Official UK procurement notice
2627-0252 Security and Associated Services
Authority: London Borough of Islington (Local council)
The London Borough of Islington is preparing to procure a new contract for the provision of security and associated services across Council buildings and other locations. The anticipated core requirement includes static guarding, front of house and reception security, access control, key holding and alarm response, planned and reactive mobile patrols, CCTV monitoring, emergency response, and planned and ad-hoc security and guarding, including event and civic security support and door supervision where required. However, based on current projections and anticipated service requirements, the total contract value over the maximum proposed term of five (5) years is anticipated to be in excess of £7 million.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe London Borough of Islington is preparing to procure a new contract for the provision of security and associated services across Council buildings and other locations. The anticipated core requirement includes static guarding, front of house and reception security, access control, key holding and alarm response, planned and reactive mobile patrols, CCTV monitoring, emergency response, and planned and ad-hoc security and guarding, including event and civic security support and door supervision where required.
As part of developing the future service, the Council is exploring opportunities to consolidate additional security requirements currently delivered under separate contractual arrangements. This includes:
•Security Services at Islington Assembly Hall, including event security, crowd management, door supervision, access control and customer safety functions. The current service supports a range of events including live music, civic, community, and commercial events.
•Vacant property Security Services, including securing and protection of vacant Council-owned properties, site inspections, temporary site security arrangements, emergency attendance, property protection measures and associated services. The current service supports the management and safeguarding of vacant sites pending disposal, redevelopment or reoccupation.
The final scope and service delivery model are yet to be determined and will be informed through stakeholder engagement and preliminary market engagement. The Council is particularly interested in understanding whether the requirements would be best delivered through a single contract or through separate lots.
In line with the Council's objectives, the Council is committed to reducing barriers to entry and encouraging a diverse and competitive marketplace. The Council therefore welcomes feedback from organisations of all sizes, including SMEs and local suppliers.
The estimated value of the proposed contract has not yet been finalised. However, based on current projections and anticipated service requirements, the total contract value over the maximum proposed term of five (5) years is anticipated to be in excess of £7 million.
CPV: Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security · Dismantling works for security installations · Security, fire-fighting, police and defence equipment
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Islington Council buys Building demolition and wrecking work and earthmoving work (CPV 4511), and who usually turns up
Islington Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Building demolition and wrecking work and earthmoving work (CPV 4511) →
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
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.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 110 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.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
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 bid5% / 14%
2–328% / 23%
4–646% / 39%
7+21% / 24%
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.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate50%
Within ±2%24%
Above estimate26%
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 #1CPV 4511Published estimate£7.0m
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 70 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid14%
2–323%
4–639%
7+24%
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. Contracts Finder contracts appear on the Retender Radar, not yet in these figures.
- 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
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 5 Nov 2026, 10:25 GMT
- Last source update
- 5 Nov 2026, 10:25 GMT
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-105031- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07b3a5Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
5 Nov 2026 → 1 Mar 2028 · 4 dates- Planning notice published14h ago5 Nov 2026, 10:25 GMT
- Today6 Nov 2026
- Market engagementin 20 days26 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
This Notice is for informational purposes only and is not a formal invitation to tender. Its aim is to enhance transparency and competition for the upcoming tender notice. All details provided here may be updated or changed in the final tender notice. The Authority reserves the right to cancel, postpone, suspend or abort the procurement at any stage. The issue of this notice in no way commits the Authority to commence a procurement process.
The purpose of this preliminary market engagement is to support the Council in developing its procurement strategy and service specification and to understand market capability, capacity and appetite for the proposed requirement.
The Council is particularly interested in supplier views on the proposed scope of services; the potential consolidation of existing security arrangements, including static guarding, key holding, alarm response, security services at Islington Assembly Hall and vacant property security services; whether the requirement would be best delivered as a single contract or through separate lots/service packages; approaches to planned, reactive and ad-hoc security requirements; mobilisation and workforce considerations; pricing and commercial models; opportunities for innovation and technology; performance management; and opportunities to deliver efficiencies, social value and value for money.
The Council welcomes feedback from suppliers with experience of delivering all or part of the proposed services. Participation in this preliminary market engagement will not affect a supplier's ability to participate in any subsequent procurement process.
Suppliers interested in participating in the preliminary market engagement are invited to attend an in person supplier engagement event to be held at Islington Town Hall on 26th November 2026. The event will provide an opportunity for suppliers to ask questions and provide feedback on the proposed scope, specification and service delivery models, including views on delivery models, commercial considerations and opportunities for innovation.
There will be no formal presentation. Suppliers wishing to participate should express their interest through the London Tenders Portal. An information slide pack and draft specification will be uploaded to the project ahead of the event for interested suppliers to download. The slide pack will explain how to register for the supplier engagement event and provide details of the timings, available time slots and arrangements for the day.
Relevant information shared or discussed during the supplier engagement event, including a summary of questions and responses, will be made available through the procurement portal to all interested suppliers, including those who do not attend. This will ensure transparency and equal access to information, so that participation in the event does not give suppliers an unfair advantage in the subsequent procurement. Supplier-specific confidential or commercially sensitive information will not be disclosed.
For any enquiries about this preliminary market engagement, please use the messaging facility within the London Tenders Portal project.
How to express an interest -
If you wish to apply for this contract opportunity please follow these steps:
- Register your organisation free of charge via the London Tenders Portal
- When you receive an email confirming your username and password use these to log on to the London Tenders Portal and express your interest in "2627-0252 Security and Associated Services"
- Shortly after you have expressed interest, you will receive a second email containing a link to access the procurement documents.
Expressions of Interest -
- Tender notice expectedin 146 days1 Apr 2027, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts1 Mar 2028
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published5 Nov 2026, 10:25 GMTUK2
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender