Official UK procurement notice
AI Growth Zone Programme Delivery for Ecosystem Profile and Coordination
Authority: North East Combined Authority (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe North East AI Growth Zone brings together the region's AI-related assets, businesses, institutions and partners with an ambition to establish the North East as a hub for AI capability and innovation. The programme is moving into its delivery phase, with a focus on ensuring the opportunities created by AI translate into benefits for businesses, communities and the wider regional economy.
As part of this next phase, the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority will be bringing forward a number of procurement opportunities to support delivery of the programme.
This webinar will provide prospective suppliers with an early overview of three forthcoming work packages:
AI Adoption in Key Growth Sectors - supporting businesses in key sectors of the North East economy to move from early experimentation towards the operational adoption of AI technologies.
Support for High-Potential Digital and AI Companies - supporting high-potential digital, AI-native and AI-enabled businesses to commercialise, grow and scale in the North East.
Ecosystem Profile and Coordination - strengthening the visibility and coordination of the North East AI ecosystem, including the development of a clearer regional identity and accessible digital presence.
We will also introduce a supplier + stakeholder questionnaire designed to gather market insight and help inform and refine our approach ahead of the formal procurement process.
The session is aimed at organisations with relevant expertise and an interest in the forthcoming opportunities. We welcome engagement from organisations of different sizes and specialisms.
CPV: Business and management consultancy and related services · Systems and technical consultancy services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How North East Combined Authority buys Systems and technical consultancy services (CPV 7222), and who usually turns up
North East Combined Authority’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Systems and technical consultancy services (CPV 7222) →
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.
Here, local means registered in North East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in North East England.
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 53 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.
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.
1 bid17%
2–317%
4–633%
7+33%
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 estimate41%
Within ±2%45%
Above estimate14%
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 7222Published estimate£5.0m
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 26 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid15%
2–315%
4–642%
7+27%
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
- 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
- 21 Oct 2026, 10:31 BST
- Last source update
- 21 Oct 2026, 10:47 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-099331- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078c80Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
21 Oct 2026 → 16 Nov 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice publishedearlier today21 Oct 2026, 10:31 BST
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 8 days29 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
Please see below link to register for the Engagement Event:
- Contract startsin 25 days16 Nov 2026
Notice history
3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 21 Oct 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published21 Oct 2026, 10:31 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published21 Oct 2026, 10:47 BSTUK2
- Published value updated21 Oct 2026, 10:47 BST
Published amendments (1)
Updated Total Contract Value and Additional Information Included in Procurement Description
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
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender