opportunities.

Book a demo today!

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

Concertus has started early market engagement for a major new construction and building services framework valued at up to £1bn, shortly after Suffolk County Council confirmed that a separate £600m framework proposal would not move forward.

The new agreement, named the LINK14 Construction & Building Services Framework, is planned as a four-year framework running from 1 June 2027 to 31 May 2031. According to the preliminary market engagement notice published on 5 June, the framework will cover a broad range of construction and building services projects across large parts of England.

The proposed framework is expected to replace the current LINK arrangement, which is due to expire on 31 May 2027. The existing framework supports projects ranging from smaller works of around £10,000 through to major schemes worth up to £40m, divided across five lots.

Several well-known contractors are currently involved in the existing programme, including Dalkia, Kier, Morgan Sindall and Wates.

The timing of Concertus’ new engagement notice is notable because Suffolk County Council had previously outlined its own successor framework in a pipeline notice issued in May 2025. That earlier opportunity was estimated at £500m excluding VAT, or £600m including VAT.

However, Suffolk County Council has now published a termination notice confirming that the previous proposal will not proceed to contract award. No explanation was given in the notice for the decision to discontinue the procurement.

Concertus is part of Vertas, the Ipswich-based facilities management group.

What this means for suppliers

The launch of early engagement for the LINK14 framework signals a major upcoming opportunity for contractors and building services providers looking to secure a place on a long-term public sector construction vehicle.

With a potential value of £1bn including VAT, the framework is likely to attract significant interest from national and regional suppliers. Businesses considering participation should begin preparing early by reviewing likely lot structures, assessing relevant experience, and ensuring they can evidence capacity, compliance and social value credentials.

How mytender.io can help

For suppliers targeting large public sector frameworks such as LINK14, the quality of the bid response can be the difference between securing a place and missing out.

mytender.io is AI bid writing software designed to help businesses produce stronger, more consistent tender responses. It supports teams by helping structure answers, improve clarity, align responses to evaluation criteria and reduce the time spent drafting repetitive sections.

For construction, facilities management and building services firms, mytender.io can support the development of high-quality responses across areas such as methodology, mobilisation, health and safety, quality management, sustainability, social value and relevant project experience.

As major frameworks become increasingly competitive, tools like mytender.io can help bid teams work faster while maintaining a clear, compliant and persuasive submission

Book a demo today

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

The first stage of the £3.2bn Arden Cross regeneration programme is set to move closer to delivery after the Department for Transport confirmed that land around the planned HS2 Interchange station in Solihull will begin to be released from 2030.

The update gives project partners greater certainty over when key development plots can come forward, particularly those allocated for the Arden Cross HealthTech Campus. The campus is expected to form the initial phase of the wider Arden Cross masterplan.

Following the government’s latest HS2 reset, Arden Cross Ltd, Muse, which is owned by Morgan Sindall, and the University of Warwick are now preparing to progress their joint masterplanning work. The partners are also expected to step up conversations with potential occupiers, investors and delivery partners.

Industry data provider Glenigan has estimated the first phase of the Arden Cross development at around £1bn, while the complete masterplan is understood to carry a gross development value of approximately £3.2bn.

The revised timetable means commercial development could begin ahead of the HS2 Interchange station opening. Discussions between HS2, the Department for Transport and Arden Cross stakeholders are understood to have helped bring forward the land-release schedule, including changes linked to station parking provision.

The wider Arden Cross vision includes new homes, employment space and infrastructure designed to support long-term economic growth in the West Midlands. Once fully developed, the scheme is expected to support thousands of new homes and create tens of thousands of jobs.

A central part of the first phase is the proposed HealthTech Campus, which aims to establish a major life sciences, healthcare and medical technology hub. The campus is intended to connect academic research, NHS expertise, private investment and innovation-led businesses, with the University of Warwick playing a key role in shaping the cluster.

Muse Midlands managing director Maggie Grogan said the updated programme allows the partners to continue developing the masterplan so that early phases are ready to proceed once land becomes available from 2030.

West Midlands mayor Richard Parker also welcomed the progress, saying the scheme would help strengthen the region’s position in health technology, attract investment and support the delivery of jobs and housing.

What this means for contractors and suppliers

Major regeneration schemes such as Arden Cross create significant opportunities across construction, infrastructure, professional services, health technology, facilities management and long-term estate operations.

As the first phase moves closer to procurement, businesses will need to be ready to identify opportunities early, understand buyer priorities and respond with clear, compliant and compelling bids.

That is where mytender.io can support suppliers.

mytender.io is an AI bid writing platform designed to help businesses produce stronger tender responses faster. For companies looking to win work on complex regeneration, infrastructure and public-sector-linked projects, mytender.io helps teams:

• Structure responses around the buyer’s exact requirements;

• Improve quality, clarity and compliance;

• Reduce the time spent drafting repetitive bid content;

• Turn previous bid material into reusable, high-quality answers;

• Collaborate more effectively across commercial, technical and operational teams.

With major schemes like Arden Cross set to generate opportunities across multiple sectors, suppliers that prepare early will be better placed to compete. mytender.io gives bid teams the tools to respond with confidence, improve consistency and increase their chances of winning high-value contracts.

Book a demo today

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

HS2 has begun early market engagement for a major package of interim maintenance contracts, with a potential value of £1.24bn including VAT.

The proposed Interim Maintenance Contracts are expected to cover the period between the completion of key civil engineering works and the mobilisation of future rail systems contractors. HS2 has indicated that the arrangements could begin in December 2027 and continue through to the end of 2037.

The work is likely to include the upkeep, protection and day-to-day management of assets delivered through HS2’s main works civils programme. This could involve civil engineering maintenance, land management, environmental and landscape infrastructure upkeep, and the management of temporary facilities.

The scope may also extend to security services, principal contractor responsibilities and professional services. HS2 has also identified several possible optional services, including landscape design, the creation of planted areas and smaller-scale local civil engineering works.

The engagement process is part of wider preparations for changes to HS2’s delivery model following the government-backed reset of the programme.

Through the market engagement exercise, HS2 is seeking to understand supplier interest, possible delivery models, risk-sharing approaches and commercial structures before launching a formal procurement process.

The organisation is also inviting views on consortium models, specialist supply chain capability and how the contracts could be structured to support effective delivery over the proposed ten-year period.

HS2 has made clear that taking part in the engagement exercise will not be required in order to participate in any future procurement.

A formal tender notice is currently expected in November 2026.

What this means for bid teams

For suppliers in infrastructure maintenance, civil engineering, facilities management, environmental services and security, this is an early signal of a significant future opportunity. The scale, duration and breadth of the proposed contracts mean bidders may need to start considering partnerships, specialist subcontractors, evidence requirements and commercial risk positions well ahead of the formal tender.

Large infrastructure procurements of this kind often require substantial preparation, particularly where consortium arrangements, multidisciplinary delivery models and long-term asset management responsibilities are involved.

How mytender.io can help

mytender.io helps bid teams prepare stronger, faster and more consistent tender responses using AI-powered bid writing software.

For opportunities like HS2’s proposed Interim Maintenance Contracts, mytender.io can support teams by helping them organise previous bid content, draft high-quality responses, align answers to evaluation criteria and improve consistency across complex submissions.

The platform is designed to help suppliers turn their existing knowledge, case studies and technical expertise into clearer, more compelling tender responses, reducing manual effort while improving bid quality.

Book a demo today!

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

Arcus Facilities Management has been appointed to deliver a five-year, fully integrated facilities management contract for Santander UK, following a competitive market review. The agreement covers the bank’s full operational footprint across the UK and marks a material step up in scope from Arcus’ previous role supporting elements of Santander’s retail engineering requirements.

From Specialist Support to End-to-End FM Delivery

The new contract significantly broadens Arcus’ remit. Rather than focusing on a narrower engineering brief, Arcus will now take responsibility for an end-to-end facilities management model designed to bring greater consistency and performance across a high-profile banking portfolio that includes both customer-facing locations and critical infrastructure.

This expansion reflects Arcus’ sustained investment in its corporate and mission-critical proposition over recent years, including strengthening leadership capability, operating processes and national delivery capacity to support complex estates at scale.

A Consolidation Strategy for a Complex National Portfolio

Santander’s market review was driven by a strategic objective familiar across major organisations: simplify the supplier landscape while improving resilience, governance and service consistency. By consolidating delivery under a single strategic partner, Santander aims to standardise service levels across sites, enhance operational control, and create a platform for continuous improvement across the estate for colleagues and customers.

The Scale of the Santander UK Estate

The portfolio spans a wide cross-section of operational environments, including:

• Two flagship Head Office campuses in Milton Keynes and London

• Multiple regional offices and corporate locations

• Approximately 350 retail branches nationwide

• Two data centres supporting critical operations

The diversity of this footprint increases the challenge of delivering uniform service quality, particularly when requirements range from customer experience in retail settings to uptime, compliance and risk management in mission-critical environments.

What Arcus Will Deliver

Under the new agreement, Arcus will provide a comprehensive facilities management service suite, spanning day-to-day site operations as well as selected back-office functions. The delivery model is expected to combine onsite and mobile coverage, supported by a central service function.

Planned service coverage includes:

• Engineering services and maintenance

• Cleaning and environmental services

• Front-of-house and workplace support

• Energy support services

• Selected back-office facilities functions

Operationally, the contract will be delivered via a blended resource model:

• Resident engineers embedded at larger sites and critical locations

• A nationwide mobile engineering network supporting retail branches

• A UK-based 24/7 helpdesk providing always-on support, triage and coordination

Projects Capability Also Strengthened

The award also reinforces the relationship between Santander and Arcus’ Projects division, providing a joined-up pathway for ongoing estate investment, upgrades and development activity. For organisations managing large multi-site portfolios, aligning facilities management delivery with a capable projects function can reduce friction between maintenance and change programmes, particularly when refurbishment, compliance upgrades or energy initiatives are running in parallel.

Leadership Perspective

Both organisations have positioned the appointment as a logical evolution of an existing partnership, emphasising confidence in Arcus’ ability to operate at national scale and support a diverse range of building types and critical environments. For Arcus, the contract represents a high-visibility endorsement of its corporate and mission-critical strategy, and a major statement in a market where fully integrated facilities management contracts of this size are increasingly uncommon.

What This Signals for the FM Market

Large, integrated facilities management awards like this tend to have a few common themes that bidders can learn from:

1. Supplier rationalisation remains a strong buyer priority: fewer partners, clearer accountability, tighter governance

2. Scale alone is not enough: buyers look for evidence of consistency, resilience, and an operating model proven across multiple site types

3. Mission-critical competence is a differentiator, especially where estates include data centres or high-risk environments

4. Mobilisation readiness matters: credible transition planning and early-life support are often decisive

5. Performance storytelling must be provable: service data, continuous improvement outcomes, and case studies need to be easy to validate

Tailored for mytender.io: Turning Contract Announcements into Bid-Winning Advantage

Announcements like this are more than industry news. They are a blueprint for how major buyers evaluate risk, capability and value. For facilities management providers and service partners, the real opportunity is in converting these signals into sharper, more evidence-led bids.

mytender.io helps teams do exactly that by turning bid work into a repeatable, strategic process:

• Deconstruct evaluation intent: Identify what the buyer really cares about, such as resilience, mobilisation, compliance, customer experience and national consistency, then map responses directly to it

• Build stronger proof libraries: Capture estate-scale evidence such as KPIs, mobilisation plans, staffing models, SLAs and governance frameworks, so it is ready to deploy quickly and consistently

• Standardise quality across a team: Ensure every contributor writes to the same structure, tone and scoring logic, reducing variance and last-minute rewrites

• Post-bid insight that compounds: Learn from outcomes, what landed, what did not, where proof was thin, then feed that learning into the next submission

If your organisation competes for multi-site or mission-critical facilities management work, the difference between a good bid and a winning bid is often the same thing Santander’s review was designed to secure: confidence that delivery will be consistent at scale. mytender.io helps you demonstrate that confidence clearly, credibly, and fast.

Book a demo today!

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

  Subscribe now

Birmingham City Council has launched an early market engagement exercise ahead of a large scale works framework expected to cover a wide range of construction activity across the authority’s buildings and infrastructure.

The council is sounding out suppliers on a programme with an estimated overall value of £1.85bn, spanning construction, refurbishment, demolition and specialist works linked to its wider property and infrastructure needs. The framework is proposed to run for four years, from November 2026 to November 2030, and may be made available for use by other public bodies across the West Midlands.

Supporting a multi-billion pound estate and investment pipeline

The authority has indicated that the framework will help deliver work across a property, plant and equipment estate valued at roughly £7bn, alongside continuing investment programmes that include schools, housing delivery and transport infrastructure. By establishing a single, structured route to market, the council aims to standardise how projects are procured and delivered, particularly where programmes span multiple sites, trades and timeframes.

In its engagement materials, the council has positioned the framework as a way to create a clear and compliant procurement pathway for both general works and specialist packages. A key objective is to reduce procurement complexity, introduce greater consistency across projects, and provide a more predictable pipeline for suppliers.

Value, scope and likely lot structure

While the headline figure is £1.85bn, the council has also stated an estimated value of £1.54bn excluding VAT. The scope is expected to be divided into multiple lots, likely covering areas such as:

• Refurbishment and upgrade works, potentially including high volume programmes

• Planned works and lifecycle maintenance

• New build projects across priority sectors

• Demolition and enabling works

• Specialist trade packages where additional capability is required

One significant theme is the council’s intention to consolidate high-volume refurbishment activity into a more streamlined delivery model. That typically signals a desire to move away from repeated, one-off procurement exercises and towards a more standardised approach that can be called off efficiently, especially useful for large estates with ongoing improvement needs.

What the council wants to learn from the market

As part of the request for information stage, Birmingham City Council is seeking supplier feedback on practical design choices that will shape the eventual tender. Topics include:

• How the lots should be structured to balance capacity, competition and specialist coverage

• Pricing mechanisms, including approaches suitable for fluctuating input costs

• Risk allocation, what the market sees as bankable and deliverable

• Supplier capacity across multiple construction trades and programme types

• How to better enable SMEs and local supply chains to participate and grow

• Social value delivery, including how suppliers can support wider Birmingham and West Midlands outcomes

The council has also linked this framework to its wider procurement approach, noting alignment with other recent initiatives, including a highways framework, suggesting a broader push for consistency and clearer supplier routes across different delivery areas.

Opportunity for regional and national contractors plus SMEs

The framework is expected to attract regional and national contractors, but the council has stated an intention to increase opportunities for SMEs and local supply chains. In practice, that could mean a lot structure that supports specialist SMEs as direct bidders on certain packages, or encourages larger primes to demonstrate robust, measurable subcontracting and local engagement models.

For suppliers, the engagement stage is an important chance to influence how accessible the framework will be, particularly on matters like minimum turnover thresholds, insurance levels, packaging of trades, and whether there is room for smaller regional firms to win work without being crowded out.

Key dates

• RFI response deadline: 22 May

• Planned tender notice: September 2026

• Anticipated start date: November 2026

• Planned end date: November 2030

How mytender.io helps suppliers turn engagement into an advantage

Early market engagement is where frameworks are often won before the tender is even published, because suppliers who respond well help shape the lotting, pricing model and risk position that ultimately determine deliverability.

mytender.io helps contractors and consultants make the most of this stage by enabling you to:

• Draft stronger, more persuasive RFI responses that clearly explain capacity, delivery models and risk positions

• Translate council priorities into crisp social value commitments with measurable outcomes such as local jobs, apprenticeships, supply chain spend and skills

• Build a reusable library of project evidence including case studies, accreditations, CVs and policies so you’re not starting from scratch when the tender drops

• Prepare framework ready answers for common evaluation themes like programme management, quality control, health and safety, carbon reduction, resident liaison and supply chain resilience

• Standardise internal reviews so your submission is consistent, compliant and clearly aligned to what evaluators are actually looking for

If you’re planning to respond to Birmingham’s RFI, or want to get your framework content tender ready ahead of the September 2026 notice, mytender.io can help you move faster, write better, and reuse your best evidence without copy paste chaos.

Book a demo today!

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

• “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

• “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

• “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

• “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

• “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

• “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

• “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

Subscribe now

A major new hyperscale data centre has been approved for west London after planners backed a £1bn scheme proposed by a joint venture between Pure Data Centres Group and logistics property specialist SEGRO.

Consent was granted by the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation for a site at Premier Park, where the development will regenerate an underused industrial plot by replacing an obsolete warehouse with a purpose-built digital infrastructure facility.

Designed by architecture practice Scott Brownrigg, the project is set to become one of the most significant new data centre investments in the capital. Industry data firm Glenigan has placed the construction value at around £1bn, reflecting the scale of the build and the specialist engineering requirements typically associated with hyperscale operations.

What’s being built

The approved plans outline a three-storey building arranged around nine data halls, alongside supporting office accommodation. In total, the scheme provides approximately 22,365 square metres of floorspace.

In addition to the main structure, the facility will include extensive supporting infrastructure including plant and equipment areas, storage space, and a secure entrance pavilion intended to manage access and operational security.

Power provision is central to the design. The site will be supplied via a dedicated substation with capacity to support up to 72MW, aligning the development with the high energy demands of large-scale cloud and enterprise computing. The layout adopts a linear configuration, a format often selected for hyperscale campuses because it can improve airflow planning, simplify servicing, and maximise usable IT capacity.

Architecture and public-facing design

While the building is industrial in purpose, the design team has placed notable emphasis on how it will be seen from surrounding transport routes, particularly nearby rail lines. The external envelope is planned to use a varied palette of materials to introduce texture and depth, with the façade intended to shift visually under different light conditions to avoid a flat, monolithic appearance.

Environmental targets and site enhancements

The scheme is targeting a BREEAM Excellent rating for the overall development, with the office component designed to reach an A-rated EPC.

Sustainability features described within the plans include rainwater harvesting, photovoltaic panels and the option to incorporate heat recovery systems, an increasingly common consideration for data centres as operators explore ways to reuse waste heat.

Landscaping and ecological measures also form part of the proposal, with biodiversity enhancements expected through native planting, ecological buffer zones and sustainable drainage systems. The plans also include outdoor amenity space and facilities to support active travel, such as cycling provision.

Next steps and timeline

Scott Brownrigg said the project has progressed through a collaborative planning process with the developer team, OPDC and stakeholders. Construction is currently anticipated to begin in 2026.

What this means for firms bidding on complex infrastructure projects and how mytender.io helps

High-value, specialist developments like hyperscale data centres rarely hinge on a single discipline. Winning work on projects of this scale typically requires bidders to bring together compelling evidence across planning compliance, security, energy strategy, sustainability standards such as BREEAM and EPC, design quality, programme certainty and delivery risk.

That is where mytender.io can support contractors, consultants and suppliers competing for packages on data centre and advanced technology schemes:

• Faster, more consistent bid responses. mytender.io helps teams produce structured, professional answers aligned to common evaluation themes such as quality, methodology, health and safety, programme and risk without reinventing the wheel each time.

• Stronger compliance and traceability. Keep responses anchored to your source material such as policies, case studies, CVs and project sheets, reducing gaps and improving confidence during internal reviews.

• Better reuse of proven content. Capture lessons learned and winning narratives from past bids, then adapt them quickly for new opportunities, especially useful when timelines are tight and stakeholder input is fragmented.

  Book a demo today!

  ---

  Check out some case studies below:

  Stadium FM

  “Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

  Professional Security

  “The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

  Empro

  “I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

  robidco

  “mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

  Paprec

  “mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

  Mount Charles

  “We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

  The Society of St James

  “mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

Subscribe now

Two sizeable housing developments in Liverpool’s Baltic Triangle have cleared the planning hurdle, unlocking a combined investment of around £70m and triggering an active search for main contractors.

The schemes are being promoted by Davos Property Developments, part of the wider TJ Morris group, and are located at Greenland Street and Blundell Street—both within the city’s fast-evolving Baltic tech and creative district. With consent now in place, attention shifts from design and approvals to delivery: packaging the works, firming up construction programmes, and appointing supply chain partners.

A person familiar with the projects said the developer is keen to maintain momentum and move at pace, which typically means early engagement with capable contractors and a focus on buildability, logistics, and procurement certainty.

Two sites, two distinct propositions

Although the two schemes sit in the same wider neighbourhood, they offer different development profiles—one a taller mixed-use residential block with amenity, the other a stepped building integrating heritage re-use.

Greenland Street: 13-storey mixed-use residential with amenity and workspace

The larger of the two projects is the £57m Greenland Street development. Plans show a building rising to 13 storeys, delivering a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom homes, alongside townhouses. The scheme also includes commercial space, a gym, and co-working facilities, reflecting a wider trend in city-centre living where residential density is paired with on-site services and flexible work space.

From a delivery perspective, a scheme of this height and complexity can involve a more intensive set of considerations—vertical logistics, façade strategy, MEP coordination, fire strategy compliance, and construction sequencing—making contractor capability and early planning critical.

Blundell Street: apartments plus commercial, with warehouse re-purposing

The £13m Blundell Street project provides 59 apartments and three ground-floor commercial units, with a massing approach that steps up from five storeys at the Simpson Street junction to seven storeys along Blundell Street, before tapering down to meet a neighbouring three-storey warehouse.

A standout feature is the adaptive re-use element: the existing warehouse is to be creatively converted into new homes, with the new-build portion connected via a bridging link. Blending refurbishment and new construction often creates a different risk profile—surveys, structural unknowns, temporary works, and careful interfaces—so contractors experienced in mixed-scope projects may find this particularly well-suited to their skillset.

Design team and wider regeneration context

Both schemes have been designed by Falconer Chester Hall’s Liverpool studio, and they sit within Davos Property’s broader commitment to Liverpool regeneration. The developer is also progressing other major sites, including the substantial Kings development planned to the north of the Pier Head, signalling sustained long-term investment rather than one-off projects.

What contractors will likely be thinking about now

With consent secured, the next phase typically accelerates quickly. Contractors considering engagement will usually want clarity on:

• Procurement route (traditional vs design & build, single-stage vs two-stage)

• Programme expectations and any early works requirements

• Site constraints (access, lifting strategy, neighbour interfaces, working hours)

• Value engineering appetite and specification flexibility

• Supply chain availability (façade, MEP, fit-out, fire-stopping capacity)

• Refurbishment scope certainty for the warehouse element at Blundell Street

Even without those details published here, the key takeaway is simple: the planning gate has been passed, and the developer is now moving into delivery conversations.

How mytender.io can help contractors respond faster and win more work

If you’re a contractor looking to pursue opportunities like these, the bottleneck is rarely capability—it’s time and consistency across PQQs, method statements, quality submissions, social value responses, and programme narratives.

mytender.io is an AI bid-writing platform built to help teams produce higher-quality submissions in less time.

We can help you:

• Turn past bid content into a structured, reusable bid library

• Draft and tailor responses to match the exact question intent (not generic waffle)

• Keep tone, evidence, and compliance consistent across multiple contributors

• Accelerate first drafts so your team can focus on review, differentiation, and proof

• Improve win rates by reducing errors and strengthening “why us” storytelling

If you’re planning to approach the developer team, respond to an invitation, or prepare for a competitive tender, mytender.io can help you get a polished, compliant submission over the line, without burning weekends to do it.

Book a demo today!

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

“Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

“The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

“I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

“mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

“mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

“We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

“mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

Subscribe now

Hull City Council has moved a major waterfront regeneration project a step closer, progressing proposals for a new neighbourhood on long derelict land on the east bank of the River Hull, directly across from the city’s Old Town.

Working alongside regeneration partner ECF, the joint venture backed by Homes England and Legal and General, the council’s vision is to reshape a stretch of brownfield docklands into a mixed use district of homes, public spaces and leisure activity. The programme is expected to roll out in phases over roughly the next 15 years, reflecting both the scale of the site and the infrastructure needed to make it viable.

Hybrid application lodged for East Bank Urban Village

A hybrid planning application has now been submitted for the East Bank Urban Village. This approach combines detailed consent for the first stage of works with outline approval for the wider masterplan, enabling early delivery while keeping flexibility for later phases as the market and local needs evolve.

The detailed element covers phase one, which is set to deliver 115 affordable homes. The first tranche includes 37 townhouses and 78 flats across two buildings, alongside essential enabling and infrastructure works designed to unlock the wider site.

Bigger picture: a long term mixed use neighbourhood

Beyond the initial phase, the outline proposals describe a broader plan for around 850 homes in total. Later stages are expected to be weighted towards build to rent development, alongside additional affordable housing options. The masterplan also signals a focus on creating a place that functions as more than a housing estate, with space for leisure uses, local amenities and public realm improvements intended to draw residents and visitors into the area.

Crucially, the emphasis is on weaving the docklands back into the city, rather than treating it as an isolated development. Plans include new streets and public squares, plus a riverside promenade that supports day to day walking, cycling and spending time by the water.

From redundant docklands to a connected waterfront

The site has deep roots in Hull’s maritime history, but has been largely underused for decades. In its current form, it is characterised by surface car parking and vacant plots, a common challenge for post industrial waterfronts where the cost and complexity of remediation can stall investment.

The ambition now is to replace that gap in the urban fabric with a coherent network of routes and spaces. Proposed active travel links are intended to connect into the Fruit Market and surrounding neighbourhoods, helping the area feel like a natural extension of the city centre rather than a standalone enclave.

Funding to help unlock early delivery

To help bring the early stages forward, the project has secured nearly £10m of Levelling Up Partnership funding. This is aimed at enabling works and infrastructure, the kind of upfront investment that can reduce risk and make it more feasible for subsequent phases to follow at pace.

Raife Gale, senior development manager, said the goal is to create a sustainable new neighbourhood where people want to live, work and spend time, highlighting the importance of quality homes, attractive public spaces and fresh leisure and business opportunities.

Part of a wider city centre housing push

The East Bank plans are also positioned within Hull’s wider city centre ambitions, contributing to a target of 2,500 homes. As well as providing new housing supply, the scheme is framed as a catalyst project, one designed to build momentum, demonstrate confidence in the waterfront and encourage further private sector investment under the city’s broader regeneration strategy.

If delivered as envisaged, East Bank Urban Village would represent one of Hull’s most significant city centre expansions in years, a long term play to convert underused riverside land into a neighbourhood that supports housing needs, strengthens the urban core, and reintroduces the waterfront as a lived in, everyday part of the city.

How mytender.io fits into regeneration programmes like East Bank

Large, phased regeneration projects rely on a constant pipeline of procurement activity, from remediation and enabling works to infrastructure, design teams, contractors, and long term operations. That means success isn’t only about the masterplan; it’s also about consistently producing high quality tender responses, maintaining compliance, and learning from every bid cycle.

mytender.io is an AI bid writing platform that helps teams involved in public sector procurement produce stronger, faster, more consistent submissions. For councils, development partnerships, and delivery supply chains working on multi year programmes, mytender.io can support:

• Faster, more structured bid drafting across repeated tenders and frameworks, reducing the burden on overstretched teams

• Compliance led responses that stay aligned to evaluation criteria, ensuring requirements are clearly mapped and evidenced

• Reusable knowledge and content libraries so lessons learned and best answers carry forward across phases and lots

• Post bid insights to understand why bids won or lost, turning outcomes into practical improvements for the next opportunity

mytender.io becomes most valuable once you’re actively bidding, helping delivery partners respond with clarity, consistency and speed as regeneration programmes move from concept to construction and long term place making

Book a demo today!

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

“Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

“The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

“I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

“mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

“mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

“We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

“mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

Subscribe now

UK construction activity posted a modest gain in February, with a stronger than expected uptick in private housebuilding helping lift overall output by 1% over the month. While the improvement offers a welcome change in tone, it does little to dispel concerns that the wider recovery remains fragile.

According to the latest ONS figures, the headline rise was largely driven by private housing new work, which climbed 4.3% in February and was the single biggest contributor to growth. The bounce in housebuilding was echoed elsewhere too, with total new work up 1.0% and repair and maintenance increasing 0.9% compared with January.

A monthly lift, but the underlying trend is still weak

Despite February’s improvement, the broader picture continues to point to a market that is struggling to build sustained momentum. On a rolling basis, construction output fell 2% in the three months to February 2026, extending the downturn to a fifth consecutive decline in the trend series.

The longer run slowdown was led by weakening new work, which declined 3.4% across the three month period. Notably, the same segment that helped drive February’s rise, private housing, was also cited as a key drag over the quarter, falling 6.5% in the trend data.

Meanwhile, repair and maintenance showed flat performance across the three months, reinforcing the sense that activity is not yet broad based enough to signal a robust rebound. With six out of nine construction sectors contracting over the quarter, the figures suggest February’s improvement may represent a short term lift rather than a decisive turning point.

What’s holding the market back?

Industry observers remain cautious, pointing to a mix of international uncertainty and domestic cost pressures that could dampen confidence in the months ahead. Even where workload is improving, contractors and clients are still navigating constraints that can delay decisions and disrupt delivery, particularly around procurement, pricing, and supply chain reliability.

Clive Docwra, managing director of property and construction consultancy McBains, said the rise in February orders will be encouraging after a weak trend period, but warned the detail remains uneven. He noted that while private new housing performed better than expected in February, commercial orders fell 0.9% over the month.

He also cautioned against complacency about the outlook, pointing to the potential knock on effects of supply chain delays, higher manufacturing and transport costs, broader inflation pressures, and elevated borrowing costs, all of which may filter through into tender pricing and investor appetite, potentially slowing project starts and completions.

The takeaway

February’s data hints that housing is beginning to stabilise on a month to month basis, but the wider market is still contending with a soft pipeline, uneven sector performance, and persistent cost headwinds. For contractors and suppliers, the challenge is likely to remain less about winning more work in the abstract, and more about winning the right work, at the right margin, with fewer surprises after appointment.

mytender.io: turning tender volatility into an advantage

In a market where opportunities are uneven and pricing pressures are building, the organisations that perform best are often those that professionalise how they bid, treating every submission as an asset, not a one off scramble.

mytender.io helps teams do exactly that. As an AI bid writing platform, it supports faster, more consistent tender production by helping teams structure responses, reuse strong content intelligently, and stay aligned to buyer criteria, without losing the voice and judgement that make bids credible.

More importantly in today’s conditions, it enables a disciplined feedback loop, capturing what worked, what did not, and why, so every no becomes input for a stronger yes next time. When bid volumes are pressured and competition is tight, that kind of learning system can be the difference between surviving on effort and winning through repeatable performance.

Book a demo today

Check out some case studies below:

Stadium FM

“Stadium FM have been using the brilliant mytender.io platform to save a ton of time and headaches, whilst being able to win more work.”

Professional Security

“The customer service is impeccable... We have saved in excess of 250 hours on just 9 tenders already.”

Empro

“I have worked with Sam and the Team at mytender.io for the last year and have seen the tool develop and transform into an innovative industry-leading platform…”

robidco

“mytender.io is the best AI tender writing tool I’ve seen and used, and way ahead of anything Gemini/Copilot can achieve. I’m still trying to find the right analogy to…”

Paprec

“mytender.io has completely transformed how we approach bid writing. What impressed me most wasn’t just the time savings - though cutting 75% off our tender prep time is huge - it was how the quality actually improved.”

Mount Charles

“We have noticed that the more we use the system the more it reflects our writing style. Based on the feedback from awarded bids we are scoring higher and more consistently on quality.”

The Society of St James

“mytender.io has transformed how we approach grants and tenders, saving huge amounts of time on analysis, documentation, win themes and drafting. I can now focus on quality, model and continuity rather than word counts and compliance checks.”

Subscribe now