Find a TenderOpen for tender Tender notice
Published 22 Sept 2026, 12:07 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Intra-company benchmarking of Network Rail's maintenance and renewals expenditure

Authority: Office of Rail and Road (Central government)

ServicesBelow threshold - open competitionBelow thresholdSME suitable
Published estimate£75,000£90,000 inc. VAT
Submission deadline 20 Oct 202617:00 BST · 25d 20h left
Clarification cut-off 6 Oct 202617:00 BST · questions to the authority
Contract term 4 moup to 1 yr 4 mo with extensions · starts 2 Nov 2026
Bids per lot · the market 4CPV 7941 · n=82 · competition analysis ↓

What is being bought

Published requirement description

This project aim is understanding the drivers of Network Rail's expenditure, including the reasons for changes over time, is key to understanding value for money - of which cost efficiency is a key part. To achieve this, we use a range of complementary approaches including bottom-up assessments of Network Rail's business plans and performance, and top-down cost benchmarking using statistical (econometric) methods. This work relates to our top-down benchmarking of Network Rail's maintenance and renewals expenditure for the year from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 ('2025-26').

CPV: Financial management consultancy services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1Lot 1Renewal 4 moSMEPublished value£75,000
Contract period: 2 Nov 2026 — 28 Feb 2027 (4 mo) · up to 1 yr 4 mo with extensionsEligibility: SME eligibleDelivery: UKTurnover guideline: ~£150,000/yr≈ 2× annual value
Value
£75,000 exc. VAT · £90,000 inc. VAT
Extensions
The contract will be for 4 months with an option for ORR to extend the contract deadline for one period for up to 12 months.
79412000 Financial management consultancy services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

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 more
How bids are scored

Methodology (30%) The proposal should set out the methodology by which the project requirement will be initiated, delivered and concluded. In particular, it must: (a) Explain the methodology and delivery mechanisms to ensure that the requirements of this specification are met in terms of quality - this should cover the approach to the cost driver analysis, econometric analysis; (b) Please explain the approach that will be used to ensure that the cost drivers used in the assessment are based on sound engineering judgement; (c) Please explain the approach to assessing and addressing data issues (d) Please explain the approach to the overall quality assurance of the work; (e) Please explain the approach to knowledge sharing. Delivery (25%) The proposal should set out how and when the project requirement will be delivered. In particular, it must: (a) Explain how your organisation will work in partnership with ORR's project manager to ensure that the requirement is met; (b) Explain how this work will be delivered to timescale and how milestones will be met, detailing the resources that will be allocated to each stage; (c) Demonstrate an understanding of the risks, and project dependencies and explain how they would be mitigated to ensure project delivery; (d) Explain the resources that will be allocated to delivering the required outcomes/output, and what other resources can be called upon if required. Experience (25%) The proposal should set out any experience relevant to the project requirement. In particular, it must: (a) Provide CVs of the consultants who will be delivering the project - this should separately cover CVs for both economic and engineering input; (b) Highlight the organisation's relevant experience for this project, submitting examples of similar projects. Cost / Value for money (20%) A fixed fee for delivery of the project requirement (inclusive of all expenses), including a full price breakdown for each stage of the project and details of the day rates that will apply for the lifetime of this project.

No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.

Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid

How Office of Rail and Road buys Business and management consultancy services (CPV 7941) — and who usually turns up

Office of Rail and Road’s own published record, next to the Greater London market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Business and management consultancy services (CPV 7941) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested contracts only — direct awards (including PA 2023 transparency notices) report one bid by definition and are left out. On Procurement Act 2023 notices the count is the tenders assessed at the final stage, not every submission received; pairs compare like with like (VAT-exclusive, or VAT-inclusive on both sides). Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.

This authority

Office of Rail and Road

contract notices in 36 months: 11 in CPV 7941 · 26 in division 79 · 44 in all categories

Bids per lot
i

How many companies usually bid for work like this.

Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 2 lots. All 2 lots are from older notices, which count bids received. Small sample.

Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.

6.5all categories · 36m · n=2 lots
Single-bid lots
i

How often only one company bid.

Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 2 lots. Small sample.

High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.

0%all categories · 36m · n=2 lots
Award vs estimate
i

Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.

Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 4 pairs.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

9% belowCPV 7941 · 36m · n=4 pairs
Deadline → award date
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.

Nothing published for this buyer in this sector: no award dates published.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

—no award dates published
Notice updates
i

How often this buyer changes a notice after publishing it.

Middle number of amendments per notice. Deadline extensions and corrections both count.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 63 notices.

Last 24 months.

0all categories · 24m · n=63 notices
Awarded without competition
i

How often this buyer awards without a competition.

Direct or limited awards as a share of its notices that say which procedure was used. These routes are legal in defined cases. This is just the record.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 11 notices.

Last 36 months.

0%CPV 7941 · 36m · n=11 notices
Winning award vs estimate moderate · n=4
i

How often winners come in below, near or above the estimate.

Each lot with both an estimate and an award is placed by how far the award sat from the estimate.

Based on 4 lot pairs · CPV 7941, last 36 months.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

  • Below estimate 75%
  • Within ±2% 25%
  • Above estimate 0%

4 lot pairs · CPV 7941.

How procedures are run robust · n=11
i

Which procedures buyers here use.

Notices by the procedure they declare: open, selective, limited or direct. Open and selective are competitions; limited and direct are not.

Based on 11 notices · CPV 7941, last 36 months.

  • Open 100%
  • Selective 0%
  • Limited 0%
  • Direct 0%

11 notices · CPV 7941. Open and selective are competed (they feed the bid and price figures above); limited and direct are not; notices publishing no route are outside all four.

The market · authority’s region

Greater London · Business and management consultancy services (CPV 7941)

contract notices delivered in Greater London in 36 months: 193 in CPV 7941 (142 competed, 17 route not published) · 953 in division 79 (632 competed, 163 route not published) · the notice publishes no delivery location, so the authority’s registered region is used

Bids per lot
i

How many companies usually bid for work like this.

Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 82 lots. 41 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 4) and 41 from older notices (bids received, middle 5).

Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.

4CPV 7941 · 36m · n=82 lots
Single-bid lots
i

How often only one company bid.

Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 82 lots.

High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.

18%CPV 7941 · 36m · n=82 lots
Award vs estimate
i

Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.

Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 53 pairs.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

at estimateCPV 7941 · 36m · n=53 pairs
Deadline → award date
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.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 33 notices.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

55dCPV 7941 · 36m · n=33 notices
SME bidders
i

How much of this market goes to small and medium firms.

SME bidders where buyers published the split, otherwise SME winners.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 53 lots.

Last 36 months.

72%CPV 7941 · 36m · n=53 lots
Winners based in the region
i

How much work like this goes to companies based in the delivery region.

Awards in this category delivered here where the winner’s registered address is in the region.

Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 7941), last 36 months: 122 awards.

Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.

Last 36 months.

84%CPV 7941 · 36m · n=122 awards
Bids per lot robust · n=82
i

How the number of bidders is spread across lots.

Each lot with a published bid count is put in a band: one bid, two to three, four to six, seven or more. Real competitions only.

Based on 82 lots on 72 contested notices · CPV 7941, last 36 months.

  • 1 bid 18%
  • 2–3 17%
  • 4–6 34%
  • 7+ 30%

Median 4 · 82 lots on 72 contested notices · CPV 7941.

Winning award vs estimate robust · n=53
i

How often winners come in below, near or above the estimate.

Each lot with both an estimate and an award is placed by how far the award sat from the estimate.

Based on 53 lot pairs · CPV 7941, last 36 months.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

  • Below estimate 30%
  • Within ±2% 58%
  • Above estimate 11%

53 lot pairs · CPV 7941.

moderate · n=4
i

Where this tender’s estimate would land if the usual pattern repeats.

