Official UK procurement notice
HCC May 2026 - Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) for Skills Bootcamps
Authority: Hertfordshire County Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe purpose of the Council’s Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) is to engage with organisations with relevant experience to help inform the future design of Skills Bootcamps provision in Hertfordshire.
This includes:
- Share and explore initial ideas relating to the intended outcomes and scope of Skills Bootcamp provision, without commitment from either the Council or participating organisations.
- Engage with the market to gain a better understanding of delivery challenges, employer needs, and the Council’s strategic objectives for Skills Bootcamps.
- Gather informal feedback to help shape the Council’s Skills Bootcamps delivery model, technical requirements, and commissioning approach.
- Understand current market capacity, innovation, and emerging trends in employer led training and rapid skills provision.
- Identify potential delivery approaches, sector specialisms, and models of employer engagement that could support successful outcomes for learners and employers.
This stage is intended to support open dialogue with the market and help shape future decisions. It does not form part of a formal procurement process.
The PME will comprise:
- Online Information Webinar: The Council will host an online webinar to provide an overview of the Skills Bootcamps programme, the proposed scope, and to answer questions. The webinar will take place online at 10am on 4th June 2026.
- Webinar registration: In order to register to attend, organisations are invited to complete and return the Supplier Questionnaire (see link in Appendix A) in accordance with the instructions provided. Completed questionnaires must be submitted by 28th May 2026, following which respondents will receive a Microsoft Teams invitation.
- Optional Follow up Engagement: Subject to the responses received, the Council may use information gathered through the Supplier Questionnaires and webinar to inform the next stages of engagement and the development of the commissioning approach.
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 this PME shall not prevent any supplier participating in a potential procurement process; nor is it intended that any information supplied shall place any supplier at an advantage in any forthcoming procurement process.
To access this opportunity please visit in-tendhost.co.uk/supplyhertfordshire ↗
CPV: Education and training services · Personal development training services · Specialist training services · Technical and vocational secondary education services · Training programme services · Training services · Vocational training services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 1 yr · up to 2 yrs from 2 Nov 2026
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedWhat it takes to wini
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 morei
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).
- “HCC May 2026 - Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) for Skills Bootcamps” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Hertfordshire County Council buys Training facilities (CPV 8052), and who usually turns up
Hertfordshire County Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Training facilities (CPV 8052) →
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.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in East of England (authority’s region).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
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.
Half of these awards have an award date within 77 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.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
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 bid0% / 17%
2–38% / 17%
4–617% / 0%
7+75% / 67%
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.
On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Not comparable on a framework or DPS: the price is set later, on each call-off.
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 #1CPV 80Estimate not published
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 80. The comparison uses that group.
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 58 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid5%
2–333%
4–624%
7+38%
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
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 12 May 2026, 14:37 BST
- Last source update
- 13 May 2026, 15:07 BST
- Authority reference
PME 2026- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-044016- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0696caFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
12 May 2026 → 2 Nov 2026 · 5 dates- Planning notice published165 days ago12 May 2026, 14:37 BST
- Latest notice published164 days ago13 May 2026, 15:07 BST
- Market engagement148 days ago28 May 2026, 23:59 BST
The PME will comprise:
- Online Information Webinar: The Council will host an online webinar to provide an overview of the Skills Bootcamps programme, the proposed scope, and to answer questions. The webinar will take place online at 10am on 4th June 2026.
- Webinar registration: In order to register to attend, organisations are invited to complete and return the Supplier Questionnaire (see link in Appendix A) in accordance with the instructions provided. Completed questionnaires must be submitted by 28th May 2026, following which respondents will receive a Microsoft Teams invitation.
- Optional Follow up Engagement: Subject to the responses received, the Council may use information gathered through the Supplier Questionnaires and webinar to inform the next stages of engagement and the development of the commissioning approach.
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 this PME shall not prevent any supplier participating in a potential procurement process; nor is it intended that any information supplied shall place any supplier at an advantage in any forthcoming procurement process.
Supplier Collaboration Questionnaire or follow the QR code provided.
Completing the Supplier Questionnaire (via MS forms link)
Please answer all questions as fully as possible and within each response area provided. Any questions which you feel are not relevant; please enter “Not Applicable”. Company brochures or other general marketing information should not be attached in addition to this.
Any supporting documents must be cross-referenced to the relevant question. If the Council requires further information concerning your response, your organisation will be contacted. However, please provide full details and answer all questions, as the Council reserves the right not to ask organisations for any further information.
- Tender notice expected114 days ago1 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today24 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 9 days2 Nov 2026
Notice history
3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 12 May 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published12 May 2026, 14:37 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published13 May 2026, 14:55 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published13 May 2026, 15:07 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 (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender