Official UK procurement notice
Bus Franchising - Bus Operator Market Engagement - Non-Anchor Contracts for Phase 2 franchising (2028) and Phase 3 franchising (2029)
Authority: South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionWe would like to invite bus operators to attend a 1-to-1 meeting with members of South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority's (SYMCA) Bus Franchising Team, either in-person or online, as part of our next round of Bus Franchising operator market engagement.
These individual sessions will focus on providing updates and discussing any questions you may have regarding the non-anchor depot contracts for Phase 2 (2028) and Phase 3 (2029).
CPV: Road transport services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority buys Road transport services (CPV 6010), and who usually turns up
South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority’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: Road transport services (CPV 6010) →
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 Yorkshire and the Humber.
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 35 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 bid4% / 23%
2–323% / 33%
4–635% / 33%
7+38% / 10%
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 estimate50% / 40%
Within ±2%45% / 40%
Above estimate5% / 20%
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 6010Estimate not published
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 47 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid9%
2–328%
4–634%
7+30%
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
- Unspecified in notice
- 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
- 21 May 2026, 17:19 BST
- Last source update
- 21 May 2026, 17:19 BST
- Authority reference
DN816994- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-047400- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-069fffFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
21 May 2026 → 1 Feb 2028 · 3 dates- Planning notice published156 days ago21 May 2026, 17:19 BST
- Market engagement145 days ago1 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
We would like to invite bus operators to attend a 1-to-1 meeting with members of South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority's (SYMCA) Bus Franchising Team, either in-person or online, as part of our next round of Bus Franchising operator market engagement.
These individual sessions will focus on providing updates and discussing any questions you may have regarding the non-anchor depot contracts for Phase 2 (2028) and Phase 3 (2029).
We have dedicated the following 30-minute time slots to meet with bus operators that may be interested in bidding for non-anchor contracts for future phases.
Please respond to [email protected] by Monday 1st June 2026 to let us know which slot(s) you are available for, and who we should send an invitation to.
Please confirm as many available dates as possible to help us ensure you receive a slot which works for you.
Additionally, please advise if you would prefer an in-person meet at SYMCA's office (South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
11 Broad Street West Sheffield, S1 2BQ ), or an online session via Microsoft Teams.
Available slots:
Monday 22nd June 2026
09:30-10:00
10:15-10:45
11:00-11:30
11:45-12:15
13:00-13:30
Tuesday 23rd June 2026
09:30-10:00
10:15-10:45
11:00-11:30
11:45-12:15
13:00-13:30
Wednesday 24th June 2026 09:30-10:00
10:15-10:45
11:00-11:30
11:45-12:15
13:00-13:30
Monday 29th June 2026 09:30-10:00
10:15-10:45
11:00-11:30
11:45-12:15
13:00-13:30
Wednesday 1st July 2026 09:30-10:00
10:15-10:45
11:00-11:30
11:45-12:15
13:00-13:30
13:45-14:15
15:00-15:30
16:00-16:30
Thursday 2nd July 2026 09:30-10:00
10:15-10:45
11:00-11:30
11:45-12:15
13:00-13:30
13:45-14:15
15:00-15:30
16:00-16:30
Friday 3rd July 2026 09:30-10:00
10:15-10:45
11:00-11:30
11:45-12:15
13:00-13:30
13:45-14:15
15:00-15:30
16:00-16:30
If you cannot make any of the above dates or times, please contact us at [email protected] and we will do our best to accommodate you.
You will receive a calendar invitation as soon as your session is confirmed, and please expect to meet members of our SYMCA team, which will include our Head of Franchised Network and Procurement Officer as a minimum.
Please note - these sessions are to discuss non-anchor contracts for franchising Phases 2 (2028) and 3 (2029) only.
We cannot discuss Phase 1 (2027) at this forum and will direct any queries regarding Phase 1 to the formal procurement procedure.
All query responses will be recorded and distributed to all bidders as part of the Phase 2 and Phase 3 procurement process once this is live. This is to ensure complete fairness and transparency for all.
- Today24 Oct 2026
- Contract starts1 Feb 2028
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published21 May 2026, 17:19 BSTUK2
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