Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 15 Jun 2026, 12:54 BST

Official UK procurement notice

HCC 06/26 Pre-Market Engagement for Concessionary Bus Shelter Contract

Authority: Hertfordshire County Council (Local council)

ServicesConcessionSME suitable
Concession value (operator's revenue)£24,000,000operator revenue, not the authority's budget
Tender notice expected 15 Jan 2027from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 8 yrsends 31 Jul 2035 · up to 31 Jul 2037 with extensions · starts 1 Aug 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Hertfordshire County Council (The ‘Council’) is carrying out PME in relation to the provision of a concessionary advertising bus shelter contract across Hertfordshire. The Council will consider the feedback received to help inform the Council’s options 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 provider participating in a potential future procurement, nor is it intended that any information supplied as part of the PME shall place any provider at an advantage in a potential procurement process. Participation in the PME will be at each organisations own cost. No expense in responding to this PME will be reimbursed by the Council.

To access the PME documentation please visit the Council’s e-tendering system Supply Hertfordshire, run by Intend 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 this project by the return deadline of 12.00 Noon on 29 June 2026. Supplier Questionnaires received after the deadline may not be reviewed at the Council’s sole discretion.

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.

In addition, there is an option for organisations to attend Individual Supplier Meetings on 16th July 2026 this will take place at the Council’s premises in Stevenage. Please note that attendance requests for the Industry Open Day provider meeting must be received by 3rd July 2026 by email [email protected] and the invitation link will be sent to you

CPV: Advertising management services · Advertising material · Advertising services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 8 yrsSME
Contract period: 1 Aug 2027 – 31 Jul 2035 (8 yrs) · up to 31 Jul 2037 with extensions
Delivery: East of EnglandEligibility: SME 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 Hertfordshire County Council buys Advertising and marketing services (CPV 7934), and who usually turns up

Hertfordshire County Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Advertising and marketing services (CPV 7934) →

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 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: 5 of 7 known-size awards · market: CPV 7934 · East of England, n=63
71%59%

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.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in East of England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 4 of 6 known-location awards · market: CPV 7934 · East of England, n=78
67%8%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no decision dates published · market: CPV 7934 · East of England, n=20
—48 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 48 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 4 of 7 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7934 · East of England, n=98
57%36%

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 buyer73 lots with bid counts · all categories
19% had one bid
The market20 lots with bid counts · CPV 7934 · East of England
20% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid19% / 20%
Buyer: 14 of 73 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 20 lots with published bid counts.
2–310% / 25%
Buyer: 7 of 73 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 20 lots with published bid counts.
4–634% / 30%
Buyer: 25 of 73 lots with published bid counts. Market: 6 of 20 lots with published bid counts.
7+37% / 25%
Buyer: 27 of 73 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 20 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 buyer57 lots with estimate and award · all categories
11% below estimate
The market18 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7934 · East of England
17% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate11% / 17%
Buyer: 6 of 57 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 18 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%89% / 67%
Buyer: 51 of 57 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 12 of 18 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0% / 17%
Buyer: 0 of 57 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 18 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 793496 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£24m
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 20 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet20% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 20 similar lots
1 bid20%
4 of 20 similar past lots received 1 bid (20%).
2–325%
5 of 20 similar past lots received 2–3 (25%).
4–630%
6 of 20 similar past lots received 4–6 (30%).
7+25%
5 of 20 similar past lots received 7+ (25%).
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.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £24m, 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.

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
Concession
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
15 Jun 2026, 12:54 BST
Last source update
15 Jun 2026, 12:54 BST
Authority reference
PME 0626 SAH
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-056164
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Advertising management servicesAdvertising materialAdvertising services
Delivery area
East of England (UKH23)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06b4f1 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

15 Jun 2026 → 1 Aug 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published133 days ago
    15 Jun 2026, 12:54 BST
  2. Market engagement119 days ago
    29 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST

    To access the PME documentation please visit the Council’s e-tendering system Supply Hertfordshire, run by Intend 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 this project by the return deadline of 12.00 Noon on 29 June 2026. Supplier Questionnaires received after the deadline may not be reviewed at the Council’s sole discretion.

    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.

    In addition, there is an option for organisations to attend Individual Supplier Meetings on 16th July 2026 this will take place at the Council’s premises in Stevenage. Please note that attendance requests for the Industry Open Day provider meeting must be received by 3rd July 2026 by email [email protected] and the invitation link will be sent to you.

  3. Today
    27 Oct 2026
  4. Tender notice expectedin 80 days
    15 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
  5. Contract startsin 277 days
    1 Aug 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    15 Jun 2026, 12:54 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

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