FCC Environment keeps Harborough's bins, streets and parks on a £50.5m seven-year contract from April 2027. Only two firms bid, and Suez lost.

The company that empties Harborough district’s bins is keeping the job. FCC Environment (UK) Limited has been awarded the contract for waste and recycling collections, street cleansing and grounds maintenance from 1 April 2027, at a value of £50,464,999.03 excluding VAT.

The award notice went on Find a Tender on 4 September, three days after Cabinet approved it. It names the winner, which the published Cabinet papers did not.

What the notice says

The contract award notice is the first public record of who won and for how much.

  • Supplier: FCC Environment (UK) Limited, of Doncaster, company number 02902416
  • Value: £50,464,999.03 excluding VAT, or £51,474,299.01 including VAT
  • Contract dates: 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2034, a seven-year term
  • Possible extension: to 31 March 2041, “subject to KPI performance by supplier”, which would make 14 years
  • Tenders received: two, both assessed at the final stage, neither from a small or medium-sized business
  • Unsuccessful bidder: Suez Recycling and Recovery UK Ltd, named because the contract is worth more than £5 million
  • Award decision date: 1 September 2026

Three dates still have to pass. The standstill period, the window in which a losing bidder can challenge, ends on 16 September. The earliest the contract can be signed is 1 November 2026. Mobilisation is expected to start in October 2026, and the services themselves change hands on 1 April 2027.

The buyer running the process was Welland Procurement, the shared procurement service based at Melton Borough Council.

Harborough's environmental services contract, old and new Comparison showing the current Harborough District Council environmental services contract, held by FCC Recycling UK Limited at 5.6 million pounds a year and ending on 31 March 2027, against the new contract awarded to FCC Environment UK Limited, worth 50,464,999 pounds excluding VAT over seven years from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2034, an average of about 7.2 million pounds a year, with a possible extension to 31 March 2041. What the district pays to have its bins emptied Waste and recycling collections, street cleansing and grounds maintenance across Harborough district. Now, to 31 March 2027 FCC Recycling (UK) Limited £5.6m a year core contract, plus ancillary invoices From 1 April 2027, for seven years FCC Environment (UK) Limited about £7.2m a year £50,464,999 over the term Contract runs 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2034. Possible extension to 31 March 2041 on performance. The two figures are not like for like: the current price excludes ancillary costs, the new one is the estimated contract value. Source: contract award notice 2026/S 000-083915, Find a Tender, 4 September 2026; Cabinet report, 1 September 2026. Graphic by Harborough News

What it costs, against what it costs now

The council’s Cabinet report puts the current contract price at £5.6 million a year for the core services, “plus ancillary invoices each month”. The new contract averages about £7.2 million a year across its seven years.

The two numbers are not directly comparable. The current figure covers the core elements only, and the new figure is the estimated value of a contract that also folds in winter maintenance and gritting, which the council put with the same contractor to bring the services together.

There is more to pay on top. The fleet for grounds maintenance and street cleansing needs a capital uplift beyond the £343,600 already allocated for phase 2, and the extra amount sits in an exempt appendix. Full Council has to approve it before the contract can be signed.

The two published records give different dates for that vote. The Cabinet decision list says 28 September, and the council’s meetings calendar has full Council sitting that evening. The report itself says 14 September, when no Council meeting is listed.

How the winner was chosen

The procurement ran for about 18 months under the Procurement Act 2023, as a competitive flexible procedure in four stages. Bids were scored on quality at 60%, price at 35% and social value at 5%, with quality assessed through ten method statements marked from 0 to 5.

The council brought in WSP as technical consultants and DWF Law for legal support, alongside Welland Procurement.

The published records do not agree on how many firms were in the running. The Cabinet report says six organisations expressed an interest, one withdrew, five went through selection, and independent financial due diligence was done on “the three remaining bidders”. The award notice records two tenders received and two assessed at the final stage.

Why the papers did not name the winner

Appendices A, B, C and E to the Cabinet report were withheld under paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, on the grounds that they hold information about the financial or business affairs of a particular person. The scoring, the pricing and the capital costs are all in those appendices.

That is why the report Cabinet debated in public on 1 September referred only to “the recommended supplier in Appendix A”. The name became public when the award notice was published three days later.

The reorganisation problem sitting behind it

The report is candid about the awkward timing. It notes that when the procurement started, “Local Government Reorganisation was on the horizon, but the proposed model and timing of reorganisation was not fully understood”, and says arrangements would be made to transfer the contract to a new authority at “the vesting date (1 April 2028)”, either by novating it in full or by splitting it between the two future councils.

It adds that the process “does not and should not stop because of reorganisation”.

The report was written before 7 September, when the government put the reorganisation decision under review. A contract that runs to 2034 now outlasts a council whose own future is uncertain.

What it means for you

Nothing changes yet. The current contract runs to 31 March 2027 and your collections continue as they are. Check your day on our bin collection page.

The date to hold on to is 1 April 2027. That is day one of the new contract, and it is also when weekly food waste collections start, after the caddies delivered this summer.

For most households the practical answer is continuity. FCC has run these services for the council since 2009, and the council’s stated aim through the procurement was to keep the existing collection methods rather than put residents through several changes at once.

Two things could still move. A losing bidder can challenge during the standstill period, which ends on 16 September, and full Council has to approve the extra capital before the contract can be signed.

Sources

  • Contract award notice 2026/S 000-083915, Harborough District Council, published on Find a Tender 4 September 2026, for the supplier, the value, the contract dates, the extension, the standstill period, the number of tenders and the unsuccessful bidder.
  • Cabinet, 1 September 2026: report and decision list, Harborough District Council, for the £5.6m current price, the 18-month procurement, the evaluation weightings, the £343,600 capital allocation, the exempt appendices and the reorganisation paragraphs.
  • Meetings calendar, Harborough District Council, for the date of the next full Council meeting.