Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 4 Feb 2026, 10:41 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

HCC 02/2025 - Preliminary Market Engagement for the Development of Sustainable Nursing Home Provision in Hertfordshire

Authority: Hertfordshire County Council (Local council)

ServicesLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 30 Apr 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 2 yrsends 30 Apr 2028 · starts 1 May 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) is undertaking work to explore opportunities to strengthen the local supply of nursing home provision. As demand grows with an ageing population, we want to ensure Hertfordshire has a resilient, high quality and future proof accommodation market. This includes increasing the availability of nursing, Extra Care and specialist provision, attracting sustainable investment, and ensuring supply aligns with population need. We are seeking the views of nursing home operators to understand how the Council can support their expansion, including through the Council supporting investment into new homes or the Council developing new assets as a landlord. This is part of a wider engagement, working in partnership with developers, investors and providers, we are aiming to understand how we can expand capacity, improve long term sustainability, and ensure residents can access modern, affordable and high quality accommodation that meets their needs.

The Council is carrying out PME in relation to this project. The Council will consider the feedback received to help inform the Council’s options, requirements and further decision making. For the avoidance of doubt, this stage of the project is not part of a formal procurement process and the Council is not committing, at this stage, to carrying out such a process.

Participation or non-participation in the PME shall not prevent any supplier participating in a potential future procurement, nor is it intended that any information supplied as part of the PME shall place any supplier at an advantage in a potential procurement process.

For further information, please see the PME Document.

If your organisation is not registered on the Supply Hertfordshire In-tend portal, please go to the website stated above and click on the `Register` tab - registration is free.

Logging into In-Tend (once registered)

  • To view this opportunity please click on `Tenders` then `Current` and then scroll down to the project.
  • Selecting ‘View Details’ on the relevant opportunity
  • Clicking the ‘Express Interest’ tab
  • Following the on-screen instructions
  • The Questionnaire & more information is available via the PME Documents tab.

Completed questionnaires should be returned via the Correspondence function on this project and we would appreciate these by 12 noon on Friday 20th February.

All communication should be via the Correspondence function on the project.

To ensure you receive email alerts and notifications from our system, please add the email domain `@in-tendorganiser.co.uk` to your Safe Senders list.

Please note that the e-noticing system requires a contract start and end date. The dates stated below are not accurate as any start date is subject to any future procurement which is not guaranteed at this stage.

CPV: Residential nursing care services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 2 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 May 2026 – 30 Apr 2028 (2 yrs)
Delivery: East of EnglandEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How Hertfordshire County Council buys Miscellaneous health services (CPV 8514), and who usually turns up

Hertfordshire 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: Miscellaneous health services (CPV 8514) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerHertfordshire County Council · division 85
The marketMiscellaneous health services (CPV 8514) · East of 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: 20 of 53 known-size awards · market: CPV 8514 · East of England, n=82
38%40%

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 East of England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 48 of 75 known-location awards · market: CPV 8514 · East of England, n=87
64%38%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in East of 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: 5 decided notices · market: CPV 8514 · East of England, n=7
67 days26 days

Half of these awards were announced within 67 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 47 of 65 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 8514 · East of England, n=113
72%77%

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 buyer27 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 85
11% had one bid
The market14 lots with bid counts · CPV 8514 · East of England
14% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid11% / 14%
Buyer: 3 of 27 lots with published bid counts. Market: 2 of 14 lots with published bid counts.
2–319% / 29%
Buyer: 5 of 27 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 14 lots with published bid counts.
4–611% / 36%
Buyer: 3 of 27 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 14 lots with published bid counts.
7+59% / 21%
Buyer: 16 of 27 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 14 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 buyer24 lots with estimate and award · broad CPV 85
21% below estimate
The market8 lots with estimate and award · CPV 8514 · East of England
38% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate21% / 38%
Buyer: 5 of 24 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 8 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%79% / 63%
Buyer: 19 of 24 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 8 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0% / 0%
Buyer: 0 of 24 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 0 of 8 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 851424 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 14 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet14% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 14 similar lots
1 bid14%
2 of 14 similar past lots received 1 bid (14%).
2–329%
4 of 14 similar past lots received 2–3 (29%).
4–636%
5 of 14 similar past lots received 4–6 (36%).
7+21%
3 of 14 similar past lots received 7+ (21%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 5 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.

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.

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
Unspecified in notice
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
4 Feb 2026, 10:41 GMT
Last source update
4 Feb 2026, 10:41 GMT
Authority reference
HCC-PME-NursingHomes-Providers-Feb26
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-009839
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Residential nursing care services
Delivery area
East of England (UKH23)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06469a Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

4 Feb 2026 → 1 May 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published260 days ago
    4 Feb 2026, 10:41 GMT
  2. Market engagement223 days ago
    13 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT

    To access the PME documentation please visit the Council’s e-tendering system Supply Hertfordshire, run by In-Tend at in-tendhost.co.uk/supplyhertfordshire ↗ and follow the on-screen guidance.

    To participate in this PME, organisations must return their completed Supplier Questionnaire (Appendix A of the PME Document), together with any supporting documents, through the Correspondence area of the project on Supply Hertfordshire by the return deadline of 12.00 Noon on 20/02/2026, as per the PME documentation and e-tendering system. Supplier Questionnaires received after the deadline may not be reviewed at the Council’s sole discretion.

    The Council may hold detailed engagement sessions with interested organisations following survey responses.

    Please make sure that you have submitted your Supplier Questionnaire following the instructions within the PME documentation and e-tendering system. The Council will not be held accountable for any errors made by an organisation in submitting their Supplier Questionnaire.

    If you are experiencing problems with the Supply Hertfordshire website, In-Tend offer a help section which includes a dedicated UK support desk which can be contacted via email: [email protected] or Telephone: +44 1144070065 for any website/technical questions, Monday to Friday, 8:30-17:00.

    Participation in the PME will be at each organisation’s own cost. No expense in responding to this PME will be reimbursed by the Council.

  3. Tender notice expected175 days ago
    30 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Contract starts175 days ago
    1 May 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    4 Feb 2026, 10:41 GMT
    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

Hertfordshire County Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PWJT-5264-WYMY Robertson House, Six Hills Way, Stevenage, East of England, SG1 2FQContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure