Official UK procurement notice
106_27 Lubricating Oils, Greases & Antifreeze
Authority: Leicestershire County Council, trading as ESPO (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionESPO is a public sector-owned professional buying organisation offering a comprehensive range of procurement services, including access to over 100 free-to-access framework solutions for the wider public sector.
We are conducting preliminary market engagement with the intention of establishing a framework via which eligible public sector organisations across the UK can arrange for the supply and delivery of a wide range of lubricating oils, greases, antifreeze and associated ancillary products.
This is not a call for competition. Tender documentation is not yet available.
CPV: Greases and lubricants · Lubricating oils and lubricating agents
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 2 yrs · up to 4 yrs from 1 Feb 2027
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedWhat it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
- “106_27 Lubricating Oils, Greases & Antifreeze” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Leicestershire County Council, trading as ESPO buys Lubricating preparations (CPV 0921), and who usually turns up
Leicestershire County Council, trading as ESPO’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Lubricating preparations (CPV 0921) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
No small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in the delivery region.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 66 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
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.
1 bid11%
2–32%
4–647%
7+40%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1Published estimate£17m
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 136 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid27%
2–326%
4–627%
7+19%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
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.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- 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.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 11 May 2026, 12:13 BST
- Last source update
- 4 Aug 2026, 13:41 BST
- Authority reference
106_27- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-073707- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06958eFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
11 May 2026 → 1 Feb 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published164 days ago11 May 2026, 12:13 BST
- Latest notice published79 days ago4 Aug 2026, 13:41 BST
- Market engagement55 days ago28 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
ESPO are conducting market engagement to invite comments on:
a) the scope of the framework renewal;
b) the products to be included, plus the descriptions thereof;
c) potential risks in the market ;
d) feedback on the proposed procurement strategy and evaluation criteria;
e) any changes or developments in the market we need to be aware of.
The engagement will help shape the procurement process/framework structure, including seeking feedback on pricing schedules etc.
Engagement is being undertaken via a Request for Information (RFI) questionnaire hosted on the EastMidsTenders eProcurement Portal (www.eastmidstenders.org ↗). The deadline for responding to the RFI is 17:00 (5pm) on 28 August 2026.
Suppliers wishing to participate in the engagement process must first express an interest as follows (the option to express an interest will remain open up until the Engagement deadline captured in this notice):
(a) Go to www.eastmidstenders.org ↗; (b) Register (if not already registered on ProContract); (c) Search for opportunity 106_27 (via "View Opportunities" from the EastMidsTenders Portal); d) Express an interest.
Suppliers can then access the RFI questionnaire in the 'Messages' section via the 'Activity' dashboard once an expression of interest has been registered. Responses to the RFI (please note the deadline for this as late responses may not be considered) as well as any questions or clarifications should be submitted to ESPO as a message on the eProcurement Portal.
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 15 days6 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 101 days1 Feb 2027
Notice history
3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 11 May 2026- Pipeline notice published11 May 2026, 12:13 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published4 Aug 2026, 13:41 BSTUK2
- Published value published: £16,666,6664 Aug 2026, 13:41 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender