Find a TenderOpen for tender Tender notice
Published 8 Oct 2026, 11:37 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Enhanced Work Experience Programme

Authority: Cheshire East Council (Local council)

ServicesBelow threshold - open competitionBelow thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitable
Published estimate£125,000≈ £42k / year · £150,000 inc. VAT
Submission deadline 29 Oct 202612:00 GMT · 20d 12h left
Clarification cut-off 22 Oct 202612:00 BST · questions to the authority
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Dec 2029 · up to 31 Dec 2031 with extensions · starts 1 Jan 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

This is an opportunity for a provider to bid to provide an Enhanced Work Experience Programme for cared for children and care leavers aged 16-20, particularly those who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) or at risk of becoming NEET.

CPV: Job search services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1Renewal 3 yrsSMEPublished value£125,000
Contract period: 1 Jan 2027 — 31 Dec 2029 (up to 31 Dec 2031 with extensions) · up to 5 yrs with extensionsEligibility: SME eligibleDelivery: North WestTurnover guideline: ~£83,257/yr≈ 2× annual value
Value
£125,000 exc. VAT · £150,000 inc. VAT
Extensions
2 x 12 months option to extend
79611000 Job search services
Pre-qualification & selection criteria (PQQ)1
  • Condition of participation
    The evaluation will be based upon two stages within a single RFQ Response Document and will have two key areas consisting of: • A Mandatory 'Procurement Specific Questionnaire' (PSQ); and • An RFQ 'Award' section, made up of: • Financial Evaluation [30% scored] • Qualitative Evaluation Questions[70% scored] Only those Quotes that meet the qualifying criteria (as set out in the 'PSQ') will then progress to the RFQ 'Award' criteria assessment stage. The Council does not undertake to accept the lowest priced or any quotation and reserves the right to accept the whole or any part of any quotation submitted. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE REFER TO THE GUIDANCE DOCUMENT ATTACHED TO PROJECT OPPORTUNITY DN830003

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

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 more
How bids are scored
  • Price — Schedule 3 Pricing Schedule will be scored scored out of a possible 30%
  • Qualitative Questions — Schedule 5 RFQ Qualitative Evaluation Questions will be scored out of a possible 70%
Conditions of participation1
  • Condition of participation
    The evaluation will be based upon two stages within a single RFQ Response Document and will have two key areas consisting of: • A Mandatory 'Procurement Specific Questionnaire' (PSQ); and • An RFQ 'Award' section, made up of: • Financial Evaluation [30% scored] • Qualitative Evaluation Questions[70% scored] Only those Quotes that meet the qualifying criteria (as set out in the 'PSQ') will then progress to the RFQ 'Award' criteria assessment stage. The Council does not undertake to accept the lowest priced or any quotation and reserves the right to accept the whole or any part of any quotation submitted. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE REFER TO THE GUIDANCE DOCUMENT ATTACHED TO PROJECT OPPORTUNITY DN830003
What this means for your bid
  • Turnover usually expected at this size: about £83,257 (twice the annual value).

Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.

Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid

How Cheshire East Council buys Placement services of personnel (CPV 7961) — and who usually turns up

Cheshire East Council’s own published record, next to the North West England market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Placement services of personnel (CPV 7961) →

1

How the contest usually goes

This buyer’s published record next to the market where the work is delivered — contested contracts only, counted per lot

Question for the bid
This buyerCheshire East Council · all categories
The marketPlacement services of personnel (CPV 7961) · 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: 63 of 102 known-size awards · market: CPV 7961, n=5
62%0%

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: 56 of 152 known-location awards · market: CPV 7961, n=5
37%60%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside 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: 12 decided notices · market: no dates
37 days—

Half of these awards were announced within 37 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 53 of 104 awarded contracts without a rival · market: n=4
53 of 1040 of 4

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 buyer20 lots with bid counts · all categories
30% had one bid
The market5 lots with bid counts · CPV 7961
0% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid30% / 0%
Buyer: 6 of 20 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 5 lots with published bid counts.
2–325% / 20%
Buyer: 5 of 20 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 5 lots with published bid counts.
4–610% / 20%
Buyer: 2 of 20 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 5 lots with published bid counts.
7+35% / 60%
Buyer: 7 of 20 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 5 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 buyer13 lots with estimate and award · all categories
15% below estimate
The market155 lots with estimate and award · broad CPV 79
30% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate15% / 30%
Buyer: 2 of 13 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 47 of 155 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%85% / 51%
Buyer: 11 of 13 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 79 of 155 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0% / 19%
Buyer: 0 of 13 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 29 of 155 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 79619% single-bidPublished estimate£125,000
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 287 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—9% single-bid risk
Past bids on 287 similar lots
1 bid9%
25 of 287 similar past lots received 1 bid (9%).
2–326%
76 of 287 similar past lots received 2–3 (26%).
4–632%
92 of 287 similar past lots received 4–6 (32%).
7+33%
94 of 287 similar past lots received 7+ (33%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the winning 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 guide, not a price to bid.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet — the published estimate is £125k, 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 valueMatch
—

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.

SupplierWon in this categoryLive contractsAward vs estimate
—
Coverage and what to read with care
  • Each figure explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two sides are never blended. A lot’s own market is read at its delivery region where the lot names one; where it names several, or none that can be resolved, the chart falls back to the UK-wide record for the same category and says so under the bar. An empty cell means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
  • When we call out a difference. A buyer figure is only flagged against the market when the sample is large enough that the gap is unlikely to be chance; at most two callouts appear, always phrased as a comparison with both numbers and the sample size.
  • Coverage (re-measured 5 Oct on the live record, 94,497 awarded procedures of the last three years). 51 % publish a bid count and 72 % a delivery region, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice names none, labelled. Of the 17,687 award-vs-estimate pairs, 34 % sit exactly on the estimate — the buyer published the award at the figure it advertised. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden, and a distribution is not drawn as percentages below ten observations.
  • “Match”, text similarity, the expected-bid figure and the distribution drawn beneath it are model outputs, not published facts or win probabilities. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Below threshold - open competition
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Open for tender
Procurement threshold
Below threshold
Regulatory regime
Light touch regime
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
8 Oct 2026, 11:37 BST
Last source update
8 Oct 2026, 11:37 BST
Authority reference
C5965
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-095099
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Job search services
Delivery area
North West (UKD62)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078384 Find a Tender

How to participate & submission route

Official notice Submit via ProContract (Due North)
Submission portal named on this notice: ProContract (Due North) · Who buys & how to bid on ProContract
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowed
Access & registration note: Free · short registration with manual review; public opportunity list
Requests to participate (first stage)
—
Tender submission deadline
29 Oct 2026, 12:00 GMT
Clarification deadline
22 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Tenders must be submitted at www.the-chest.org.uk ↗ Project ID: DN830003 Unrestricted access to this opportunity is available via the Chest North West Portal, register for free at www.the-chest.org.uk ↗ and express an interest in project ID DN830003
Published estimate £125,000 excludes VAT (£150,000 including VAT).

Timeline

4 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Tender notice published1 day ago
    8 Oct 2026, 11:17 BST
  2. Clarification questions byin 13 days
    22 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
  3. Submission deadlinein 21 days
    29 Oct 2026, 12:00 GMT
  4. Contract startsin 84 days
    1 Jan 2027

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Nothing awarded yet
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Notice history

4 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 8 Oct 2026
  1. Tender notice published
    8 Oct 2026, 11:37 BSTUK4
  2. Deadline moved to 29 Oct 2026, 12:00 GMT
    8 Oct 2026, 11:37 BST+1 days · was 28 Oct 2026, 12:00 GMT
  3. Tender notice published
    8 Oct 2026, 11:17 BSTUK4
  4. First tender notice published
    8 Oct 2026, 11:17 BST
Published amendments (1)

Enquiry deadline changed from 21 Oct 2026 to 22 Oct 2026 and Tender deadline changed from 28 Oct 2026 to 29 Oct 2026.

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Cheshire East Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PTWR-7124-XZXQ Delamere House, Delamere Street, Crewe, North West, CW12JZ [email protected]

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender
  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender