Official UK procurement notice
Innovation Chain North Framework ("ICN") for construction and associated professional services
Authority: Great Places Housing Group (Housing)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionInnovation Chain North (ICN) is a framework for construction and associated professional services.
It is designed to support the delivery of new homes and associated social infrastructure across the North of England.
The ICN framework is currently valued at £1.5bn over a four year period, geographically covering the North of England and beyond, creating a compliant procurement route for new build and refurbishment projects across the North West, North East, and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England.
Membership of ICN is open to Clients seeking to deliver mixed use housing and associated social infrastructure schemes, including local authority and housing associations.
ICN aims to place a greater emphasis on social value, so that every call off from the framework positively impacts local communities.
CPV: Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services · Building construction work · Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security · Research and development services and related consultancy services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 4 yrs from 1 Aug 2028
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).
- “Innovation Chain North Framework ("ICN") for construction and…” 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 Great Places Housing Group buys Building construction work (CPV 4521), and who usually turns up
Great Places Housing Group’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Building construction work (CPV 4521) →
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.
Here, local means registered in North West England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in North West England.
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.
Half of these awards were announced within 56 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% / 0%
2–37% / 17%
4–67% / 26%
7+86% / 57%
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 notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.
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 4521Published estimate£1.3bn
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 23 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid0%
2–317%
4–626%
7+57%
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
- Works
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- 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
- 21 May 2026, 14:49 BST
- Last source update
- 15 Oct 2026, 11:36 BST
- Authority reference
DN832043- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-097377- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-069f6dFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
21 May 2026 → 1 Aug 2028 · 5 dates- Planning notice published153 days ago21 May 2026, 14:49 BST
- Latest notice published6 days ago15 Oct 2026, 11:36 BST
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 73 days2 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
Great Places intends to undertake a programme of preliminary market engagement (PME) activities with suppliers, consultants and sector stakeholders to inform the development of the future framework and associated procurement strategy.
The objectives are of PME activity are to:
1: Validate market capacity and interest in the future ICN
2: Inform future requirements, commercial arrangements and framework design
3: Promote consistency of approach for framework delivery
The engagement process has been designed to promote transparency, encourage early market participation and obtain market insight. It is not a call for competition.
The Market Engagement Plan:
MARKET ENGAGEMENT SURVEYS (from 15th October)
Consultants and Contractors are invited to complete the PME survey -
Contractor link: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/iztJiVkW9q ↗
Consultant link: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/CAQ0Z8DcsT ↗
The surveys will be live for a minimum of 6-weeks from publication of the PME Notice, and closed at our discretion.
OPEN SUPPLIER ENGAGEMENT EVENT (date to be confirmed - Nov/Dec)
Great Places intends to host a webinar open to interested suppliers identified through the PME survey process. The webinar will provide an overview of the proposed framework and facilitate further discussion to support the market engagement objectives.
All firms can register their interest via the Contractor or Consultant form above.
YORKSHIRE SUPPLIER AND CLIENT ENGAGEMENT EVENT (date to be confirmed Nov)
Regionally focused in-person event will be held for contractors, consultants, potential Client and future Clients based within the Yorkshire region.
Feedback from the PME survey and Notice will be used to identify additional suppliers who may be invited to participate. The event will support discussion on region specific requirements and delivery considerations.
Due to room constraints, this will be strictly on an invitation only basis.
Yorkshire firms can register their interest via the Contractor or Consultant links above.
Potential Clients from the region should contact [email protected] to register.
CLIENT ENGAGEMENT EVENT (26th November)
Engagement will be undertaken remotely with other housing associations and framework users to gather lessons learned, understand operational challenges and obtain feedback on framework management and delivery approaches.
Current or future framework users can register by contacting [email protected].
All timings are indicative. Great Places reserves the right to conduct additional preliminary market engagement notice not described in this notice to help meet the objectives of the PME.
This notice is issued in accordance with Sections 16 and 17 of the Procurement Act 2023 and is for preliminary market engagement only.
- Tender notice expectedin 259 days8 Jul 2027, 00:59 BST
- Contract starts1 Aug 2028
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 21 May 2026- Pipeline notice published21 May 2026, 14:49 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published15 Oct 2026, 11:36 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 (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender