Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 28 Jul 2026, 14:50 BST

Official UK procurement notice

DDaT26304 - Library Management System

Procurement agent: UK Research and Innovation·On behalf of: UKSBS

GoodsBelow thresholdSME suitable
Sectors: Software Packages & ERP (48) Delivery: UK
Planned pipeline value£60,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 30 Sept 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Dec 2029 · starts 1 Jan 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Through this notice we are looking for engagement with the market and feedback and what is available in general along with any elements of innovation that may need to be considered.

Please see below link which will take you to a form with a list of pre market engagement questions. If you could please provide feedback by 12/08/2026 this will be much appreciated.

forms.cloud.microsoft/e/uYyqkBGhmn ↗

To Access the EOI Specification Document which is the current version of the Scope which will provide further details on the requirement, please contact [email protected], referencing DDaT26304 - Library Management System pre market engagement so that we can issue you the Document.

Within the EOI Specification Document it details the indicative timelines for the procurement process.

Please note that the route to market is undecided at this moment in time. It is hoped that through this pre market engagement this will help inform this.

CPV: Compliance software package · Information systems and servers · Library software package

The lotProcurement structure

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

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

How UK Research and Innovation buys Library software package (CPV 4816), and who usually turns up

UK Research and Innovation’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: Library software package (CPV 4816) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerUK Research and Innovation · division 48
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: 64 of 158 known-size awards · market: no supplier sizes published
41%—

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: 12 of 32 known-location awards · market: no winner locations published
38%—

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside 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: 109 decided notices · market: no decision dates published
30 days—

Half of these awards were announced within 30 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 199 of 253 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: no bid counts or routes published
79%—

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 buyer171 lots with bid counts · all categories
25% had one bid
The marketNo bid counts published
Buyer · select a colour for counts
1 bid25%
Buyer: 42 of 171 lots with published bid counts.
2–337%
Buyer: 63 of 171 lots with published bid counts.
4–621%
Buyer: 36 of 171 lots with published bid counts.
7+18%
Buyer: 30 of 171 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 buyer133 lots with estimate and award · all categories
47% below estimate
The marketNo estimate-and-award pairs published
Buyer · select a colour for counts
Below estimate47%
Buyer: 62 of 133 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%40%
Buyer: 53 of 133 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate14%
Buyer: 18 of 133 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 481636 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£60k
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 379 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet15% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 379 similar lots
1 bid15%
58 of 379 similar past lots received 1 bid (15%).
2–331%
118 of 379 similar past lots received 2–3 (31%).
4–632%
120 of 379 similar past lots received 4–6 (32%).
7+22%
83 of 379 similar past lots received 7+ (22%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 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 £60k, 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
IMANAGE EMEA LIMITEDEarlier contractDDaT25098 - Management Systemended Mar 2026—£10kMatched 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.

56% title match.

A past supplier may not bid again.

The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (56% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid

DDaT25098 - Management System — held by IMANAGE EMEA LIMITED; the published contract ends 30 Mar 2026.

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
Below threshold
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
28 Jul 2026, 14:50 BST
Last source update
28 Jul 2026, 14:50 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-071289
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Compliance software packageInformation systems and serversLibrary software package
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d569 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

28 Jul 2026 → 1 Jan 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published86 days ago
    28 Jul 2026, 14:50 BST
  2. Market engagement71 days ago
    12 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST

    The Contracting Authority UK Research and Innovation would like to conduct pre-market engagement.

    As part of this information gathering exercise, we have developed a series of questions to ascertain the capability, the capacity and the appetite of the current market and would welcome your responses.

    Please see link below to access the questionnaire:

    forms.cloud.microsoft/e/uYyqkBGhmn ↗

    Due to the timeframe required, please ensure to complete the questionnaire before 14:00 hrs on 12th August 2026 to express your interest.

  3. Tender notice expected22 days ago
    30 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Today
    22 Oct 2026
  5. Contract startsin 70 days
    1 Jan 2027

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    28 Jul 2026, 14:50 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

3 public bodies on the notice

UK Research and Innovation

Procurement agentPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PDQJ-7126-JDHG Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, South West, SN2 1FLContact email

Clients of the procurement agent

  • UKSBSBeneficiary authority
  • UK Shared Business Services LtdProcess contact pointProcuring entityShared ServiceGB-PPON: PMPN-7535-GNTG Swindon, South WestContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure