Official UK procurement notice
Bus Franchising - Dynamic Market for the South West
Authority: Transport for Wales·Consortium: 2 public authorities
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe purpose of this UK2 notice is to provide an update in relation to a previously published notice on the 20th October 2025.
Original UK2 OCID Reference: ocds-h6vhtk-05cf71
- Contracting parties
The Welsh Ministers are the Franchising Authority for franchised bus services in Wales and contracts awarded under the QUDM will be entered into by the Welsh Ministers in this capacity. Transport for Wales will be responsible for administering and operating the QUDM and will manage procurement procedures and contract administration on behalf of both parties.
- Progress on the Engagement Process
Due to unforeseen delays with the delivery of the Bus Franchising programme, the market engagement activity described in this original notice has taken longer than envisaged. The authority will be providing feedback to operators who have already responded to the initial notice in order to conclude this stage of the engagement process.
TfW would like to thank all operators who attended the Bus Franchising market engagement sessions held throughout 2025 and 2026, including operator 121 sessions, and for the feedback provided.
TfW will be holding two virtual South West Wales market engagement sessions, taking place on:
Thursday 24th September 2026 at 13:00-14:00
Wednesday 30th September 2026 at 10:30-11:30 (replacing the original date of Tuesday 22nd September 2026) to share the revised franchise packages and provide an update on proposed changes to the Dynamic Market structure.
The session will follow a "You Said, We Did" approach, showcasing the revised packages following consideration of feedback received through the previous engagement activity.
This session is not a new stage of market engagement and is not intended to seek further feedback on the revised package design. It is an opportunity for TfW to share the revised packages with operators following the feedback received. This notice should not be construed as an invitation for new operators to engage as further notices will be published, enabling these opportunities.
- Future Notices
The contracting authorities will be placing future notices in relation to the further market engagement opportunities. It is recommended that operators continue to monitor the Sell2Wales website for future publications. Including potential additional UK2 notices to engage the market for a wider scope of input from operators, e.g; input into the draft terms and conditions, specification and service model.
Further notices may also be placed to engage the market for the North Wales, South East Wales, and Mid Wales regions, for the purposes of onboarding onto the Qualifying Utilities Dynamic Market.
Further instruction and operator engagement and support to onboard onto the QUDM will be included in the UK13 Dynamic Market Intention Notice, which we anticipate will be published shortly.
TfW also intends to provide further engagement and supplier support during the subsequent tendering process to assist QUDM Members in understanding and responding to individual procurements.
CPV: Public road transport services
How this dynamic market works
From the published notice- Type
- Dynamic market
- Market period
- 11 yrs from 1 Feb 2027
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedWhat it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
- “Bus Franchising - Dynamic Market for the South West” is a dynamic market: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Transport for Wales buys Public road transport services (CPV 6011), and who usually turns up
Transport for Wales’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Public road transport services (CPV 6011) →
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.
No small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.
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 the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Wales (Cymru).
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 40 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.
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 bid10%
2–360%
4–620%
7+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.
On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.
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 6011Published estimate£400m
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 60 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid10%
2–330%
4–622%
7+38%
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
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Dynamic market
- Who may use this agreement
- Any qualifying supplier may apply while the market is open
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 20 Oct 2025, 09:53 BST
- Last source update
- 15 Sept 2026, 09:46 BST
- Authority reference
Bus Franchising - South West Wales- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-087129- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05cf71Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Admission period ends
- —
Timeline
20 Oct 2025 → 1 Feb 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published367 days ago20 Oct 2025, 09:53 BST
- Latest notice published37 days ago15 Sept 2026, 09:46 BST
- Market engagement28 days ago24 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
As per the original notice placed, and as described in the procurement description section of this notice.
- Tender notice expected3 days ago19 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 101 days1 Feb 2027
Notice history
3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 20 Oct 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published20 Oct 2025, 09:53 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Sept 2026, 17:15 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published15 Sept 2026, 09:46 BSTUK2
Published amendments (1)
UPDATE to one of the virtual South West Wales market engagement sessions: TfW will be holding two virtual South West Wales market engagement sessions, taking place on: Thursday 24th September 2026 at 13:00-14:00 The 2nd engagement session date and time has now changed from Tuesday 22nd September 13:00-14:00, to Wednesday 30th September 10:30-11:30 to share the revised franchise packages and provid…
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
2 public bodies on the noticeConsortium members and other public bodies
- Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh GovernmentContracting authorityPublic authority - central governmentWelsh devolved regulations apply
Official documents & specifications (3)
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
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender