Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 17 Apr 2026, 14:48 BST

Official UK procurement notice

External procurement support · UK public procurement notice

Authority: South Kesteven District Council (Local council)

ServicesBelow threshold
Planned pipeline value£0pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Mar 2031 · starts 1 Apr 2028

What is being bought

Published requirement description

South Kesteven District Council (SKDC) is currently looking at delivery options to support the Procurement function for the authority.

As part of the lead into and preparation for potential Local Government Reorganisation, SKDC are currently reviewing all options for delivery of the Procurement function.

SKDC would like to hear from any providers who can offer this function and would like information on services they can offer along with indicative pricing.

The purpose of this engagement is to test market appetite, capability and delivery models for external procurement services prior to any potential future procurement. This is a stand alone, exploratory exercise only and does not form part of a formal tender process.

Please note start and end dates of any future contract are only illustrative at this present time.

CPV: Procurement consultancy services

The lotProcurement structure

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

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

How South Kesteven District Council buys Business and management consultancy services (CPV 7941), and who usually turns up

South Kesteven District Council’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: Business and management consultancy services (CPV 7941) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerSouth Kesteven District Council · 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: 0 of 4 known-size awards · market: CPV 7941 · East Midlands, n=81
0 of 468%

No small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.

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 East Midlands.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 of 5 known-location awards · market: CPV 7941 · East Midlands, n=123
60%15%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in East Midlands.

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: 11 decided notices · market: CPV 7941 · East Midlands, n=18
24 days35 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 2 of 6 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7941 · East Midlands, n=126
33%45%

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 · all categories
8% had one bid
The market24 lots with bid counts · CPV 7941 · East Midlands
21% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid8% / 21%
Buyer: 1 of 12 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 24 lots with published bid counts.
2–325% / 38%
Buyer: 3 of 12 lots with published bid counts. Market: 9 of 24 lots with published bid counts.
4–633% / 13%
Buyer: 4 of 12 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 24 lots with published bid counts.
7+33% / 29%
Buyer: 4 of 12 lots with published bid counts. Market: 7 of 24 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 buyer12 lots with estimate and award · all categories
50% below estimate
The market22 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7941 · East Midlands
55% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate50% / 55%
Buyer: 6 of 12 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 12 of 22 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%42% / 36%
Buyer: 5 of 12 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 8 of 22 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate8% / 9%
Buyer: 1 of 12 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 2 of 22 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 794136 monthsNo real estimate
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 24 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet21% single-bid risk
Past bids on 24 similar lots
1 bid21%
5 of 24 similar past lots received 1 bid (21%).
2–338%
9 of 24 similar past lots received 2–3 (38%).
4–613%
3 of 24 similar past lots received 4–6 (13%).
7+29%
7 of 24 similar past lots received 7+ (29%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 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 real estimate
The buyer published £0 as the estimate (a placeholder, not the contract’s value), so there is nothing to forecast against.

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
Melton Borough CouncilEarlier contractProcurement Servicesnotice published Feb 2026—£200kMatched 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.

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
17 Apr 2026, 14:48 BST
Last source update
17 Apr 2026, 14:48 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-035276
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Procurement consultancy services
Delivery area
East Midlands (UKF)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06857a Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

17 Apr 2026 → 1 Apr 2028 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published186 days ago
    17 Apr 2026, 14:48 BST
  2. Market engagement144 days ago
    29 May 2026, 23:59 BST

    Interested parties are invited to respond to the questions within the Request for information document at www.eastmidstenders.org ↗

    Select "View Opportunities" and choose South Kesteven District Council in the "organisations" drop down menu.

  3. Today
    20 Oct 2026
  4. Contract starts
    1 Apr 2028, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    17 Apr 2026, 14:48 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

South Kesteven District Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PCZL-1652-YMNZ Council Offices, The Picture House, St Catherine's Road,, Grantham, East Midlands, NG31 6TTContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure