Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 3 Feb 2026, 16:52 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

A38 Derby Junctions - Market Engagement

Authority: National Highways Limited (Central government)

WorksAbove threshold
Planned pipeline value£600,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender · 1 value update
Tender notice expected 7 Dec 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 10 yrsends 30 Jan 2038 · starts 31 Jan 2028

What is being bought

Published requirement description

This opportunity relates to the A38 Derby Junctions road scheme which will deliver improvements to three existing roundabout junctions which require upgrades to the west and north of Derby city centre:

A38/A5111 Kingsway roundabout

A38/A52 Markeaton roundabout

A38/A61 Little Eaton roundabout

National Highways are looking to procure a design and build partner to deliver the A38 Derby Junctions road scheme.

More information can be found on our website: nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/east-midla… ↗

CPV: Construction work · Construction work for highways · Engineering design services · Technical support services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How National Highways Limited buys Construction work for pipelines, communication and power lines, for highways, roads, airfields and railways; flatwork (CPV 4523), and who usually turns up

National Highways Limited’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: Construction work for pipelines, communication and power lines, for highways, roads, airfields and railways; flatwork (CPV 4523) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

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: 6 of 52 known-size awards · market: CPV 4523 · East Midlands, n=61
12%74%

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.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in East Midlands.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 of 6 known-location awards · market: CPV 4523 · East Midlands, n=97
50%28%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no decision dates published · market: CPV 4523 · East Midlands, n=20
—29 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 29 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.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 49 of 61 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 4523 · East Midlands, n=96
80%27%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

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 buyer5 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 45
0% had one bid
The market20 lots with bid counts · CPV 4523 · East Midlands
5% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid0% / 5%
Buyer: 0 of 5 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 20 lots with published bid counts.
2–380% / 45%
Buyer: 4 of 5 lots with published bid counts. Market: 9 of 20 lots with published bid counts.
4–620% / 20%
Buyer: 1 of 5 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 20 lots with published bid counts.
7+0% / 30%
Buyer: 0 of 5 lots with published bid counts. Market: 6 of 20 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.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer11 lots with estimate and award · all categories
27% below estimate
The market22 lots with estimate and award · CPV 4523 · East Midlands
41% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate27% / 41%
Buyer: 3 of 11 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 9 of 22 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%64% / 32%
Buyer: 7 of 11 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 7 of 22 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate9% / 27%
Buyer: 1 of 11 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 6 of 22 lots with an estimate and award.
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 4523120 monthsPublished estimate£600m
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 20 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet5% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 20 similar lots
1 bid5%
1 of 20 similar past lots received 1 bid (5%).
2–345%
9 of 20 similar past lots received 2–3 (45%).
4–620%
4 of 20 similar past lots received 4–6 (20%).
7+30%
6 of 20 similar past lots received 7+ (30%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3.5 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.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £600m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

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
Works
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
3 Feb 2026, 16:52 GMT
Last source update
18 Feb 2026, 09:21 GMT
Authority reference
pro_22937
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-014582
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Construction workConstruction work for highwaysEngineering design servicesTechnical support services
Delivery area
UKEast Midlands (UKF)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0615d5 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

3 Feb 2026 → 31 Jan 2028 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published264 days ago
    3 Feb 2026, 16:52 GMT
  2. Latest notice published249 days ago
    18 Feb 2026, 09:21 GMT
  3. Market engagement240 days ago
    27 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT

    This Preliminary Market Engagement Notice is issued by National Highways, inviting suppliers to participate in market engagement activities to inform and shape the development of the overall strategy for the delivery of the A38 Derby Junctions road scheme.

    An in-person engagement event will be hosted at The Eastside Rooms in Birmingham on the 4 March 2026. This event will include:

    1. Presentation
    • Purpose, outcomes, and decision points post‑engagement.
    • Scheme overview, constraints, programme, DCO context.
    • Commercial intent and procurement model options
    1. Breakout stations / table discussion on:
    • Commercial
    • Technical
    • Procurement
    1. Q&A & feedback
    • Option preference, bid‑cost inhibitors, minimum conditions to bid etc.

    A maximum capacity of 100 suppliers is permitted. Suppliers are asked to identify up to two (2) personnel within their organisation group, and any associated companies to attend. NH encourages suppliers to send technical / commercial representatives to enable us to get the most out of the day.

    To submit an expression of interest to attend, suppliers must complete the following form by midday on 27 February 2026: forms.office.com/e/jRDFvQ9Dxv ↗

    National Highways will offer a virtual follow-up meeting after the engagement event to review topics discussed, and provide insight into the feedback collected.

    Registered suppliers will be invited to a SharePoint site which will include any market engagement material and any correspondence.

    This notice is issued solely for the purpose of commencing a market consultation exercise and does not constitute any commitment by National Highways to undertake any public procurement exercise. Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to this notice. Nor shall a response to this notice guarantee an invitation to participate in this market consultation exercise or any future procurement process that National Highways may conduct. This notice does not constitute a call for competition to procure any works or services and is not published to reduce time limited for the receipt of tenders. National Highways is not liable for any costs, fees or expenses incurred by any party responding to this notice or any party who may participate in the market consultation exercise.

  4. Today
    25 Oct 2026
  5. Tender notice expectedin 43 days
    7 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
  6. Contract starts
    31 Jan 2028

Notice history

3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 3 Feb 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    3 Feb 2026, 16:52 GMT
    UK1
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    18 Feb 2026, 09:21 GMT
    UK2
  3. Published value published: £600,000,000
    18 Feb 2026, 09:21 GMT

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

National Highways Limited

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PGMJ-3793-VBBN Three Snowhill, Snow Hill Queensway, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 6GAContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure