Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 12 May 2026, 12:29 BST

Official UK procurement notice

319_27 Staff Benefits · UK public procurement notice

Authority: Leicestershire County Council, trading as ESPO (Local council)·Consortium: 2 public authorities

Framework agreementServicesAbove thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline value£183,333,333pipeline notice, not a live tender · 1 value update
Tender notice expected 5 Feb 2027from the planned procurement notice
Framework period 2 yrsends 6 Aug 2029 · up to 6 Aug 2031 with extensions · starts 7 Aug 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

ESPO 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 for the provision of a range of staff benefits schemes, which offer goods and services to customers’ employees via salary sacrifice, voluntary benefits, or net payroll deduction.

This is not a call for competition. Tender documentation is not yet available.

CPV: Benefit services · Bicycles · Child allowances · Child daycare services · Computer equipment and supplies · Financial leasing services · Miscellaneous services · Mobile telephones · Passenger cars · Presents and rewards

How this framework works

From the published notice
Framework period
2 yrs · up to 4 yrs from 7 Aug 2027

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 2 yrsSME
Contract period: 7 Aug 2027 – 6 Aug 2029 (2 yrs) · up to 6 Aug 2031 with extensions
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

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 more
What this means for your bid
  • “319_27 Staff Benefits” 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 runs Miscellaneous services (CPV 9830) tenders for its clients, and who usually turns up

Leicestershire County Council, trading as ESPO procures on behalf of other bodies; its record below covers every client it has tendered for, 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: Miscellaneous services (CPV 9830) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bidWhat to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 5 of 6 known-size awards · market: CPV 9830 · UK-wide, n=8
83%88%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Here, local means registered in East Midlands.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 1 of 11 known-location awards · market: division 98 · East Midlands, n=18
9%11%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside East Midlands.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 38 decided notices · market: division 98 · UK-wide, n=22
66 days67 days

Half of these awards were announced within 66 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: exactly 0 of 6 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 98 · UK-wide, n=61
0%21%

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer241 lots with bid counts · all categories
3% had one bid
The market15 lots with bid counts · division 98 · East Midlands
33% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid3% / 33%
Buyer: 8 of 241 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 15 lots with published bid counts.
2–37% / 40%
Buyer: 18 of 241 lots with published bid counts. Market: 6 of 15 lots with published bid counts.
4–625% / 0%
Buyer: 61 of 241 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 15 lots with published bid counts.
7+64% / 27%
Buyer: 154 of 241 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 15 lots with published bid counts.

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.

Last 36 months.

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.

2

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.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 983024 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£183m
Expected competition
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 15 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet33% single-bid risk
Past bids on 15 similar lots
1 bid33%
5 of 15 similar past lots received 1 bid (33%).
2–340%
6 of 15 similar past lots received 2–3 (40%).
4–60%
0 of 15 similar past lots received 4–6 (0%).
7+27%
4 of 15 similar past lots received 7+ (27%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 2 bids.
Commercial price forecast
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.

—Priced at call-off
On a framework or DPS the price is agreed on each call-off, so there is no award price to forecast here: the published figure is a ceiling.

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.

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.

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
Services
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
12 May 2026, 12:29 BST
Last source update
25 Jun 2026, 10:27 BST
Authority reference
319_27
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-059713
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Benefit servicesBicyclesChild allowancesChild daycare servicesComputer equipment and suppliesFinancial leasing servicesMiscellaneous servicesMobile telephonesPassenger carsPresents and rewards
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06968b Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
—

Timeline

12 May 2026 → 7 Aug 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published162 days ago
    12 May 2026, 12:29 BST
  2. Latest notice published118 days ago
    25 Jun 2026, 10:27 BST
  3. Market engagement60 days ago
    21 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST

    ESPO are conducting market engagement to gain feedback and insight from potential suppliers to inform the development of a proposed framework for the provision of a range Staff Benefits schemes.

    The intended outcomes of the preliminary market engagement process are:

    • To alert the market to and encourage participation in the framework procurement.
    • To identify and explore opportunities to improve the framework offering in specific areas:
    • Market trends;
    • Regulatory or legislative updates;
    • Opportunities for improvement through technology;
    • Framework scope;
    • Framework pricing;
    • Rebate structure;
    • Data controls;
    • Ease of use;
    • Framework appeal.
    • To communicate the outcomes of the engagement process to the market, ensuring fairness.

    Engagement is initially being undertaken via a Request for Information (RFI) questionnaire, details of which are captured on the EastMidsTenders eProcurement Portal (www.eastmidstenders.org ↗). The deadline for responding to the RFI is 17:00 (5pm) on 10 July 2026.

    Suppliers wishing to participate in the engagement process MUST must first express an interest as follows:

    (a) Go to www.eastmidstenders.org ↗; (b) Register (if not already registered on ProContract); (c) Search for tender opportunity 319_27 (via "View Opportunities" from the EastMidsTenders Portal); d) Express an interest.

    Suppliers can access the RFI in the ‘Messages’ section found on the ‘Activity’ dashboard, once an expression of interest has been registered. Any questions or clarifications on this should be ONLY be submitted to ESPO as a message on the eProcurement Portal.

    ESPO also intends to conduct 1-2-1 meetings with a limited number of potential suppliers to further explore points raised within questionnaire responses, including where further detail or clarification is required.

    To ensure equal treatment of potential suppliers, and that participants in the preliminary market engagement process are not put at an unfair advantage, ESPO will publish market engagement outcomes within any subsequent ITT documentation.

  4. Today
    21 Oct 2026
  5. Tender notice expectedin 108 days
    5 Feb 2027, 23:59 GMT
  6. Contract startsin 290 days
    7 Aug 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 12 May 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    12 May 2026, 12:29 BST
    UK1
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    25 Jun 2026, 10:27 BST
    UK2
  3. Published value published: £183,333,333
    25 Jun 2026, 10:27 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

2 public bodies on the notice

Leicestershire County Council, trading as ESPO

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PYDD-1122-TCVN Barnsdale Way, Grove Park, Enderby, Leicester, East Midlands, LE19 1ESContact name, email

Consortium members and other public bodies

  • Yorkshire Purchasing OrganisationContracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central governmentGB-PPON: PMRV-4748-MNJV Wakefield, Yorkshire & HumberContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure