Decision

The Director of Neighbourhood Services has
decided to award a contract with effect from 02/03/2026 to
29/02/2028 at a total contract price of £430,000 to E.A. Reed
& Sons Ltd to provide a comprehensive range of operated
machinery and plant to support the delivery of hard landscaping and
associated groundworks across the borough’s parks and open
spaces.

Reasons for the decision

This contract is intended to support the Parks
and Countryside Department by providing a comprehensive range of
machinery and plant, each supplied with a suitably qualified and
experienced operative. The primary purpose is to carry out a
variety of hard landscaping and infrastructure-related tasks across
Wirral’s parks and open spaces. This contract will contribute
to the enhancement of public green infrastructure, ecological
improvements, and the overall quality of recreational
environments.

Typical works may include but are not limited to:

Site clearance and preparation
Installation of drainage systems
Construction of hard landscape features (e.g. paths, edging,
retaining structures)
Groundworks and earth shaping
Support for infrastructure improvements and ecological
enhancements.

The contract period for the works is from 02/03/2026 to
29/02/2028.

This service was commissioned via a contract using the open tender
procedure which was conducted in accordance with Council’s
Contract Procedure Rules and The Procurement Act 2023.

The procurement exercise involved publishing this opportunity on
The Chest to a total of 5 contractors. One bid was received. The
bid was scored based on:
• Quality – 30%
• Price – 60%
• Social Value – 10%
• Total – 100%

The award of the contract to E.A. Reed and Sons Ltd was within the
approved budget and in accordance with the Most Economically
Advantageous Tender criteria.

The cost of the project is being met from Revenue funding from
Parks and Countryside PPM codes and the repairs and maintenance to
foreshore code.

The award will be underpinned by a formal contract which will be
drawn up by the Council’s legal team.

Alternative options considered

Our procurement rules allow us to spend up to
£25,000 per financial year per contractor to carry out the
general hard landscaping tasks across Parks and Countryside but due
to contractors availability and the limited number of contractors
that we have available with the suitable plant and machinery we are
unable to fulfil the needs of the service regarding works required
in our Parks and Countryside sites which includes health and safety
works.

Awarding the contract to E.A. Reed & Sons Ltd will allow us to
progress with health and safety works, works identified in the
Green Flag management plans for our parks sites and essential day
to day works required for keeping our sites safe and secure for the
public.

Another option would be to not award the Contract but this would
mean that Parks and Countryside wouldn’t be able to undertake
hard landscaping and groundwork tasks. We would not be able to
carry out essential Health and Safety works which would lead to
accidents and claims. Our sites would not be suitably maintained
for use by the public which would lead to public dissatisfaction
and complaints.