Official UK procurement notice
Liverpool Telescope Upgrade Programme
Authority: Liverpool John Moores University (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionLJMU is conducting a pre-market engagement exercise to gauge the capabilities of the market for our requirement. This is not a call for competition/ ITT. This process enables LJMU to fully understand the market to assist us in drafting our tender documentation / determining next steps.
Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), through its Astrophysics Research Institute (ARI), is undertaking a pre-market engagement exercise relating to the planned upgrade of the Liverpool Telescope (LT), a fully robotic 2-metre astronomical observatory located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma, Spain.
The Liverpool Telescope has operated successfully for over twenty years and is a key scientific facility supporting UK-led astronomical research. LJMU is exploring options to modernise the telescope's control systems and associated infrastructure to extend operational life, improve reliability, reduce maintenance burden and enhance scientific performance.
The current scope under consideration includes:
- Replacement and modernisation of the Telescope Control System;
- Replacement of azimuth, altitude and Cassegrain axis drive systems;
- Modernisation of enclosure control systems (PLCs software and control cards);
- Replacement or redesign of selected optical and mechanism control systems;
- Associated control system networking, timing and safety interfaces;
- Design, manufacture, installation, testing, commissioning and post-upgrade support service;
- Knowledge transfer, documentation and training.
CPV: Engineering design services · Telescopes
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Liverpool John Moores University buys Astronomical and optical instruments (CPV 3863), and who usually turns up
Liverpool John Moores University’s UK market comparison describes the UK delivery area in the notice. The notice also lists non-UK areas, so the comparison may not describe the whole procedure. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Astronomical and optical instruments (CPV 3863) →
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 outside 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 24 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% / 19%
2–320% / 69%
4–647% / 13%
7+33% / 0%
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 estimate38% / 70%
Within ±2%25% / 10%
Above estimate38% / 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 3863Published estimate£500k
The notice lists UK and non-UK delivery areas for this lot. The figures below use UK market history and may not describe competition across every area.
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. Published delivery includes UK and non-UK areas, so the UK model may not describe every area. The bar shows 10 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid20%
2–360%
4–620%
7+0%
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
- 16 Oct 2026, 14:35 BST
- Last source update
- 16 Oct 2026, 14:35 BST
- Authority reference
LJMU2609- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-098018- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area in notice
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0789a7Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
16 Oct 2026 → 1 Jan 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published4 days ago16 Oct 2026, 14:35 BST
- Today20 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 25 days13 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
This will be available on our procurement platform (In-Tend), and all communication regarding the project should go through this once registered on the system. If this is of interest, then please register using the link below.
- Tender notice expectedin 28 days16 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 73 days1 Jan 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published16 Oct 2026, 14:35 BSTUK2
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
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender