FORESTRY and Land Scotland (FLS) is gearing up to procure harvesting, extraction and chainsaw services for a new round of contracts and is surveying contractors to help it scope out the range and capacity of the sector.

The organisation has published a Prior Information Notice (PIN) to help it gain a clear picture and detailed understanding of the size, scope, capacity, and future aspirations of the marketplace, as well as identifying fresh approaches, or innovations.

The move comes as the organisation’s current suite of contracts and frameworks near their end, and it begins to assess potential options and opportunities for procuring services to deliver the felling and extraction of timber and by-products.

Doug Knox, FLS’ Head of Technical Services Group, said: “In order for us to operate effectively and efficiently we make use of external contractors to help us meet our objectives.

READ MORE: Forestry sector welcomes new Cabinet Secretary

“Finding out now – both from existing and potential suppliers – about the services they can offer, their capacity, preferred work locations, preferred pricing mechanisms and so on will help us to better plan our future operations.

“The more information we have the better, so we would encourage anyone who has the skills and offers the services we need to take part.”

The PIN is for information gathering purposes only and is not a call for competition or a contract. Not responding to the PIN will NOT disadvantage suppliers who bid for contracts as they are published.

It is anticipated that the new tender will be published in mid-late summer with contracts awarded in January 2022.

The PIN notice has been published on Public Contract Scotland (PCS). Anyone who is not registered on PCS but who would like to respond to the PIN can get more information here.

Forestry Journal remains dedicated to bringing you all the latest news and views from across our industry, plus up-to-date information on the impacts of COVID-19.

Please support us by subscribing to our print edition, delivered direct to your door, from as little at £75 for 1 year – or consider a digital subscription from just £1 for 3 months.

To arrange, follow this link: https://www.forestryjournal.co.uk/subscribe/

Thanks – and stay safe.