Official UK procurement notice
Cumberland Professional Services Framework
Authority: Cumberland Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionCumberland Council is seeking feedback from the market to inform the development of a closed Professional Services Framework with a 4 year term to provide multi disciplinary services focused upon supporting delivery of the Council's capital, regeneration, infrastructure and property programmes.
The establishment of any future framework remains subject to the Council's internal governance and approval processes. Participation in this pre-market engagement exercise should not be interpreted as a commitment by the Council to proceed with the procurement, and there is no guarantee that a framework will ultimately be approved or established.
Participation in this engagement exercise will not provide any advantage or disadvantage in any subsequent procurement process. While all feedback received will be carefully considered, the Council reserves the right to determine the final procurement approach and may elect not to adopt some or all of the suggestions put forward.
CPV: Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 4 yrs from 1 Sept 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).
- “Cumberland Professional Services Framework” 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 Cumberland Council buys Architectural, construction, engineering (CPV 71), and who usually turns up
Cumberland Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Architectural, construction, engineering (CPV 71) →
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. The market figure counts awards delivered in North West England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in 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 35 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.
Both shares are minimums: 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% / 2%
2–324% / 12%
4–616% / 21%
7+48% / 64%
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
Our matching links this notice to “Arboricultural Services Framework for Parks and Green Spaces in the Cumberland Area” of this authority, but none of the 9 panel members sit in a category matching this notice.
Lot #1CPV 71Estimate not published
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 71. The comparison uses that group.
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 121 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid2%
2–312%
4–621%
7+64%
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| STAGECOACH (NORTH WEST) LIMITEDEarlier contract | Bus Services (Cumberland)started Nov 2025 | — | £2.6m | Matched as the earlier contract |
| Reays Coaches LtdEarlier contract | Bus Services (Cumberland)started Nov 2025 | — | £2.6m | Matched 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.
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
- 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
- 19 Oct 2026, 11:18 BST
- Last source update
- 20 Oct 2026, 16:25 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-099173- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078a83Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
19 Oct 2026 → 1 Sept 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published6 days ago19 Oct 2026, 11:18 BST
- Latest notice published5 days ago20 Oct 2026, 16:25 BST
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 20 days13 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Market engagementin 20 days13 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
Feedback on the proposed framework is sought from potential suppliers prior to commencement of the formal tender process.
Full details and the questionnaire can be found on The Chest www.the-chest.org.uk ↗ using the ID number DN832709
Deadline for response is: 12:00 Friday 13th November 2026
Please return to completed questionnaire or issue any queries to: [email protected]
- Contract startsin 311 days1 Sept 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 19 Oct 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published19 Oct 2026, 11:18 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published20 Oct 2026, 16:25 BSTUK2
Published amendments (1)
Link to The Chest did not appear to be working, Updated link.
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