Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 11 Aug 2026, 16:34 BST

Official UK procurement notice

DHSC - Design packaging of tobacco, vapes and other nicotine products

Authority: Department of Health & Social Care (Central government)

ServicesBelow thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: Business Services & Consultancy (79) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 1 Sept 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 9 moends 1 Aug 2027 · up to 1 Nov 2027 with extensions · starts 2 Nov 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

We are intending to procure a supplier to inform the development of future statutory instruments which will make use of new regulation-making powers included in the Tobacco and Vapes Act. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is seeking a provider to deliver a range of design work for external tobacco, vape and other nicotine product packaging.

We have designed a market consultation questionnaire that we would encourage you to review and respond to, for our forthcoming potential procurement requirement. Please e-mail [email protected] to obtain a copy of this questionnaire quoting ‘DHSC - Design packaging of tobacco, vape and other nicotine products’. You should complete and return this document no later than 23:59 on Monday 24th August 2026.

For the avoidance of doubt, this is not a call for competition and DHSC are under no obligation to proceed with any formal procurement procedure. The market engagement exercise is being used as an opportunity to gather feedback to better understand market capabilities, refine the procurement strategy, and encourage supplier engagement.

CPV: Graphic design services · Packaging and related services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 9 moSMEVCSE
Contract period: 2 Nov 2026 – 1 Aug 2027 (9 mo) · up to 1 Nov 2027 with extensions
Eligibility: 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 of Health & Social Care buys Services related to printing (CPV 7982), and who usually turns up

Department of Health & Social Care’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: Services related to printing (CPV 7982) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerDepartment of Health & Social Care · 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: 9 of 29 known-size awards · market: CPV 7982 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=8
31%88%

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 (authority’s region).

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 6 of 16 known-location awards · market: CPV 7982 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=5
38%20%

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: 6 decided notices · market: CPV 7982 · UK-wide, n=23
24 days40 days

Half of these awards were announced within 24 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 21 of 42 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7982 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=10
50%50%

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 · broad CPV 79
21% had one bid
The market38 lots with bid counts · CPV 7982 · UK-wide
8% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid21% / 8%
Buyer: 3 of 14 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 38 lots with published bid counts.
2–336% / 18%
Buyer: 5 of 14 lots with published bid counts. Market: 7 of 38 lots with published bid counts.
4–67% / 37%
Buyer: 1 of 14 lots with published bid counts. Market: 14 of 38 lots with published bid counts.
7+36% / 37%
Buyer: 5 of 14 lots with published bid counts. Market: 14 of 38 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 buyer10 lots with estimate and award · broad CPV 79
40% below estimate
The market25 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7982 · UK-wide
28% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate40% / 28%
Buyer: 4 of 10 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 7 of 25 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%60% / 56%
Buyer: 6 of 10 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 14 of 25 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0% / 16%
Buyer: 0 of 10 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 4 of 25 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 79829 monthsSME suitableEstimate not published
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 253 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet12% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 253 similar lots
1 bid12%
30 of 253 similar past lots received 1 bid (12%).
2–325%
62 of 253 similar past lots received 2–3 (25%).
4–634%
86 of 253 similar past lots received 4–6 (34%).
7+30%
75 of 253 similar past lots received 7+ (30%).
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.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

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
PSA Consultants LtdEarlier contractC396227 DHSC Audits of tobacco, vapes and other nicotine productsended Oct 2026—£93kMatched 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.

64% title match.

A past supplier may not bid again.

The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (64% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid

C396227 DHSC Audits of tobacco, vapes and other nicotine products — held by PSA Consultants Ltd; the published contract ends 1 Oct 2026.

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
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
11 Aug 2026, 16:34 BST
Last source update
11 Aug 2026, 16:34 BST
Authority reference
C461041
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-076410
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Graphic design servicesPackaging and related services
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06e1cb Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

11 Aug 2026 → 2 Nov 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published72 days ago
    11 Aug 2026, 16:34 BST
  2. Market engagement59 days ago
    24 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST

    We are intending to procure a supplier to inform the development of future statutory instruments which will make use of new regulation-making powers included in the Tobacco and Vapes Act. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is seeking a provider to deliver a range of design work for external tobacco, vape and other nicotine product packaging.

    We have designed a market consultation questionnaire that we would encourage you to review and respond to, for our forthcoming potential procurement requirement. Please e-mail [email protected] to obtain a copy of this questionnaire quoting ‘DHSC - Design packaging of tobacco, vape and other nicotine products’. You should complete and return this document no later than 23:59 on Monday 24th August 2026.

    For the avoidance of doubt, this is not a call for competition and DHSC are under no obligation to proceed with any formal procurement procedure. The market engagement exercise is being used as an opportunity to gather feedback to better understand market capabilities, refine the procurement strategy, and encourage supplier engagement.

  3. Tender notice expected51 days ago
    1 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Today
    22 Oct 2026
  5. Contract startsin 10 days
    2 Nov 2026

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    11 Aug 2026, 16:34 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

Department of Health & Social Care

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PMQG-9965-CHZR 39 Victoria Street, London, London, SW1H 0EUContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure