Official UK procurement notice
Cable Management System- Shore to Ship Power, Oban Base
Authority: Northern Lighthouse Board (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) is seeking to procure a Cable Management System to enable shore-to-ship power (cold ironing) for its vessel NLV Pole Star at the Oban operational base. The requirement forms part of NLB’s wider commitment to environmental sustainability and reduced emissions through the provision of onshore electrical power to vessels while berthed.
The scope includes the design, supply, installation, integration, and commissioning of a safe, reliable, and operationally efficient cable management solution capable of delivering shore power under site-specific conditions. The system must address key operational challenges, including tidal variation, quay-side constraints, compatibility with existing infrastructure, and minimisation of disruption to ongoing base activities.
Suppliers are expected to provide a robust and scalable solution, potentially based on proven or off-the-shelf technologies, that ensures:
Safe and efficient cable handling and deployment between shore and vessel
Compliance with relevant marine, electrical, and safety standards
Minimal requirement for significant civil works (e.g. quay strengthening)
Integration with existing shore power infrastructure
The estimated contract value is approximately £500,000, with an initial 2-year contract term (plus optional 1-year extension). The procurement will be awarded using a Best Technically Affordable (BTA) approach, prioritising high-quality, technically compliant solutions within a fixed budget.
CPV: Harbour equipment · Marine equipment
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewalPublished value£500,000
What 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).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Criterion 2: 75%
- Criterion 1: 25%
Published award criteria (2)
- Criterion 1
- Criterion 2
- Price carries 25 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Northern Lighthouse Board buys Marine equipment (CPV 3493), and who usually turns up
Northern Lighthouse Board’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: Marine equipment (CPV 3493) →
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 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 in Scotland.
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 26 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.
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.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
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 bid12% / 63%
2–344% / 38%
4–636% / 0%
7+8% / 0%
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 estimate60% / 57%
Within ±2%36% / 43%
Above estimate4% / 0%
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 3493Published estimate£500k
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 57 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid25%
2–349%
4–625%
7+2%
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- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- 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
- 3 Jun 2026, 16:50 BST
- Last source update
- 3 Jun 2026, 16:50 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 31 Aug 2026
- Authority reference
ENPR/S2SP/2596- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-052508- Latest notice
- Planned procurement notice (UK3)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06acd4Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 20 Jul 2026, 14:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 30 Jun 2026, 14:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
3 Jun 2026 → 31 Aug 2026 · 6 dates- Planning notice published141 days ago3 Jun 2026, 16:50 BST
- Tender notice expected136 days ago8 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Clarification questions by114 days ago30 Jun 2026, 14:00 BST
- Submission deadline94 days ago20 Jul 2026, 14:00 BST
- Contract starts53 days ago31 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
- Award decision expected by52 days ago31 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Planned procurement notice published3 Jun 2026, 16:50 BSTUK3
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 (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender