Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 12 Feb 2026, 08:24 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Commercial Strategy and Procurement Delivery Services

Authority: Department for Work & Pensions (Central government)

ServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£10,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 8 May 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 2 yrsends 16 Jul 2028 · up to 15 Jul 2029 with extensions · starts 17 Jul 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

A contract for commercial and procurement services, from advisory to leading on or assisting the activities across the end-to-end procurement cycle for both complex and tactical projects/programmes.

The contract will allow us to draw down on two distinct but integrated service lines:

  • Service Line A — Commercial Strategy & Complex Programmes (Outcome/Deliverables Led)

Outcome/deliverable defined strategic work for larger or more complex portfolios/programmes/projects. This includes, for example, shaping category and sourcing strategies, designing complex and/or novel commercial models, developing negotiation strategies and benefits cases, and providing commercial assurance with structured knowledge transfer to DWP teams. Delivery is typically multi month and led by a multi disciplinary supplier team.

  • Service Line B — Operational Procurement & Surge Delivery (Tactical)

Agile support to existing DWP commercial teams and/or to run smaller, lower value and less complex procurements and in life tasks. E.g., drafting ITT packs, managing evaluations, contracting and variations, mobilisation support, and MI/KPI improvements. Delivery may be resource as a service based (T&M) or fixed fee micro/small package deliverables. It will also enable short notice surge support.

CPV: Business and management consultancy and related services · Procurement consultancy services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 2 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 17 Jul 2026 – 16 Jul 2028 (2 yrs) · up to 15 Jul 2029 with extensions
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Department for Work & Pensions buys Business and management consultancy services (CPV 7941), and who usually turns up

Department for Work & Pensions’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: Business and management consultancy services (CPV 7941) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerDepartment for Work & Pensions · division 79
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 2 of 19 known-size awards · market: no supplier sizes published
11%—

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no winner locations published · market: no winner locations published
——

No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in the delivery region.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 8 decided notices · market: no decision dates published
94 days—

Half of these awards were announced within 94 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 15 of 26 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: no bid counts or routes published
58%—

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer14 lots with bid counts · all categories
14% had one bid
The marketNo bid counts published
Buyer · select a colour for counts
1 bid14%
Buyer: 2 of 14 lots with published bid counts.
2–343%
Buyer: 6 of 14 lots with published bid counts.
4–621%
Buyer: 3 of 14 lots with published bid counts.
7+21%
Buyer: 3 of 14 lots with published bid counts.

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer8 lots with estimate and award · all categories
63% below estimate
The marketNo estimate-and-award pairs published
Buyer · select a colour for counts
Below estimate63%
Buyer: 5 of 8 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%38%
Buyer: 3 of 8 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0%
Buyer: 0 of 8 lots with an estimate and award.
2

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.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 794124 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£10m
Expected competition
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 277 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet16% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 277 similar lots
1 bid16%
43 of 277 similar past lots received 1 bid (16%).
2–320%
56 of 277 similar past lots received 2–3 (20%).
4–625%
68 of 277 similar past lots received 4–6 (25%).
7+40%
110 of 277 similar past lots received 7+ (40%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 5 bids.
Commercial price forecast
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.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £10m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

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.

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.

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
Services
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
12 Feb 2026, 08:24 GMT
Last source update
13 Feb 2026, 08:35 GMT
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-013212
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Business and management consultancy and related servicesProcurement consultancy services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-064e7a Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

12 Feb 2026 → 17 Jul 2026 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published252 days ago
    12 Feb 2026, 08:24 GMT
  2. Latest notice published251 days ago
    13 Feb 2026, 08:35 GMT
  3. Market engagement238 days ago
    26 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT

    The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Commercial Directorate is undertaking preliminary market engagement to inform the forthcoming procurement of Commercial Strategy and Procurement Delivery Services.

    This engagement aims to help suppliers understand our objectives and early design considerations, and to enable the market to provide evidence based feedback that may help shape the final procurement approach. Participation is optional and will not advantage or disadvantage any supplier in any future competition.

    DWP is inviting suppliers to complete a questionnaire, covering themes such as route to market options, contract strategy, onboarding, requirements development, commercial models, social value, and risk. Following review of questionnaire responses, DWP may invite a limited number of suppliers to short 1-1 clarification discussions, conducted transparently and recorded to ensure fairness. Where further questions arise beyond the questionnaire, DWP may issue a short follow up request to participating suppliers.

    Suppliers wishing to participate should request the PME Briefing Pack and questionnaire by contacting:

    [email protected]

    Emails should use the subject line: “Commercial Strategy and Procurement Delivery Services – PME”

    Completed questionnaires must be submitted by 01st March at 5pm. Responses received after the deadline will not be considered.

  4. Tender notice expected167 days ago
    8 May 2026, 23:59 BST
  5. Contract starts98 days ago
    17 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 12 Feb 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    12 Feb 2026, 08:24 GMT
    UK1
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    12 Feb 2026, 09:32 GMT
    UK2
  3. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    13 Feb 2026, 08:35 GMT
    UK2
Published amendments (1)

Incorrect engagement deadline submitted.

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

Department for Work & Pensions

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PJCP-7274-TLRQ Caxton House, 6-12 Tothill Street, London, SW1H 9NA, London, London, SW1H 9NAContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure