Public utilities: UK Tenders, Buyers & Competition

CPV 65000000Services · division12 classes with notices

Open now22open for bids now · see them in the search
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Tenders you can still bid for.

Notices at tender stage whose deadline has not passed, counted the way the search counts them: a notice shows under every code and region it names.

Notices, last 12 months132110 contracting authorities · 507 in the catalogue
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Notices published in the last 12 months.

Counted per tender, not per lot, against the 12 months before where shown.

Typical bids per lot419% single-bid · 26 procedures, 36 months
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How many companies usually bid for a lot here.

The middle value of the bid counts that award notices publish, one per lot. Only real competitions count: direct awards and framework places are left out.

Based on 32 lots from 26 competitions run by 25 buyers, last 36 months. A buyer with many similar contests counts only up to a limit. 17 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 3) and 15 from older notices (bids received, middle 5).

Last 36 months.

Typical contract value£333,930middle value of 128 contract awards, net · not frameworks
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What a contract here is usually worth.

Middle value of published award values, VAT excluded. Framework ceilings are left out because they are not real contract values.

Based on 128 awards with a usable value, last 36 months.

Published values, not actual spend.

Last 36 months.

Deadline to award80 daysmiddle value · 16 awarded procedures
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How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.

Based on 16 decided competitions, last 36 months.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Newest open tenders

3 of 22 open for bids now · newest first

See all 22 open tenders →

Sub-sectors of public utilities

12 CPV classes with notices · sorted by notices in the last 12 months · 371 of 507 notices in this division carry a class-level code

Show 3 quieter classes (fewer than 5 notices in 12 months, none open)

Who buys
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Which buyers publish the most notices here.

Buyers ranked by the number of notices, duplicate names merged.

All notices carrying this code · official UK_CA_TYPE where published (NHS bodies are central government authorities), else derived from the authority name

Buyer type
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What kinds of public bodies buy here.

Notices by the buyer’s type as published, otherwise by its name.

  • Local authorities33%(163 notices)
    163 of 493 notices are Local authorities (33%).
  • Other public bodies25%(124 notices)
    124 of 493 notices are Other public bodies (25%).
  • Central government22%(107 notices)
    107 of 493 notices are Central government (22%).
  • Education & universities4%(20 notices)
    20 of 493 notices are Education & universities (4%).
  • Housing associations3%(16 notices)
    16 of 493 notices are Housing associations (3%).
  • Not classified13%(63 notices)
    63 of 493 notices are Not classified (13%).
Contracting authorityTypeNoticesLast 12 monthsOpen now
SEVERN TRENT WATER LIMITEDOther public bodies1620
Sellafield LimitedOther public bodies1110
NORTHERN IRELAND WATER LIMITEDCentral government840
SCOTTISH HYDRO ELECTRIC POWER DISTRIBUTION PLCOther public bodies800
Southern Water Services LimitedOther public bodies820
NATIONAL GRID ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION PLCnot classified700
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care acting as part of the Crown through UK Health Security AgencyCentral government710
The Water Services Regulation AuthorityCentral government730
AFFINITY WATER LIMITEDOther public bodies620
Clarion Housing GroupHousing associations620

278 distinct authorities in total · the ten most active shown.

Where the work is delivered
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Where the work on these notices is delivered.

Delivery regions published on the notices. A notice with several regions counts in each.

Where the work is, not where the buyer is based.

Delivery regions (ITL1) published on 330 of 507 notices · a notice covering several regions counts in each · competition columns: contracts awarded in the last 36 months, lots delivered in the region

RegionNoticesBids / lotSME winsLocal wins
South East England79 · 24%—20%19%
North West England76 · 23%824%17%
Greater London70 · 21%—25%38%
Yorkshire and the Humber63 · 19%—14%8%
South West England57 · 17%—25%8%
West Midlands56 · 17%—33%0%
East Midlands54 · 16%—19%11%
East of England54 · 16%—18%25%
North East England48 · 15%—18%16%
Scotland48 · 15%———
Wales (Cymru)24 · 7%———
Northern Ireland21 · 6%———

Local wins = the winner’s registered region is the delivery region. Dashes: fewer than ten observations.

How it is bought
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How work here is packaged.

Notices by commercial tool: a single contract, a framework, or a dynamic purchasing system.

Commercial tool, procedure route and threshold as published on the notice, not a legal-regime claim

Commercial tool
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How work here is packaged.

Notices by commercial tool: a single contract, a framework, or a dynamic purchasing system.

  • Contract83%(419 notices)
    419 of 507 notices are Contract (83%).
  • Framework12%(63 notices)
    63 of 507 notices are Framework (12%).
  • Dynamic purchasing system5%(25 notices)
    25 of 507 notices are Dynamic purchasing system (5%).
Procedure route
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Which procedures buyers here use.

Notices by the procedure they declare: open, selective, limited or direct. Open and selective are competitions; limited and direct are not.

  • Open28%(140 notices)
    140 of 507 notices are Open (28%).
  • Route not published25%(128 notices)
    128 of 507 notices are Route not published (25%).
  • Selective24%(123 notices)
    123 of 507 notices are Selective (24%).
  • Limited / restricted13%(64 notices)
    64 of 507 notices are Limited / restricted (13%).
  • Direct award10%(52 notices)
    52 of 507 notices are Direct award (10%).
Threshold
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How much of this market is above the legal threshold.

Notices by whether the buyer marked them above or below the threshold that triggers the full rules.

  • Above threshold84%(72 notices)
    72 of 86 notices are Above threshold (84%).
  • Below threshold16%(14 notices)
    14 of 86 notices are Below threshold (16%).
Typical tender window
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How long bidders get to respond.

Middle value in days from the tender notice to its deadline.

All notices we hold, not just recent ones.

32 daysrobust · n=96middle value, notice to deadline

Competition

Contracts published in the last 36 months (193) · bid counts per lot from award notices · values are net contract awards, framework and DPS ceilings excluded · SME and local status as declared

Bids per lot · n=32
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How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

  • 1 bid19%(6)
    6 of 32 lots fall in 1 bid (19%).
  • 2–328%(9)
    9 of 32 lots fall in 2–3 (28%).
  • 4–622%(7)
    7 of 32 lots fall in 4–6 (22%).
  • 7 or more31%(10)
    10 of 32 lots fall in 7 or more (31%).
Contract value, net
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The usual range of contract values here.

The middle half of published award values, VAT excluded, with the middle value marked. Framework ceilings are left out.

Published values, not actual spend.

p25 £86,109middle value £333,930p75 £1,236,969
interquartile range of 128 awards · p90 £6,553,750
Typical bids per lot
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How many companies usually bid for a lot here.

The middle value of the bid counts that award notices publish, one per lot. Only real competitions count: direct awards and framework places are left out.

Based on 32 lots from 26 competitions run by 25 buyers, last 36 months. A buyer with many similar contests counts only up to a limit. 17 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 3) and 15 from older notices (bids received, middle 5).

Last 36 months.

4robust · n=26middle half 2–7
Competed
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How much of this market is actually put out to competition.

Notices run as an open or selective procedure, out of all notices that say which procedure was used. Direct awards count as not competed.

79 of 169 notices that state a procedure, last 36 months. 24 more give no procedure and are left out.

Last 36 months.

47%robust · n=169
Bids from SMEs
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What share of bids come from small and medium firms.

SME bids divided by all bids, on lots where the buyer published the split.

95 SME bids out of 137, on 27 lots where the buyer published the split.

Last 36 months.

69%robust · n=137
Awards won by SMEs
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What share of contracts go to small and medium firms.

Awards to a single supplier that declared its size. SME divided by all.

19 of 96 awards where the winner declared its size.

Last 36 months.

20%robust · n=96
Won locally
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How much work here goes to companies based in the region.

Contract awards where the winner’s registered address is in this region, out of awards where the address is known.

Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.

Last 36 months.

46%robust · n=82winner registered in the delivery region
Winning award vs estimate
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Do winners come in above or below the buyer’s estimate.

For each lot we compare the published estimate with the award, like for like. Below means the winner was paid less than estimated, above means more.

Based on 21 lots with both an estimate and an award, last 36 months.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

Last 36 months.

at the estimaterobust · n=215 below · 5 above
Abandoned
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How often a tender ends with no award.

Notices cancelled, withdrawn or marked unsuccessful, plus terminated ones that never got an award.

9 of 193 notices, last 36 months.

Only what buyers published. Tenders that quietly went nowhere are not counted.

Last 36 months.

5%robust · n=193
Frameworks & DPS: bidders per lot
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How many companies apply to get onto a framework or DPS here.

Middle value per lot, frameworks and dynamic markets only. Getting onto a panel is not the same as winning work, so it is kept separate.

Based on 22 lots from 16 framework and DPS notices, last 36 months.

Last 36 months.

2robust · n=1638 vehicle procedures · admission to a panel, not a contest

Who wins
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Which suppliers win the most here.

Suppliers ranked by the number of tenders won, not by money. A supplier on one big framework with many call-offs does not outrank one that won many separate competitions.

Ranked by distinct procedures won on notices carrying this code, then award records · 339 awards to 193 suppliers · the five most frequent winners hold 23% of contract awards in the last 36 months

Where to submit
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Where bids for this work are submitted.

Notices by the portal in their submission link, where one is published.

E-sourcing portals named in the submission address · 142 of 507 notices name one · each portal page explains registration

Proactis / ProContract36 notices · 25% · 1 open
JAGGAER / BravoSolution21 notices · 15%
Public Contracts Scotland (PCS)14 notices · 10% · 2 open
SAP Ariba12 notices · 8%
eTendersNI9 notices · 6%

Open tenders in public utilities

22 open for bids now · soonest deadline first

All 22 open notices with CPV 65… →

About this data
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
  • What counts here. Every notice with a CPV code starting 65, on the tender or any of its lots. A notice with several codes counts in each sector it names. Notices from 2021 to 2 Nov 2026.
  • Competition. Bids and winners cover the last three years and count each lot as its own contest; frameworks and dynamic purchasing systems are shown apart from ordinary contracts.
  • Why no total spend. Notice estimates often repeat a framework’s ceiling, so adding them up would overstate the market. Typical contract values are shown instead.
  • Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.