Find a TenderPlanned procurementPipeline notice
Published 23 May 2025, 16:12 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Court Reporting and Transcription

Authority: Ministry of Justice (Central government)

ServicesAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£25,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender · 2 value updates
Tender notice expected 13 Sept 2027from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Aug 2031 · starts 1 Sept 2028

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Provision of Offsite Transcription Services (OTS) to support the production of official court and tribunal transcripts across HMCTS jurisdictions.

The services will comprise the secure receipt, processing, and transcription of digital audio recordings of court and tribunal proceedings, undertaken remotely by the supplier.

CPV: Administration services · Judicial services · Law-courts-related administrative services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 3 yrsSMEVCSE

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

How Ministry of Justice buys Justice services (CPV 7523), and who usually turns up

Ministry of Justice’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: Justice services (CPV 7523) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerMinistry of Justice · division 75
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: 13 of 39 known-size awards · market: CPV 7523 · Greater London, n=30
33%53%

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 Greater London.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 5 of 15 known-location awards · market: CPV 7523 · Greater London, n=31
33%29%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Greater London.

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: 4 decided notices · market: CPV 7523 · Greater London, n=5
58 days57 days

Half of these awards were announced within 58 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 47 of 57 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7523 · Greater London, n=41
82%68%

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 buyer12 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 75
25% had one bid
The market13 lots with bid counts · CPV 7523 · Greater London
23% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid25% / 23%
Buyer: 3 of 12 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 13 lots with published bid counts.
2–367% / 62%
Buyer: 8 of 12 lots with published bid counts. Market: 8 of 13 lots with published bid counts.
4–60% / 8%
Buyer: 0 of 12 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 13 lots with published bid counts.
7+8% / 8%
Buyer: 1 of 12 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 13 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 buyer27 lots with estimate and award · all categories
56% below estimate
The market15 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7523 · UK-wide
20% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate56% / 20%
Buyer: 15 of 27 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 15 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%30% / 73%
Buyer: 8 of 27 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 11 of 15 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate15% / 7%
Buyer: 4 of 27 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 1 of 15 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 752336 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£25m
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 13 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet23% single-bid risk
Past bids on 13 similar lots
1 bid23%
3 of 13 similar past lots received 1 bid (23%).
2–362%
8 of 13 similar past lots received 2–3 (62%).
4–68%
1 of 13 similar past lots received 4–6 (8%).
7+8%
1 of 13 similar past lots received 7+ (8%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 2 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 £25m, 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
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
23 May 2025, 16:12 BST
Last source update
26 May 2026, 10:49 BST
Authority reference
prj_14384
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-048513
Latest notice
Pipeline notice (UK1)
Classification (CPV)
Administration servicesJudicial servicesLaw-courts-related administrative services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05244f Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

23 May 2025 → 1 Sept 2028 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published
    23 May 2025, 16:12 BST
  2. Market engagement
    11 Aug 2025, 23:59 BST

    Market Engagement Notice

    Invitation to Register Interest

    We are pleased to announce that a market engagement session for Court Reporting and Transcription will take place on 11 August 2025 (10am – 12pm). This event is an invaluable opportunity for suppliers to engage, share your knowledge and gain insight into upcoming opportunities.

    To register your interest in participating, please send an email to [email protected]. The registration period will close 06/08/25. Ensure that you include your company name and contact details in the registration email.

    We look forward to your active participation and valuable contributions in this engagement session.

    Sincerely,

    The HMCTS Commercial Team

  3. Latest notice published148 days ago
    26 May 2026, 10:49 BST
  4. Today
    21 Oct 2026
  5. Tender notice expectedin 327 days
    13 Sept 2027, 23:59 BST
  6. Contract starts
    1 Sept 2028, 00:00 BST

Notice history

6 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 23 May 2025
  1. Pipeline notice published
    23 May 2025, 16:12 BST
    UK1
  2. Pipeline notice published
    27 May 2025, 15:21 BST
    UK1
  3. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    9 Jul 2025, 14:17 BST
    UK2
  4. Published value updated to £20,400,000
    9 Jul 2025, 14:17 BST
    was £18,400,000
  5. Pipeline notice published
    26 May 2026, 10:49 BST
    UK1
  6. Published value updated to £25,000,000
    26 May 2026, 10:49 BST
    was £20,400,000
Routine re-releases (4)
  • 2025-05: 1 release · 23 May 2025

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

Ministry of Justice

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PDNN-2773-HVYN 102 Petty France, London, London, SW1H 9AJContact email

Official documents & specifications (4)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
  • Preliminary market engagement notice planningPreliminary market engagement noticeUK2Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender