Official UK procurement notice
ID 6509258 - DFC - NMNI - Key management system for all museum sites - PRE-MARKET ENGAGEMENT
Authority: National Museums NI (Central government)·On behalf of: CPD
What is being bought
Published requirement description**Preliminary Market Engagement** The Department for Communities, National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI), is preparing to initiate a procurement process to establish a contract for a the provision, support and maintenance of a Key Management System for all NMNI sites. The contract duration is estimated to be 8 years. The potential scale and scope of this contract is such that it offers a significant opportunity to bidders. Prior to initiating the procurement, NMNI wishes to establish the level of market interest in participating in the procurement process. The questionnaire must be completed and submitted via eTendersNI by the engagement deadline of 3pm on 26th May 2026. Please see document entitled "ID 6509258 - PME Questionnaire Key Management System" in CfT documents for further detail.
CPV: Computer support services · Computer-related services · Emergency and security equipment · Helpdesk and support services · Locks, keys and hinges · Security equipment · Security, fire-fighting, police and defence equipment · Surveillance and security systems and devices · System and support services · Systems and technical consultancy services · Systems support services · Technical computer support services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How National Museums NI buys Systems and technical consultancy services (CPV 7222), and who usually turns up
National Museums NI’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: Systems and technical consultancy services (CPV 7222) →
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 Northern Ireland.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in 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 48 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.
The market share is a minimum: 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%
2–360%
4–620%
7+20%
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 estimate20%
Within ±2%80%
Above estimate0%
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 7225Published estimate£400k
This lot is listed as CPV 7225. The table above uses the notice category.
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 55 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid27%
2–338%
4–622%
7+13%
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
- Goods
- 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
- 23 Apr 2026, 15:00 BST
- Last source update
- 23 Apr 2026, 15:00 BST
- Authority reference
ID 6509258- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-037173- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0689d6Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
23 Apr 2026 → 1 Jan 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published184 days ago23 Apr 2026, 15:00 BST
- Market engagement150 days ago26 May 2026, 23:59 BST
If you wish to participate in the Contracting Authority’s Preliminary Market Engagement for this requirement, a questionnaire for completion is available via eTendersNI under ID 6509258. The questionnaire must be completed and submitted via eTendersNI by the engagement deadline date and time detailed above.
- Tender notice expected52 days ago1 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today24 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 69 days1 Jan 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published23 Apr 2026, 15:00 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
3 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- CPDBeneficiary authority
- CPD - Supplies & Services DivisionProcess contact pointProcuring entityConstruction and Procurement Delivery – Supplies and Services Division, is a Centre of Procurement Expertise and provides a central procurement function for central government in Northern Ireland.
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