Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 14 Aug 2026, 11:58 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Integrated Robotics and Autonomous Systems platform (comprising of various capabilities)

Authority: THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM (Education)

Goods
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 4 moends 1 Feb 2027 · starts 1 Oct 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The University of Birmingham is undertaking procurement (supply & installation) of an integrated Robotics and Autonomous Systems platform (comprising of various capabilities), with an anticipated completion date between 1st October 2026 - 1st February 2027.

This EoI-tender is for the procurement of:

 Connected and Automated Vehicles Lab

 Outreach Interactive Experience

 Mobile Robotics Lab

 Mechatronic Design Lab

 Introduction to Robotics Teaching Lab

 Advanced Robotics Research Lab

 Drone Lab

 Aerospace Control Lab

 Software and Virtual/Digital Twin models

This Expression of Interest relates to the procurement of an integrated Robotics and Autonomous Systems platform comprising the capabilities listed above. Suppliers must demonstrate their ability to deliver the complete requirement as a coherent, integrated solution. Proposals limited to individual components or disconnected standalone equipment will not meet the University's requirement.

CPV: Industrial robots · Software package and information systems

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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

How THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM buys Miscellaneous special-purpose machinery (CPV 4299), and who usually turns up

THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM’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: Miscellaneous special-purpose machinery (CPV 4299) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerTHE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM · all categories
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: 47 of 100 known-size awards · market: CPV 4299 · UK-wide, n=38
47%63%

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: 22 of 125 known-location awards · market: CPV 4299 · UK-wide, n=50
18%20%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside West Midlands.

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: 8 decided notices · market: CPV 4299 · UK-wide, n=19
74 days20 days

Half of these awards were announced within 74 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 99 of 154 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 4299 · UK-wide, n=75
64%52%

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 buyer2 lots with bid counts · all categories · too few to chart
The market24 lots with bid counts · CPV 4299 · UK-wide
25% had one bid
Market · select a colour for counts
1 bid25%
Market: 6 of 24 lots with published bid counts.
2–371%
Market: 17 of 24 lots with published bid counts.
4–64%
Market: 1 of 24 lots with published bid counts.
7+0%
Market: 0 of 24 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 buyerNo estimate-and-award pairs published
The market12 lots with estimate and award · CPV 4299 · UK-wide
50% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate50%
Market: 6 of 12 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%25%
Market: 3 of 12 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate25%
Market: 3 of 12 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 42994 monthsEstimate not published
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 14 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet14% single-bid risk
Past bids on 14 similar lots
1 bid14%
2 of 14 similar past lots received 1 bid (14%).
2–350%
7 of 14 similar past lots received 2–3 (50%).
4–621%
3 of 14 similar past lots received 4–6 (21%).
7+14%
2 of 14 similar past lots received 7+ (14%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 2 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.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

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
Goods
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
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
14 Aug 2026, 11:58 BST
Last source update
14 Aug 2026, 11:58 BST
Authority reference
SC15238/26
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-077631
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Industrial robotsSoftware package and information systems
Delivery area
West Midlands (UKG31)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06e486 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

14 Aug 2026 → 1 Oct 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published68 days ago
    14 Aug 2026, 11:58 BST
  2. Market engagement53 days ago
    28 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST

    The University of Birmingham is undertaking procurement (supply & installation) of an integrated Robotics and Autonomous Systems platform (comprising of various capabilities), with an anticipated completion date between 1st October 2026 - 1st February 2027.

    This EoI-tender is for the procurement of:

     Connected and Automated Vehicles Lab

     Outreach Interactive Experience

     Mobile Robotics Lab

     Mechatronic Design Lab

     Introduction to Robotics Teaching Lab

     Advanced Robotics Research Lab

     Drone Lab

     Aerospace Control Lab

     Software and Virtual/Digital Twin models

    This Expression of Interest relates to the procurement of an integrated Robotics and Autonomous Systems platform comprising the capabilities listed above. Suppliers must demonstrate their ability to deliver the complete requirement as a coherent, integrated solution. Proposals limited to individual components or disconnected standalone equipment will not meet the University's requirement.

    If you are interested in engaging with the University for this project, please register to our E-Tendering Portal (in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofbirmingh… ↗) if you are not already, and express interest against the project.

    Interested parties should note that the University of Birmingham is operating as a Non Contracting Authority and any process associated with this tender opportunity will be conducted outside of the Procurement Act 2023.

  3. Contract starts20 days ago
    1 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    14 Aug 2026, 11:58 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

THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-COH: RC000645 · GB-PPON: PHCQ-3464-LVTM Edgbaston, Birmingham, West Midlands, B15 2TTContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure