Official UK procurement notice
Feel Good Suffolk AI and Digital Offer Development
Authority: Suffolk County Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSuffolk County Council (Public Health and Communities) is undertaking soft market testing to inform a potential future procurement of an AI-enabled digital solution to support the Feel Good Suffolk (FGS) service.
FGS is a lifestyle service supporting residents to stop smoking, manage a healthy weight and increase physical activity. The current digital offer is primarily static and does not provide personalised, adaptive support to users.
The Council is exploring opportunities to enhance the digital front door through the introduction of an AI-enabled solution which may include:
- A chatbot embedded within the existing FGS website to support user navigation, provide evidence-based information and improve access to services
- AI-driven functionality to support pathway personalisation, including predicting user engagement, adherence and outcomes
- Ongoing digital support to maintain behaviour change through tailored follow-up, prompts and engagement tools
The proposed solution should support improved user engagement, provide personalised and accessible support, generate data-driven insights and align with relevant data protection, safeguarding and ethical AI requirements.
This soft market testing exercise is exploratory and non-evaluative. It is intended to inform the Council's understanding of market capability, delivery models, timescales and indicative costs within an anticipated budget envelope of approximately £113,000 for an initial pilot period of up to 12 months. Subject to future requirements and approvals, there may be an option to extend the contract for up to a further 6 months.
This notice does not constitute a call for competition or a commitment to procure.
CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Suffolk County Council buys IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72), and who usually turns up
Suffolk County 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: IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72) →
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.
Here, local means registered in East of England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside East of England.
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.
Half of these awards were announced within 55 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.
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.
1 bid6% / 7%
2–326% / 25%
4–639% / 37%
7+29% / 31%
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.
Below estimate23% / 42%
Within ±2%68% / 39%
Above estimate9% / 19%
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
Lot #1Published estimate£170k
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 81 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid7%
2–325%
4–637%
7+31%
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.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
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
- 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
- 27 Jul 2026, 12:14 BST
- Last source update
- 27 Jul 2026, 12:14 BST
- Authority reference
ITS316 / GFPH868- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-070741- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d42eFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
27 Jul 2026 → 1 Jan 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published87 days ago27 Jul 2026, 12:14 BST
- Market engagement21 days ago30 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
Potential suppliers are invited to participate in a soft market testing exercise by completing an Expression of Interest response available via the following link:
forms.cloud.microsoft/e/s2c7brgVZH ↗
Deadline for responses: 16/08/2026
This engagement aims to:
- understand market capability and available solutions
- explore delivery approaches and technical options
- gather indicative costs and implementation considerations
- inform the development of a future procurement strategy
- identify potential suppliers that may be able to deliver the required services
The Council may undertake further market engagement activities, which could include supplier presentations, clarification discussions and/or wider engagement sessions.
Participation is voluntary and will not influence any future procurement process.
- Tender notice expected6 days ago15 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 71 days1 Jan 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published27 Jul 2026, 12:14 BSTUK2
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender