Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 20 Oct 2026, 17:36 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Laboratory Consumables and Bottles Framework

Authority: SEVERN TRENT WATER LIMITED (Public body)

Framework agreementGoodsAbove thresholdUtilitiesSME suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Framework period 4 yrsends 2 Jun 2031 · up to 2 Jun 2037 with extensions · starts 1 Jun 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Severn Trent Water Limited (STW) intends to establish a framework agreement for the supply and distribution of Lab Consumables.

STW is seeking to understand market appetite and capability in advance of finalising the procurement strategy. The scope and structure of the framework may therefore be refined following this engagement.

The contract is expected to include the following lots, which are subject to change:

  • Lot 1 - General Lab Consumables
  • Lot 2 - Laboratory Chemicals - Reagents & Buffers
  • Lot 3 - Bottles (Dosed, Non-Dosed, Specialised)
  • Lot 4 - Crypto Consumables

Products within the lots above are required to meet minimum accreditation standards which will be detailed within the specification.

Delivery will be required to direct to site and to our Regional Distribution Centres as and when required.

CPV: Chemical reagents · Laboratory reagents · Laboratory services · Laboratory, hygienic or pharmaceutical glassware · Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

How this framework works

From the published notice
Framework period
4 yrs · up to 10 yrs from 1 Jun 2027

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 4 yrsSME

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
What this means for your bid
  • “Laboratory Consumables and Bottles Framework” 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 SEVERN TRENT WATER LIMITED buys Laboratory, hygienic or pharmaceutical glassware (CPV 3379), and who usually turns up

SEVERN TRENT WATER LIMITED’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: Laboratory, hygienic or pharmaceutical glassware (CPV 3379) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerSEVERN TRENT WATER LIMITED · 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: 4 of 20 known-size awards · market: division 33 · West Midlands, n=5
20%40%

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 registered in West Midlands.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 15 of 17 known-location awards · market: division 33 · West Midlands, n=6
88%33%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in 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: 15 decided notices · market: division 33 · West Midlands, n=28
146 days27 days

Half of these awards were announced within 146 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 1 of 15 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 33 · West Midlands, n=5
7%80%

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer9 lots with bid counts · all categories
0% had one bid
The market9 lots with bid counts · CPV 3379 · UK-wide
0% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid0% / 0%
Buyer: 0 of 9 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 9 lots with published bid counts.
2–333% / 0%
Buyer: 3 of 9 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 9 lots with published bid counts.
4–644% / 22%
Buyer: 4 of 9 lots with published bid counts. Market: 2 of 9 lots with published bid counts.
7+22% / 78%
Buyer: 2 of 9 lots with published bid counts. Market: 7 of 9 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.

On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

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.

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 337948 monthsSME suitableEstimate 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 46 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet24% single-bid risk
Past bids on 46 similar lots
1 bid24%
11 of 46 similar past lots received 1 bid (24%).
2–317%
8 of 46 similar past lots received 2–3 (17%).
4–69%
4 of 46 similar past lots received 4–6 (9%).
7+50%
23 of 46 similar past lots received 7+ (50%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 6.5 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.

—Priced at call-off
On a framework or DPS the price is agreed on each call-off, so there is no award price to forecast here: the published figure is a ceiling.

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
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Utilities
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
20 Oct 2026, 17:36 BST
Last source update
20 Oct 2026, 17:36 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-099214
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Chemical reagentsLaboratory reagentsLaboratory servicesLaboratory, hygienic or pharmaceutical glasswareLaboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078c50 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
—

Timeline

20 Oct 2026 → 1 Jun 2027 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice publishedearlier today
    20 Oct 2026, 17:36 BST
  2. Today
    21 Oct 2026
  3. Market engagementin 17 days
    6 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT

    The market engagement is through the completion of the questionnaire by the providers who are interested in this opportunity

    --------------------------------------------

    This Preliminary Market Engagement is for information gathering purposes only and does not constitute a commitment to undertake a procurement process. Participation in this exercise is entirely optional and will not be taken into account in any future procurement evaluation process.

    Information gathered through this exercise will be used to inform STW's understanding of the market and to support the development of a potential future procurement approach and specification.

    STW reserves the right to contact respondents to seek clarification or further information in relation to their responses and may invite selected suppliers to participate in follow-up discussions.

    Organisations interested in participating are invited to complete the questionnaire available at the link below:

    forms.cloud.microsoft/e/yAXcJVVDRS ↗

    The initial market engagement period will run until 6th November 2026. However, early responses are encouraged.

    STW reserves the right to amend or withdraw this exercise at any time. The estimated contract dates are indicative only and may change when the tender notice will be released.

  4. Contract startsin 223 days
    1 Jun 2027

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    20 Oct 2026, 17:36 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

SEVERN TRENT WATER LIMITED

Contracting authorityPrivate utility GB-COH: 02366686 · GB-PPON: PQQN-5222-QDXR Severn Trent Centre, Coventry, West Midlands, CV1 2LZContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure