Official UK procurement notice
CM3470 - DPC Programme Advisory
Authority: YORKSHIRE WATER SERVICES LIMITED (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis Preliminary Market Engagement (UK2) notice is being issued to inform the market that Yorkshire Water Services Limited is undertaking early engagement with suppliers to support the development of the sourcing strategy for a Direct Procurement for Customers (DPC) Programme Advisory Framework.
Yorkshire Water is progressing a pipeline of major infrastructure projects for delivery using the Direct Procurement for Customers (DPC) delivery model. Under DPC, a competitively appointed provider designs, builds, finances and potentially operates major infrastructure assets under long-term contractual arrangements.
DPC projects are subject to regulatory oversight by Ofwat, including staged regulatory submissions demonstrating strategic case, procurement readiness, and value for customers before contracts can be awarded.
Yorkshire Water is therefore exploring the establishment of a multi-disciplinary professional services framework and/or strategic partnerships to support the development of bankable DPC projects capable of progressing through regulatory approvals and competitive procurement.
The framework may provide support across several disciplines, including:
- Technical advisory - engineering, design, environmental assessment, ecology, planning and technical assurance
- Commercial advisory - development of business cases aligned with the HM Treasury Five Case Model, procurement strategy, market engagement, commercial structuring, risk allocation, payment mechanisms and incentivisation structures
- Legal advisory - development of robust contractual arrangements for major infrastructure concessions, building on previous DPC and infrastructure projects, including specialist support in planning and infrastructure law
- Programme assurance - independent assurance of submissions and programme governance to ensure regulatory compliance and readiness for Ofwat/RAPID assessments and associated approval processes
The information gathered through this engagement will help shape the proposed scope, structure, commercial model and procurement approach for the framework.
This exercise is for information-gathering purposes only and does not constitute a call for competition. Participation in this engagement will not provide any advantage or disadvantage in any subsequent procurement process.
Suppliers interested in contributing to this market engagement are invited to express their interest in accordance with the instructions set out in this notice
CPV: Accounting and auditing services · Business and management consultancy and related services · Engineering services · Feasibility study, advisory service, analysis · Legal services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 8 yrs from 1 Apr 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).
- “CM3470 - DPC Programme Advisory” is a framework: 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 YORKSHIRE WATER SERVICES LIMITED buys Architectural, engineering and planning services (CPV 7124), and who usually turns up
YORKSHIRE WATER SERVICES LIMITED’s published record next to the market for the same work. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Architectural, engineering and planning services (CPV 7124) →
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.
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 116 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.
Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.
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 bid0%
2–329%
4–629%
7+43%
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 price is set later, on each call-off.
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 7124Published estimate£160m
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 744 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid2%
2–311%
4–623%
7+65%
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
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 13 Mar 2026, 16:46 GMT
- Last source update
- 17 Mar 2026, 09:35 GMT
- Authority reference
CM3470- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-023827- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-066a58Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
13 Mar 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published224 days ago13 Mar 2026, 16:46 GMT
- Latest notice published221 days ago17 Mar 2026, 09:35 GMT
- Market engagement176 days ago30 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
Suppliers are invited to express interest via email to [email protected] with brief details of their service offering and relevant experience in major infrastructure or regulated utilities projects. Please quote CM3470 - DPC Programme Advisory in the subject
Further engagement (e.g. RFI, supplier workshops or market engagement calls) may follow.
There are no specific conditions for participation in this market engagement. Participation is voluntary and non-binding.
- Tender notice expected52 days ago1 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today24 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 159 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 13 Mar 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published13 Mar 2026, 16:46 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published17 Mar 2026, 09:35 GMTUK2
Published amendments (1)
[email protected] Email address to send expressions of interest
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 (2)
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