Official UK procurement notice
BU482026- renewal and upgrade of seawater aquarium infrastructure
Authority: Prifysgol Bangor / Bangor University (Education)
Preliminary Market Engagement: Seawater Aquarium Systems for Marine Research Laboratories. Bangor University's Marine Centre Wales (MCW) is undertaking preliminary market engagement in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 to inform the development of a future procurement for the renewal and upgrade of seawater aquarium infrastructure within three experimental laboratories used for marine and fisheries research. The systems will need to integrate with existing facility infrastructure. Detailed quotations, fixed pricing and binding offers are not required.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionPreliminary Market Engagement: Seawater Aquarium Systems for Marine Research Laboratories
Bangor University's Marine Centre Wales (MCW) is undertaking preliminary market engagement in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 to inform the development of a future procurement for the renewal and upgrade of seawater aquarium infrastructure within three experimental laboratories used for marine and fisheries research. This type of engagement is expressly permitted to help contracting authorities and suppliers prepare for a future procurement, provided competition is not distorted.
The purpose of this engagement is to better understand available solutions, supplier capabilities, indicative budgetary costs, delivery considerations and key technical requirements before developing the procurement strategy and tender documentation.
The anticipated requirement is for specialist seawater aquarium systems and associated components within the laboratory end-user rooms, potentially including modular tank racks, life-support equipment, pipework, pumps, filtration systems and environmental monitoring and control systems. The systems will need to integrate with existing facility infrastructure.
Information sought from suppliers
The University welcomes high-level information and advice in the following areas:
- Indicative budgetary costs
Indicative budgetary costs for comparable systems and installations, including typical cost ranges and principal cost drivers such as installation, controls, life-support equipment, commissioning, training and maintenance. Detailed quotations, fixed pricing and binding offers are not required.
- Examples of comparable installations
Examples of similar systems used in marine research, aquaculture or related environments, including their configuration, capabilities, operational benefits and any lessons learned from implementation.
- Key design and installation considerations
Important factors to consider when specifying and installing systems within existing experimental laboratories, including integration with seawater supply, filtration, temperature control, monitoring systems, maintenance arrangements and future expansion requirements.
- Technical advice and potential solutions
High-level recommendations regarding system design, modularity, resilience, environmental control, reliability, energy efficiency, lifecycle considerations and other factors that may assist the University in developing its requirements.
Supplier engagement
This engagement is intended to be a preliminary information-gathering exercise. Suppliers are not being asked to undertake design work, provide detailed specifications or prepare formal proposals.
The University will hold a site visit on Monday 16th November 10.30am-12.30pm at Marine Centre Wales to provide context regarding the existing facilities and enable suppliers to raise preliminary questions. Please email [email protected] to register for the site visit. Any information arising from the engagement that may be relevant to a future procurement will be appropriately shared through the procurement process to ensure transparency and equal treatment.
Information received may be used to inform the University's specification, procurement strategy, contract structure and estimated budget for the future procurement.
The University currently anticipates commencing a procurement process during December 2026, although this timetable is indicative only and may change.
Important information
This exercise constitutes preliminary market engagement only and does not form part of any procurement procedure or call for competition. The University reserves the right not to commence any subsequent procurement.
Participation in this engagement is entirely voluntary and will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any future procurement process. Any future contract opportunity will be advertised separately and procured in accordance with applicable procurement legislation.
CPV: Installation services of laboratory equipment · Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses) · Machinery and apparatus for filtering or purifying water · Pumps and compressors
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Prifysgol Bangor / Bangor University buys Distilling, filtering or rectifying apparatus (CPV 4291), and who usually turns up
Prifysgol Bangor / Bangor University’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: Distilling, filtering or rectifying apparatus (CPV 4291) →
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. The market figure counts awards delivered in Wales (Cymru).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside 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 34 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 bid11% / 0%
2–337% / 25%
4–633% / 63%
7+19% / 13%
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 estimate14% / 50%
Within ±2%71% / 31%
Above estimate14% / 19%
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 4291Published estimate£417k
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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.
1 bid27%
2–327%
4–640%
7+7%
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
- Goods
- 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
- 6 Nov 2026, 08:45 GMT
- Last source update
- 6 Nov 2026, 08:45 GMT
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-105495- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07b5f8Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
6 Nov 2026 → 1 Mar 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published8h ago6 Nov 2026, 08:45 GMT
- Today6 Nov 2026
- Market engagementin 14 days20 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
Suppliers are invited to submit written responses to the questions contained within this notice. The University will also hold an optional site visit at Marine Centre Wales on Monday 16th November 2026 10.30am-12.30pm to provide interested suppliers with an overview of the existing facilities and an opportunity to raise preliminary questions regarding the requirement.
Please email [email protected] for further information, written responses and to register for the site visit.
This engagement is intended solely as a market information-gathering exercise and does not form part of any procurement procedure or call for competition. Information obtained may be used to inform the University's future procurement documentation and approach. Any information that may provide a supplier with an advantage in a future procurement will be shared appropriately to ensure transparency and equal treatment.
Key dates
PME notice published: 6th November 2026
Optional site visit: 16th November 2026 10.30am-12.30pm
Deadline for supplier responses: 20th November 2026 @ 17:00
Anticipated future procurement commencement: December 2026 (indicative)
- Tender notice expectedin 45 days21 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 114 days1 Mar 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published6 Nov 2026, 08:45 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