Torus62 Ltd: Phoenix House Development

UK-St Helens: Construction work.

Preliminary Questions
   This notice is published by:
   Directive 2014/24/EU

Section I: Contracting authority/entity

I.1) Name and addresses
       Torus62 Limited
       Helena Central, 4 Corporation Street, St Helens, WA9 1LD, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 7718707048, Email: procurementteam@torus.co.uk
       Contact: Procurement Manager
       Main Address: https://www.torus.co.uk
       NUTS Code: UKD

I.4) Type of the contracting authority (in the case of a notice published by a contracting authority)
      Body governed by public law

I.5) Main Activity (in the case of a notice published by a contracting authority)
      Housing and community amenities


Section II: Object

II.1) Scope of the procurement
   
   II.1.1) Title: Phoenix House Development.
      Reference number: Not Provided
      
   II.1.2) Main CPV code:
      45000000 - Construction work.
   
   II.1.3) Type of contract: WORKS
   
   II.1.4) Short Description: Intention to award a Public Works contract under Regulation 32(2) (b) (iii) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 for the development of a single site at Phoenix House, Winsford. The Negotiated Procedure without Prior Publication is being followed and is justified under Regulation 32 (2) (b) (iii).
   
   II.1.6) Information about lots
      This contract is divided into lots: No

   II.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
      Value: 19,624,440      
      Currency: GBP


II.2) Description

   II.2.2) Additional CPV codes:
      45000000 - Construction work.
      45211100 - Construction work for houses.
   

   II.2.3) Place of performance:
      UKD NORTH WEST (ENGLAND)
   
   
   II.2.4) Description of the procurement:
    This Notice sets out the contracting authority’s intention to award a works contract using the negotiated procedure without prior publication, in accordance with Regulation 32 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
The contracting authority is proposing to award a works contract to Equans Regeneration Limited Company Number 01738371 (“Equans”).
The works contract will be in the form of a JCT Design and Build contract (2016 edition) with Schedule of Amendments and will provide for the development of 99 homes by Equans.
The works contract is intended to commence on or after January 2024 (subject to final agreement) and the works are intended to be completed in 2025. The contract value is estimated to be £19,624,440 excluding VAT.
The works can only be provided by a particular economic operator for the following reason: protection of exclusive rights under Regulation 32 (2) (b) (iii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.    
   
   II.2.5) Award criteria
   (Directive 2014/24/EU / Directive 2014/25/EU)
               
    Not provided       
      
      
   II.2.11) Information about options:
      Options:    No       
   
   II.2.13) Information about European Union funds:
      The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:    No

   II.2.14) Additional information:
    This VEAT notice demonstrates the intention to award a public works contract using the Negotiated Procedure without prior publication (Regulation 32 (2) (b) (iii)). The detailed explanation for the use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication is set out in Annex D. This contract has not yet been entered into and a contract award notice will be published following award.    
      
Section IV: Procedure

IV.1) Description
   
   IV.1.1) Type of procedure: Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below         
   
   IV.1.3) Information about framework agreement
         The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement: No    
   
   IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
         The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:Yes
         
IV.2)Administrative Information

   IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure:
      Notice number in OJ S: Not provided       
   
Section V: Award Of Contract/Concession
      
Award of Contract/Concession No: 1
Contract No: Not Provided    Lot Number: Not Provided    Title: Not Provided

V.2) Award of contract/concession
      
      V.2.1) Date of contract award decision: 06/12/2023.
      
      V.2.2) Information about tenders
      The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No .

      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire, No. 1:
          Equans Regeneration Limited, 01738371
       First Floor, Neon, Q10, Qurorum Business Park, Benton Lane, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE12 8BU, United Kingdom
       NUTS Code: UKD
   The contractor/concessionaire will be an SME: No    
   
         
      V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession:
         Initial estimated total value of the contract: Not Provided          
         Total value of the contract/lot/concession 19,624,440         
         Currency: GBP

      V.2.5) Information about subcontracting:
         The contract is likely to be subcontracted: No          


Section VI: Complementary Information

   VI.3) Additional Information:
      This VEAT notice demonstrates the intention to award a public works contract using the Negotiated Procedure without prior publication (Regulation 32 (2) (b) (iii)). This contract has not yet been entered into and a contract award notice will be published following award.
To view this notice, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=765938797
GO-2023127-PRO-24711958 TKR-2023127-PRO-24711957   
   VI.4) Procedures for review
   
      VI.4.1) Review Body
          High Court of England of Wales
       Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, London, WC2A 2LL, United Kingdom
   
      V1.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures:
         Not Provided .

      VI.4.3) Review procedure
      Not Provided    
      
      VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
         Not Provided
   
   VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice: 07/12/2023


Annex D1 - General Procurement
Justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union
Directive 2014/24/EU


2. Other justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union

   The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive: Yes

3. Explanation

   Please explain in a clear and comprehensive manner why the award of the contract without prior publication in the Official Journal of the European Union is
   lawful, by stating the relevant facts and, as appropriate, the conclusions of law in accordance with the directive: (500 words maximum)
   The works can only be provided by a particular economic operator for the following reason: protection of exclusive rights under Regulation 32(2)(b)(iii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The contracting authority has been approached by Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council (“the Council”), Cowest Services Limited (“Cowest”)and Equans regarding the freehold sale of land and buildings at Phoenix House Depot, Weaver Street, Winsford, Cheshire, a site currently within the Council’s ownership which it wishes to transfer for the development of 99 homes (“the Site”). The Council intends that the development of the Site will be carried out by Cowest, a joint venture company co-owned by the Council and Equans. Cowest has selected Equans as the contractor to carry out the development at the Site. The Council, Equans and Cowest approached the contracting authority as a registered provider of social housing, with the proposal that the contracting authority will take ownership of the Site and act as landlord in relation to the affordable homes once developed. The proposed structure of the transaction is as follows: 1.The Council agrees to transfer the Site to Cowest under its joint venture arrangement. 2.Cowest agrees to transfer the Site to Equans, (selected by Cowest as the contractor to carry out the works). 3. Equans agrees to transfer the Site to the contracting authority. A sale of land agreement will be entered into by all four parties. The sale of land agreement provides for the Council to transfer the Site to the contracting authority at the direction of Cowest and Equans. The transfer of the Site will therefore be directly from the Council to the contracting authority, in accordance with this direction. The value of the transfer is £1. This object of this element of the transaction is the transfer of land. It is a contractual condition in the sale of land agreement that Equans is appointed by the contracting authority to carry out the development works. The contracting authority therefore considers that the works can be supplied by only one economic operator, Equans, as it has exclusive rights in relation to the development and it is a condition of the sale that the contracting authority appoints Equans to carry out the works. The contracting authority further considers that the Council holds exclusive rights over the Site as the Site owner, which rights will pass to Cowest and Equans. This opportunity for the contracting authority to develop the Site exists solely as a result of those rights and the absence of competition is not a result of artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement by the contracting authority. The contracting authority considers that no reasonable alternative or substitute exists as this opportunity was presented to it by the Council, Cowest and Equans and there is no reasonable alternative route to purchase the Site without it being a condition of sale for the contracting authority to appoint Equans to undertake any development works.