Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 14 Apr 2026, 09:10 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Community Equipment - Slings Pre-Market Engagement

Authority: Wigan Council (Local council)

GoodsAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£250,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 29 May 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 30 Nov 2029 · up to 30 Nov 2031 with extensions · starts 1 Dec 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Our vision Is to create standalone contract providing a wide range of slings to support prescribers issuing equipment facilitating Hospital Discharge, avoid Hospital admittance and allow Residents to live independently within their own homes.

The Contract is aimed to reduce cost by appointing one sole provider for the equipment detailed within the contract and it is envisaged that an open competitive flexible tender under the Procurement Act 23 will be utilised. This contract will sit alongside other contracts for individual types of equipment

CPV: Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals and personal care products · Other community, social and personal services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 3 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Dec 2026 – 30 Nov 2029 (3 yrs) · up to 30 Nov 2031 with extensions
Delivery: North WestEligibility: 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 Wigan Council buys Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals (CPV 33), and who usually turns up

Wigan Council’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: Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals (CPV 33) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerWigan Council · all categories
The marketMedical equipments, pharmaceuticals (CPV 33) · North West England
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: 22 of 33 known-size awards · market: division 33 · North West England, n=133
67%40%

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.

Here, local means registered in North West England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 30 of 44 known-location awards · market: division 33 · North West England, n=183
68%13%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in North West England.

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: 10 decided notices · market: division 33 · North West England, n=15
49 days83 days

Half of these awards were announced within 49 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.

Both shares are minimums: 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 20 of 48 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 33 · North West England, n=241
42%70%

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 buyer18 lots with bid counts · all categories
0% had one bid
The market22 lots with bid counts · division 33 · North West England
27% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid0% / 27%
Buyer: 0 of 18 lots with published bid counts. Market: 6 of 22 lots with published bid counts.
2–344% / 41%
Buyer: 8 of 18 lots with published bid counts. Market: 9 of 22 lots with published bid counts.
4–633% / 32%
Buyer: 6 of 18 lots with published bid counts. Market: 7 of 22 lots with published bid counts.
7+22% / 0%
Buyer: 4 of 18 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 22 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 buyer17 lots with estimate and award · all categories
29% below estimate
The market17 lots with estimate and award · division 33 · North West England
53% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate29% / 53%
Buyer: 5 of 17 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 9 of 17 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%41% / 35%
Buyer: 7 of 17 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 6 of 17 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate29% / 12%
Buyer: 5 of 17 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 2 of 17 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 #136 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£250k
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 22 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet27% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 22 similar lots
1 bid27%
6 of 22 similar past lots received 1 bid (27%).
2–341%
9 of 22 similar past lots received 2–3 (41%).
4–632%
7 of 22 similar past lots received 4–6 (32%).
7+0%
0 of 22 similar past lots received 7+ (0%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 2.5 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 £250k, 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.

SupplierThis buyer’s earlier contractLotAward valueWhy listed
Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare LimitedLive contractCommunity Equipment - Pressure Care & Bedsruns to Apr 2029PA059 Community Pressure Care & Beds£640kMatched as the earlier contract

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.

What this replaces
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

41% title match.

A past supplier may not bid again.

The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (41% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid

Community Equipment - Pressure Care & Beds — held by Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare Limited; the published contract ends 19 Apr 2029.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
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
14 Apr 2026, 09:10 BST
Last source update
14 Apr 2026, 09:10 BST
Authority reference
PA061
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-033534
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals and personal care productsOther community, social and personal services
Delivery area
North West (UKD3)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-068185 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

14 Apr 2026 → 1 Dec 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published191 days ago
    14 Apr 2026, 09:10 BST
  2. Market engagement178 days ago
    27 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST

    A questionnaire has been published on the Chest Procurement Portal for completion by potential suppliers.

  3. Tender notice expected146 days ago
    29 May 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Today
    22 Oct 2026
  5. Contract startsin 39 days
    1 Dec 2026

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    14 Apr 2026, 09:10 BST
    UK2

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

Wigan Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PCGG-6481-TZPW Wigan Town Hall, Library Street, Wigan, North West, WN1 1YNContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure