Official UK procurement notice
Library Subscription Services · UK public procurement notice
Authority: University of Reading (Education)·Consortium: 2 public authorities
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe scope of this procurement includes the retendering of the existing framework agreement (Serials, periodicals and associated services, LIB4054 SU) with the addition of a second Lot for single source subscription e-resources. It will be possible for suppliers to bid for both Lots if they wish: Lot 1: Subscriptions Agents - Subscriptions Agents enabling supply of serials, journals and other subscriptions products via a comprehensive online subscriptions management platform. Lot 2: Lot 2: Single Source Subscription E-Resources - Subscribed information e-resources that may form part of a library collection or similar service. Resources must be those where only one supplier exists, and they must be unavailable via a subscriptions agent or via a Procurement Act compliant Jisc deal.
CPV: Journals · Magazines · Newspapers · Newspapers, journals, periodicals and magazines · Official journals · Periodicals · Serials
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 2 yrs · up to 4 yrs from 1 Aug 2027
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedWhat it takes to wini
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 morei
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).
- “Library Subscription Services” 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 University of Reading buys Newspapers (CPV 2221), and who usually turns up
University of Reading’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: Newspapers (CPV 2221) →
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 the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in South East 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 63 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.
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% / 0%
2–311% / 13%
4–633% / 53%
7+56% / 33%
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.
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.
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 2221Published estimate£350m
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 15 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid0%
2–313%
4–653%
7+33%
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
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- 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
- 28 May 2026, 16:42 BST
- Last source update
- 27 Jul 2026, 14:48 BST
- Authority reference
LIB4063 SU- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-070848- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06a823Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
28 May 2026 → 1 Aug 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published146 days ago28 May 2026, 16:42 BST
- Latest notice published86 days ago27 Jul 2026, 14:48 BST
- Market engagement50 days ago31 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
Suppliers are invited to visit uk.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/rwlentrance_… ↗ where they will find the following: 1. PME briefing document (which includes links to the supplier surveys) 2. Draft specifications for each Lot, which suppliers are invited to annotate and return via the Mercell messaging function. All clarification queries should also be submitted via the Mercell messaging function
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 97 days25 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 284 days1 Aug 2027
Notice history
4 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 28 May 2026- Pipeline notice published28 May 2026, 16:42 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published27 Jul 2026, 14:48 BSTUK2
- Published value published: £350,000,00027 Jul 2026, 14:48 BST
- Buyer details updated27 Jul 2026, 14:48 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
2 public bodies on the noticeConsortium members and other public bodies
- Southern Universities Management Services (SUMS)Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government
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