Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 11 Nov 2025, 09:17 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Barbican Renewal Conservatory upgrade works

Authority: The Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London (Local council)

WorksAbove thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline value£40,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 2 Feb 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 2 yrs 3 moends 18 Apr 2029 · up to 18 Apr 2030 with extensions · starts 22 Jan 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Conservatory Vision is a major part of the Barbican Renewal project, focused on restoring and transforming the Barbican Conservatory into an accessible, sustainable, and vibrant public space that celebrates its original Brutalist design. Key works include the full replacement of the glazing and installation of a new louvre system for improved climate control, strengthening of structural frames, new staircases and lifts for access to upper balconies, and new waterproofing and floor build-ups. The project will also deliver a reconfigured internal layout with relocated planters, ponds, and walkways; upgraded mechanical, electrical, and horticultural systems; and refurbished event spaces, foyers, and visitor facilities. Improved lighting, accessibility features, and sustainable planting will enhance both public use and private event potential. By combining sensitive conservation with sustainable design and eco-brutalist landscaping, the revitalised Conservatory will become a welcoming green sanctuary in the heart of the City - honouring its heritage while ensuring its long-term future.

CPV: Construction work for art and cultural buildings · Construction work for buildings relating to leisure, sports, culture, lodging and restaurants

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 2 yrs 3 moSME
Contract period: 22 Jan 2027 – 18 Apr 2029 (2 yrs 3 mo) · up to 18 Apr 2030 with extensions
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How The Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London buys Building construction work (CPV 4521), and who usually turns up

The Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London’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: Building construction work (CPV 4521) →

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: 18 of 37 known-size awards · market: no supplier sizes published
49%—

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.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 7 of 19 known-location awards · market: no winner locations published
37%—

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside the delivery region.

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: 48 decided notices · market: no decision dates published
60 days—

Half of these awards were announced within 60 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 buyer’s 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: at least 32 of 57 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: no bid counts or routes published
56%—

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 buyer67 lots with bid counts · all categories
6% had one bid
The marketNo bid counts published
Buyer · select a colour for counts
1 bid6%
Buyer: 4 of 67 lots with published bid counts.
2–324%
Buyer: 16 of 67 lots with published bid counts.
4–636%
Buyer: 24 of 67 lots with published bid counts.
7+34%
Buyer: 23 of 67 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 buyer48 lots with estimate and award · all categories
65% below estimate
The marketNo estimate-and-award pairs published
Buyer · select a colour for counts
Below estimate65%
Buyer: 31 of 48 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%19%
Buyer: 9 of 48 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate17%
Buyer: 8 of 48 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 452127 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£40m
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 388 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet18% single-bid risk
Past bids on 388 similar lots
1 bid18%
71 of 388 similar past lots received 1 bid (18%).
2–325%
97 of 388 similar past lots received 2–3 (25%).
4–630%
116 of 388 similar past lots received 4–6 (30%).
7+27%
104 of 388 similar past lots received 7+ (27%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 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 £40m, 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
11 Nov 2025, 09:17 GMT
Last source update
18 Nov 2025, 11:09 GMT
Authority reference
prj_864
FTS notice number
2025/S 000-074679
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Construction work for art and cultural buildingsConstruction work for buildings relating to leisure, sports, culture, lodging and restaurants
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05de3b Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

11 Nov 2025 → 22 Jan 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published345 days ago
    11 Nov 2025, 09:17 GMT
  2. Latest notice published338 days ago
    18 Nov 2025, 11:09 GMT
  3. Market engagement320 days ago
    5 Dec 2025, 23:59 GMT

    The City seeks input from the contractor market to understand what might be the most attractive way of packaging and scoping a future procurement opportunity to deliver the project outcomes.

    This Pre-Market Engagement (PME) exercise will provide an opportunity for the City to obtain insight into how contractors might approach the delivery of the project. It also gives a useful early insight into the likely level of interest in a proposed project from the market.

    Interested organisations will be asked to complete and return a brief questionnaire. To access the PME questionnaire and supporting documentation, please register on the electronic tendering system 'City of London Corporation Sourcing & Contracts Portal' (url:cityoflondon.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/esop/ogc-host/public… ↗) and search for 'Barbican Renewal Conservatory'.

    Organisations should submit their completed questionnaire in accordance with the instructions set out in the PME documentation, by the return deadline of 12:00pm (noon / midday) on 5th December 2025.

    Following receipt and review of questionnaires, the project team may conduct further direct discussions with organisations of interest to further explore the themes set out in the questionnaire.

  4. Tender notice expected261 days ago
    2 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
  5. Today
    22 Oct 2026
  6. Contract startsin 92 days
    22 Jan 2027

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 11 Nov 2025
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    11 Nov 2025, 09:17 GMT
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    18 Nov 2025, 11:09 GMT
    UK2
Published amendments (1)

The URL for accessing the pre-market engagement information via the City's procurement portal has been updated.

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

The Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PYQD-1693-MYXR PO Box 270, City of London, London, EC2P 2EJContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure