Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 13 Oct 2026, 14:49 BST

Official UK procurement notice

ID 6561954 - Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) – Inshore Vessel Monitoring Systems (IVMS) and Electronic Logbooks (E-Logs) - PRE MARKET ENGAGEMENT

Authority: Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Central government)·On behalf of: CPD

ServicesBelow threshold
Planned pipeline value£600,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 31 Jan 2027from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Jul 2030 · up to 31 Jul 2031 with extensions · starts 1 Aug 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is currently preparing to initiate a competitive tendering procedure to establish a contract with a Supplier to procure Inshore Vessel Monitoring Systems (IVMS) and electronic logbooks (e-logs) for fishing vessels under 12 metres operating in Northern Ireland waters. Prior to initiating the procurement, DAERA 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 3rd November 2026. Please see document entitled "ID 6561954 - Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) Questionnaire" in CfT documents for further detail.

DAERA wish to engage with the market at this stage to; establish the level of market interest, understand the capacity of the market to deliver, understand any possible risks or issues that may not have been previously considered, gain insight to the market possibilities and potential innovative solutions, help define the requirements and to gather information that will be beneficial in the tendering process. Suppliers who may have an interest in this project are invited to complete the PME questionnaire that is available to registered suppliers via the documents area of the CfT on eTendersNI for this Pre-Market

Engagement. In responding, you should understand that detailed and lengthy submissions are not necessary at this stage. However, we would welcome any pertinent information on your company's capability and views on an approach to the provision of the required services. Any submission received in response to this exercise will not constitute a contractual agreement between the respondent and DAERA. Interested parties shall bear their own costs of participation in this Market Engagement. DAERA shall not be liable for the costs, expenses or losses arising (including, without limitation, any loss of profit or other economic loss incurred), regardless of the outcome of the Market Engagement. The next stage in the process will be considered once this exercise has been completed. **PLEASE NOTE: ALL COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRES

MUST BE SUBMITTED VIA THE MESSAGING FUNCTION on eTendersNI, within this CFT, BEFORE 3pm ON 3rd NOVEMBER 2026** PLEASE NOTE: The Pre-Market Engagement Questionnaire and associated documents can be accessed in the Cft Documents area.

CPV: Boat-location and public address system · Boat-location system · Data capture services · Data collection and collation services · Data services · Data transmission services · Data-acquisition system · Data-processing services · Database and operating software package · Database software package · Database systems · Global navigation and positioning systems (GPS or equivalent) · +2 more

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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

How Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs buys Data-processing services (CPV 7231), and who usually turns up

Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs’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: Data-processing services (CPV 7231) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bidWhat 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: 36 of 41 known-size awards · market: CPV 7231 · UK-wide, n=153
88%31%

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 the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 9 of 16 known-location awards · market: CPV 7231 · UK-wide, n=103
56%47%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in Northern Ireland.

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: 15 decided notices · market: CPV 7231 · UK-wide, n=14
23 days51 days

Half of these awards were announced within 23 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.

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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: exactly 12 of 29 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7231 · UK-wide, n=208
41%63%

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 buyer47 lots with bid counts · all categories
15% had one bid
The market29 lots with bid counts · CPV 7231 · UK-wide
17% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid15% / 17%
Buyer: 7 of 47 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 29 lots with published bid counts.
2–311% / 31%
Buyer: 5 of 47 lots with published bid counts. Market: 9 of 29 lots with published bid counts.
4–638% / 34%
Buyer: 18 of 47 lots with published bid counts. Market: 10 of 29 lots with published bid counts.
7+36% / 17%
Buyer: 17 of 47 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 29 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 buyer28 lots with estimate and award · all categories
14% below estimate
The market18 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7231 · UK-wide
61% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate14% / 61%
Buyer: 4 of 28 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 11 of 18 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%71% / 28%
Buyer: 20 of 28 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 18 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate14% / 11%
Buyer: 4 of 28 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 2 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 723136 monthsPublished estimate£600k
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 53 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet26% single-bid risk
Past bids on 53 similar lots
1 bid26%
14 of 53 similar past lots received 1 bid (26%).
2–338%
20 of 53 similar past lots received 2–3 (38%).
4–621%
11 of 53 similar past lots received 4–6 (21%).
7+15%
8 of 53 similar past lots received 7+ (15%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 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 £600k, 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.

No supplier with a record in this category fits this lot yet.

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 match score 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
13 Oct 2026, 14:49 BST
Last source update
13 Oct 2026, 14:49 BST
Authority reference
ID 6561954
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-096619
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Boat-location and public address systemBoat-location systemData capture servicesData collection and collation servicesData servicesData transmission servicesData-acquisition systemData-processing servicesDatabase and operating software packageDatabase software package
+4 moreDatabase systemsGlobal navigation and positioning systems (GPS or equivalent)
Delivery area
Northern Ireland (UKN)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0786b7 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

13 Oct 2026 → 1 Aug 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published1 day ago
    13 Oct 2026, 14:49 BST
  2. Today
    14 Oct 2026
  3. Market engagementin 22 days
    4 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT

    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 6561954. The PME questionnaire must be completed and submitted electronically via the relevant Call for Tender (CfT) opportunity on eTendersNI by 3pm on the engagement deadline date detailed above. Paper submissions will not be accepted or considered and will be rejected by the Contracting Authority / Buyer. The PME questionnaire and associated documents are available with unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: URL etendersni.gov.uk/epps ↗. Depending on the volume of responses, the Department may wish to follow up the questionnaire with a follow up session with Participants. Each session is expected to be scheduled for a two hour period (e.g. 10am to 12pm or 2pm to 4pm) and will be conducted in person at: Rathkeltair House, Market Street Downpatrick, Down, BT30 6AJ Or online via TEAMS.

  4. Tender notice expectedin 110 days
    31 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
  5. Contract startsin 291 days
    1 Aug 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    13 Oct 2026, 14:49 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

3 public bodies on the notice

Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central governmentNorthern Irish devolved regulations apply GB-PPON: PLDR-5748-GBBJ Rathkeltair House Market Street, Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, BT30 6LZContact email

Other 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.GB-PPON: PVWG-8426-YWXV Belfast, Northern IrelandContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure