Official UK procurement notice
IP012ITT06-26-01 Parcel and pallet delivery services
Authority: Leicestershire County Council, trading as ESPO (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionESPO is a public sector owned professional buying organisation (PSBO), that specialise in providing a wide range of goods and services to the public sector. It offers a catalogue range of over 28,000 products and delivers throughout England, Scotland and Wales. At present, ESPO dispatch in the region of 300,000 parcels and 6,500 pallets per annum.
At this time, ESPO is undertaking a wholesale review of its existing contracts for parcel and pallet delivery services. As part of this project ESPO are looking to conduct preliminary market engagement with a range of relevant suppliers in this market. The purpose of this will be to help shape future procurement strategies.
Interested suppliers are asked to note that it is not ESPO’s intention to permit any future contracts or frameworks awarded to be utilised by any of ESPO’s customer. For the avoidance of doubt any arrangements will be solely for the use of ESPO.
CPV: Parcel transport services · Post and courier services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Leicestershire County Council, trading as ESPO buys Mail transport by road (CPV 6016), and who usually turns up
Leicestershire County Council, trading as ESPO’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: Mail transport by road (CPV 6016) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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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.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside the delivery region.
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 66 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.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.
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 6016Published estimate£4.2m
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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 533 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid21%
2–331%
4–626%
7+22%
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
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- 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
- 7 May 2026, 13:32 BST
- Last source update
- 12 Jun 2026, 10:15 BST
- Authority reference
IP012ITT06-26-01- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-055542- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06935cFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
7 May 2026 → 1 Apr 2028 · 5 dates- Planning notice published168 days ago7 May 2026, 13:32 BST
- Latest notice published132 days ago12 Jun 2026, 10:15 BST
- Market engagement21 days ago30 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
Engagement is initially via a Request for Information (RFI) questionnaire hosted on the EastMidsTenders eProcurement Portal (www.eastmidstenders.org ↗). The deadline for responding to the RFI is 17:00 (5pm) on 17 July 2026.
Suppliers wishing to participate in the engagement process must first express an interest as follows:
(a) Go to www.eastmidstenders.org ↗; (b) Register (if not already registered on ProContract); (c) Search for opportunity 'IP012ITT06-26-01' (via "View Opportunities" from the EastMidsTenders Portal); d) Express an interest.
Suppliers can then access the RFI questionnaire in the Messages section via the Activity dashboard once an expression of interest has been registered. Responses to the RFI as well as any questions or clarifications should be submitted to ESPO as a message on the eProcurement Portal.
Following review of submitted RFIs, it is anticipated ESPO will carry out additional preliminary market engagement activities with suppliers. These may include meetings and site visits to supplier locations or their customers’ premises.
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 9 days30 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts1 Apr 2028, 00:00 BST
Notice history
3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 7 May 2026- Pipeline notice published7 May 2026, 13:32 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published12 Jun 2026, 10:15 BSTUK2
- Published value published: £4,166,66712 Jun 2026, 10:15 BST
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