We apply the buyer’s usual movement between estimate and award (or the region’s) to the estimate on this notice.

Based on 4 lots, so only the direction is shown, not a pound figure.

A benchmark, not a price to bid.

Awards in Office of Rail and Road (CPV 7941, n=4 pairs) land a median 9% below. Too few pairs to turn into a pound figure with any confidence — read the percentage as a rough direction, not this notice’s estimate converted.
2

Who you are likely to meet
i

Who you may be up against.

Suppliers on this buyer’s earlier similar contracts, and suppliers whose record fits this tender.

A guess from the record. Buyers do not publish who is bidding.

Suppliers on this authority’s earlier similar contracts, then suppliers with a matching track record — from published award history, not a bid list

Already supplying a similar contract to Office of Rail and Road
i

Who holds similar work with this buyer now.

Winners of this buyer’s earlier contracts that match this tender by title, lot, buyer and category.

Earlier contracts of this authority that the nightly matcher links to this notice by title, lot, buyer and CPV. Open the contract before treating anyone as the incumbent.

Suppliers with a similar track record — and how they price
i

Suppliers with a similar track record, and how they price.

Suppliers matched on wins in this category, history with this buyer, location and size. Their award vs estimate is from their own past wins.

A guess from the record, not a bidder list.

SupplierEvidenceLast awardTheir award vs estimateRelevance
CEPA LLP Large23 class wins · 3 lots for this buyer2 months agono comparable pairs63%
AECOM Limited Large13 class wins · 2 lots for this buyerthis monthno comparable pairs62%
NEWBRIDGE ADVISORS LLP SME7 class winsthis monthno comparable pairs60%
THE BERKELEY PARTNERSHIP LLP SME21 class wins7 months agono comparable pairs60%
Alba Partners SME22 class wins1 months agono comparable pairs60%

Matched by the nightly worker on class wins, buyer history, delivery geography, scale and notice text; relevance is a 0–100% heuristic score, not a probability of bidding. “Their award vs estimate” is that supplier’s median on its own comparable single-supplier wins, CPV 7941 first. Nobody here is known to be bidding.

Coverage and what to read with care
  • Each tile explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two columns are never blended and nothing is filled from a UK-wide figure; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
  • Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). About 30 % of award-vs-estimate pairs are exact matches — the buyer published the award at the estimate. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden.
  • “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.

What this replaces
i

The earlier contract this tender most likely replaces.

Matched on title, category and buyer. The match percentage says how close the titles are.

44% title match.

A likely match, not a published link.

The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (44% title match) — the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid

Benchmarking of international railway infrastructure managers' expenditure (covering operations, support, maintenance and renewals activities) — held by REBEL INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS & OPERATIONS UK LTD; the published contract ends 27 Feb 2026.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Below threshold - open competition
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Open for tender
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
No (one-off requirement)
First published
22 Sept 2026, 12:07 BST
Last source update
22 Sept 2026, 12:07 BST
Authority reference
ORR CT 26-33
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Financial management consultancy services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077763 Find a Tender

How to participate & submission route

Official notice Submit via Jaggaer
Submission portal named on this notice: Jaggaer · Who buys & how to bid on JAGGAER
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowed
Access & registration note: Free; latest Chrome/Edge/Firefox only — corporate browsers fail
Expression of interest (EOI)
—
Tender submission deadline
20 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
Clarification deadline
6 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Published estimate £75,000 excludes VAT (£90,000 including VAT).

Timeline

4 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Tender notice published2 days ago
    22 Sept 2026, 12:07 BST
  2. Clarification questions byin 12 days
    6 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
  3. Submission deadlinein 26 days
    20 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
  4. Contract startsin 38 days
    2 Nov 2026, 00:00 GMT

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Nothing awarded yet
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Tender notice published
    22 Sept 2026, 12:07 BSTUK4

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Office of Rail and Road

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PMPH-6471-MDYY 25 Cabot Square, London, London, E14 4QZ [email protected]

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender