Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 6 Nov 2026, 16:14 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Market Research Framework · UK public procurement notice

Authority: Ofcom (Public body)

Framework agreementServicesAbove threshold
Sectors: Business Services & Consultancy (79) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Planned pipeline value£22,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 1 Apr 2027from the planned procurement notice
Framework period 2 yrsends 31 Mar 2030 · up to 31 Mar 2032 with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2028
Notice summaryFrom the published notice

Ofcom is seeking feedback on the design and delivery of a flexible, robust market research framework that can support a range of research requirements across our regulatory and policy responsibilities. The framework should enable the collection of high-quality evidence on audience and consumer behaviours, attitudes, experiences and market developments across communications sectors, with the ability to address both ongoing tracking needs and emerging issues. Research outputs may need to support policy development, market monitoring, enforcement and regulatory activities, and therefore should be capable of meeting high standards of methodological rigour, transparency and quality assurance.

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Ofcom is seeking feedback on the design and delivery of a flexible, robust market research framework that can support a range of research requirements across our regulatory and policy responsibilities. The framework should enable the collection of high-quality evidence on audience and consumer behaviours, attitudes, experiences and market developments across communications sectors, with the ability to address both ongoing tracking needs and emerging issues.

We are particularly interested in understanding the market's capability to deliver research through a range of approaches, including continuous measurement, multi-wave tracking, ad hoc studies and mixed-method designs. Research outputs may need to support policy development, market monitoring, enforcement and regulatory activities, and therefore should be capable of meeting high standards of methodological rigour, transparency and quality assurance.

Our primary objective through this market engagement exercise is to ensure that our proposed framework structure, scope and requirements align with current market capabilities, innovations and best practice, while also understanding any practical constraints, risks or limitations that Ofcom should consider when developing its procurement strategy and future tender documentation.

CPV: Market research services

How this framework works

From the published notice
Framework period
2 yrs · up to 4 yrs from 1 Apr 2028

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 2 yrs
Contract period: 1 Apr 2028 – 31 Mar 2030 (2 yrs) · up to 31 Mar 2032 with extensions
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add more
What this means for your bid
  • “Market Research 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 Ofcom buys Market research services (CPV 7931), and who usually turns up

Ofcom has little published record in this market. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Market research services (CPV 7931) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerOfcom · this authority
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Buyer: no supplier sizes published · market: CPV 7931 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=8
—100%

No supplier sizes published for this authority.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.

Buyer: no winner locations published · market: CPV 7931 · UK-wide, n=9
—33%

No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
i
Buyer: no decision dates published · market: CPV 7931 · UK-wide, n=5
—15 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 15 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

Buyer: no awards on record · market: CPV 7931 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=6
—17%

No awards recorded for this authority in this market.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i
This buyer8 lots with bid counts · all categories
0% had one bid
The market12 lots with bid counts · CPV 7931 · UK-wide
0% had one bid
% of lots with a published bid count: this buyer (8) / the market (12) · select a colour for counts
1 bid0% / 0%
Buyer: 0 of 8 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
2–3100% / 33%
Buyer: 8 of 8 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
4–60% / 8%
Buyer: 0 of 8 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
7+0% / 58%
Buyer: 0 of 8 lots with published bid counts. Market: 7 of 12 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

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

Not comparable on a framework or DPS: the price is set later, on each call-off.

2

Assess each lot
i

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Our matching links this notice to “Ofcom Market Research Framework 2024 - 2028” of this authority, but none of the 20 panel members sit in a category matching this notice.

Lot #1CPV 793124 monthsPublished estimate£22m
Expected competition
i

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 163 past lots.

—No model forecast yet5% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 163 similar lots
1 bid5%
8 of 163 similar past lots received 1 bid (5%).
2–38%
13 of 163 similar past lots received 2–3 (8%).
4–610%
17 of 163 similar past lots received 4–6 (10%).
7+77%
125 of 163 similar past lots received 7+ (77%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 12 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

—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

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Estimates, labelled. The price range, possible competitors and earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards, not published facts, win chances or price advice. The buyer’s own record and the wider market are shown apart, never mixed.
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender and Contracts Finder), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0, updated through the day and rebuilt nightly. Not every figure uses both feeds, and each one shows how many records it rests on: see the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

What this replaces
i

67% title match.

The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (67% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid

Ofcom Market Research Framework 2024 - 2028, winner not published; no contract end date published.

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
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
6 Nov 2026, 16:14 GMT
Last source update
6 Nov 2026, 16:14 GMT
Authority reference
COM-00518
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-105894
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Market research services
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07b6e8 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
—

Timeline

6 Nov 2026 → 1 Apr 2028 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published6 days ago
    6 Nov 2026, 16:14 GMT
  2. Today
    13 Nov 2026
  3. Market engagementin 19 days
    2 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT

    The purpose of this preliminary market engagement (PME) questionnaire is to seek input from market participants to inform and help us inform our procurement strategy. This PME will be in the form of a questionnaire, and possibly some discussion between the Ofcom Project Team and interested Suppliers.

    If you would like to participate in the PME exercise, please access the PME document available via Ofcom's Jaggaer procurement portal at ofcom.ukp.app.jaggaer.com ↗.

    To access the PME documents interested suppliers will need to be registered as a supplier on the Ofcom Jaggaer esourcing portal. Visit the URL above and click on 'Register here'.

    If already registered log-in to Ofcom's Jaggaer esourcing portal and go to the PQQ page 'pqq_109 – Market Research Framework, complete the questionnaire, attach it where indicated in the Technical envelope and Submit. Clarification questions can be submitted via the messaging facility within the pqq_109.

    The closing deadline for submitting completed questionnaires is 12:00, 2 December 2026.

  4. Tender notice expectedin 139 days
    1 Apr 2027, 23:59 BST
  5. Contract starts
    1 Apr 2028, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    6 Nov 2026, 16:14 GMT
    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

Ofcom

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PQQZ-1663-NWMN Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London, London, SE1 9HAContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure