"Do we know if any of the previous experienced guys bothered to tender for this?"
Yes, based on their very successful previous nine years. But Silverstone obviously wanted a permanent heliport which I understand wasn't mentioned in their brief so they'd already made their mind up. By the way, the control tower was bulldozed into the ground before all this..."
I doubt if it's HA intention to mess anybody about with the slots whether the slots are for the big operators or the private pilots flying their friends in.
As far as slots are concerned - Private pilots AND their friends AND Commercial operators - scary stuff!