Bus Franchising - Dynamic Market for the South West

The purpose of this UK2 notice is to provide an update in relation to a previously published notice on the 20th October 2025.

Original UK2 OCID Reference: ocds-h6vhtk-05cf71

1. Contracting parties

The Welsh Ministers are the Franchising Authority for franchised bus services in Wales and contracts awarded under the QUDM will be entered into by the Welsh Ministers in this capacity. Transport for Wales will be responsible for administering and operating the QUDM and will manage procurement procedures and contract administration on behalf of both parties.

2. Progress on the Engagement Process

Due to unforeseen delays with the delivery of the Bus Franchising programme, the market engagement activity described in this original notice has taken longer than envisaged. The authority will be providing feedback to operators who have already responded to the initial notice in order to conclude this stage of the engagement process.

TfW would like to thank all operators who attended the Bus Franchising market engagement sessions held throughout 2025 and 2026, including operator 121 sessions, and for the feedback provided.

TfW will be holding two virtual South West Wales market engagement sessions, taking place on:

Thursday 24th September 2026 at 13:00-14:00

Wednesday 30th September 2026 at 10:30-11:30 (replacing the original date of Tuesday 22nd September 2026) to share the revised franchise packages and provide an update on proposed changes to the Dynamic Market structure.

The session will follow a "You Said, We Did" approach, showcasing the revised packages following consideration of feedback received through the previous engagement activity.

This session is not a new stage of market engagement and is not intended to seek further feedback on the revised package design. It is an opportunity for TfW to share the revised packages with operators following the feedback received. This notice should not be construed as an invitation for new operators to engage as further notices will be published, enabling these opportunities.

3. Future Notices

The contracting authorities will be placing future notices in relation to the further market engagement opportunities. It is recommended that operators continue to monitor the Sell2Wales website for future publications. Including potential additional UK2 notices to engage the market for a wider scope of input from operators, e.g; input into the draft terms and conditions, specification and service model.

Further notices may also be placed to engage the market for the North Wales, South East Wales, and Mid Wales regions, for the purposes of onboarding onto the Qualifying Utilities Dynamic Market.

Further instruction and operator engagement and support to onboard onto the QUDM will be included in the UK13 Dynamic Market Intention Notice, which we anticipate will be published shortly.

TfW also intends to provide further engagement and supplier support during the subsequent tendering process to assist QUDM Members in understanding and responding to individual procurements.