Official UK procurement notice
KINGSWAY TUNNEL REFURBISHMENT (DADO PANELS)
Authority: Merseytravel (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe contracting authority intends to procure a suitably qualified contractor to undertake refurbishment and/or replacement works to the dado panel system within the Kingsway Tunnel.
The Kingsway Tunnel is a critical piece of transport infrastructure, and the existing dado panels-forming part of the tunnel lining and safety system-require upgrade to ensure continued compliance with current safety standards, durability requirements, and operational performance.
The appointed contractor will be responsible for delivering a comprehensive programme of works, which is expected to include, but not be limited to:
Condition Assessment and Surveys: Detailed inspection of existing dado panels, fixings, and supporting structures to determine extent of deterioration, defects, and required interventions.
Design Development: Finalisation of design solutions for refurbishment and/or replacement, including materials selection, fire resistance, impact resistance, and compliance with relevant UK and EU tunnel safety standards.
Removal and Installation Works: Safe removal of existing panels where required and installation of new or refurbished dado panels, including all associated fixings, supports, and interfaces with tunnel systems.
Integration with Tunnel Systems: Coordination with existing tunnel infrastructure, including drainage, ventilation, lighting, and emergency systems, ensuring no adverse impact on operations or safety.
Traffic and Operational Management: Planning and implementation of works to minimise disruption, including phased delivery, night-time or partial closures, and coordination with tunnel operations.
Health, Safety, and Compliance: Adherence to all relevant health and safety legislation, including working in confined spaces and live highway environments, with robust risk management procedures.
Environmental Considerations: Management of waste, materials, and environmental impacts in line with applicable regulations and sustainability objectives.
Testing, Commissioning, and Handover: Inspection and verification of installed systems, ensuring compliance with specifications and provision of as-built documentation.
The works will be delivered in a highly constrained operational environment, requiring careful planning, stakeholder coordination, and experience in similar tunnel or highway infrastructure projects.
This procurement seeks to appoint a contractor with proven expertise in tunnel refurbishment, highway infrastructure works, and installation of specialist panel systems. The project outputs will contribute to the long-term safety, resilience, and operational efficiency of the Kingsway Tunnel.
CPV: Asbestos-removal work
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Merseytravel buys Roof works and other special trade construction works (CPV 4526), and who usually turns up
Merseytravel’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: Roof works and other special trade construction works (CPV 4526) →
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 93 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.
Both shares are minimums: 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% / 12%
2–310% / 23%
4–620% / 23%
7+70% / 42%
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.
Below estimate67% / 55%
Within ±2%17% / 25%
Above estimate17% / 20%
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 4526Published estimate£3.8m
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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 26 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid12%
2–323%
4–623%
7+42%
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- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- 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
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 1 May 2026, 14:01 BST
- Last source update
- 1 May 2026, 14:01 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-040553- Latest notice
- Pipeline notice (UK1)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06905fFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
1 May 2026 → 1 Dec 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published174 days ago1 May 2026, 14:01 BST
- Tender notice expected142 days ago1 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 40 days1 Dec 2026
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Pipeline notice published1 May 2026, 14:01 BSTUK1
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender