Official UK procurement notice
Mass Participation Running Event - Pre Market Engagement
Authority: Portsmouth City Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionPortsmouth City Council is undertaking Pre-Market Engagement (PME) for a Mass Participation Running Event to explore options for continuing a flagship sporting occasion in the city. Historically, this event has been delivered as part of the Great South Run, which is one of Europe's most popular mass participation races.
The Great South Run has been held annually in Portsmouth since 1990 and typically takes place in mid-October. It is a 10-mile (16.09 km) road race, offering an intermediate distance between a 10K and a half marathon. The event attracts thousands of runners and spectators each year, with recent editions welcoming over 20,000 participants across the main race and associated events such as the 5K, Junior, and Mini runs. The route showcases Portsmouth's iconic landmarks, including Southsea Seafront and the Historic Dockyard, making it a celebrated part of the city's sporting calendar.
The Council have published a PME Notice in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023. The Council's aim in undertaking this PME exercise is to understand the market's interest, capacity, capability, with a view to developing the procurement strategy and tender documentation to meet needs, objectives, statutory obligations and best value duties.
Through this PME, the Council aims to gauge market interest, identify innovative delivery models, and ensure the event continues to provide economic, social, and health benefits for residents and visitors alike.
Key Considerations for Future Event Delivery
As the Council explores options for a new mass participation running event, it is essential to understand the capabilities, approaches, and innovations that potential providers can bring.
The following areas outline what we aim to discuss during engagement, ensuring the event is safe, inclusive, financially sustainable, and aligned with community and environmental priorities.
- Delivery Capability
- Commercial Models
- Community Engagement
- Environmental and Sustainability Credentials
- Marketing and Branding
- Innovation and Added Value
- Event Timing and Duration
- Frequency and Format
- Expansion Potential under Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)
Procurement Approach Following Pre-Market Engagement
At this stage, the Council has not yet determined the exact procurement process that will follow this Pre-Market Engagement exercise. The approach will depend on market feedback, the complexity of requirements, and the level of innovation proposed by potential providers.
Possible routes include:
- An Open Tender under the Public Procurement Act 2023 (PA23),
- A Competitive Flexible Procedure (CFP) under PA23, which is similar to the former restricted procedure, or
- A more iterative process such as Competitive Dialogue, should the requirement warrant detailed solution development.
The Council will confirm the chosen procurement route in due course, by issuing a Contract Tender Notice outlining the key details and requirements, including the overview of the procurement process & associated programme, value of the opportunity, scope of the contract & associated contractual terms, minimum levels of technical experience & accreditations and evaluation & award criteria.
The notice will provide all necessary information for potential suppliers to assess and apply for the opportunity. The Council anticipates that this opportunity will be classified as an above-threshold concession under the Procurement Act 2023. This will be confirmed upon publication of the tender notice.
In readiness for issue of the tender, any interested suppliers may register on the governments Central Digital Platform, as the Council is required to review information held there for any potential grounds for exclusion and undertake a debarment check. Guidance on accessing the Central Digital Platform can be found here -
www.gov.uk/government/publicati… ↗
The Council are intending to run the PME and the subsequent envisaged tender process under the following Procurement Programme:
1.Publish Pre Market Engagement Notice- Thursday 18th December 2025
2.Initial 1-2-1 supplier discussion - Monday 15th December to Friday 19th December 2025
3.Initial 1-2-1 supplier discussions - Monday 5th January 2026 to Friday 9th January 2026
4.Optional follow up 1-2-1 supplier discussions - at Council discretion - Monday 19th January 2026 to Friday 23rd January 2026
5.Issue of FTS Notice (Tender process TBC)* - February/March 2026
6.Final Tender Submissions* - July/August 2026
7.Notification of award decision - No later than Monday 21st September 2026
8.Standstill Period - Tuesday 22nd September 2026
- Preferred bidder secured - Friday 2nd October 2026
10.Mobilisation Start - TBC
11.Contract Start - TBC
*The procurement programme, including the stages and timescales from the issue of the tender notice through to tender return, has not yet been defined. These details will be determined following the completion of the Pre-Market Engagement exercise and will take into account market feedback, event complexity, and the most appropriate procurement route under the Public Procurement Act 2023.
The Council will ensure that all suppliers are kept informed and that the final programme is communicated in a transparent and timely manner.
The intention is to manage this procurement programme to provide the longest lead in and mobilisation period for the 2027 event as practicable.
CPV: Sport-related services · Sports facilities operation services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Portsmouth City Council buys Sports facilities operation services (CPV 9261), and who usually turns up
Portsmouth City Council’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Sports facilities operation services (CPV 9261) →
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.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in South East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 164 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.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.
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 bid24% / 20%
2–343% / 40%
4–629% / 40%
7+5% / 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 estimate25% / 22%
Within ±2%75% / 56%
Above estimate0% / 22%
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 92Estimate not published
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 92. The comparison uses that group.
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 21 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid10%
2–329%
4–657%
7+5%
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
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 18 Dec 2025, 16:12 GMT
- Last source update
- 18 Dec 2025, 16:12 GMT
- Authority reference
P00005175- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-084587- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05f99eFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
18 Dec 2025 → 25 Jan 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published314 days ago18 Dec 2025, 16:12 GMT
- Market engagement277 days ago23 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
PME Supplier Participation Process
The Council wishes to hold one-to-one meetings with suitably experienced and interested suppliers as part of this Pre-Market Engagement exercise. These meetings will typically take place via Microsoft Teams and last approximately one hour to an hour and a half. Where practical, there will also be an option to meet in person at the Civic Offices.
In the first instance, interested suppliers should complete Mass Participation Running Event - PME 1-1 EOI form and return this via Intend correspondence expressing their interest in participating in these discussions. The expression of interest form requests suppliers to provide the following information:
- General company information
- Details of up to three previous events delivered, demonstrating relevant experience
- Availability for meetings on:
o Tuesday 6th January 2026
o Wednesday 7th January 2026
o Thursday 8th January 2026 (AM)
o Wednesday 14th January 2026 (PM)
o Thursday 15th January 2026
- Names of delegates who will attend, including their role and email address.
Should a request for an alternative date be made, the Council will review the request but cannot commit to accommodating this at this stage. The Council will review all submissions and, where relevant experience has been demonstrated, will look to arrange meetings accordingly.
At the Council's discretion, we may look to engage further with suppliers who attend an initial one-to-one meeting. These follow-up sessions would take place between Monday 19th January 2026 and Friday 23rd January 2026 and will be used to gather additional information or review specific aspects of the supplier's previous delivery of similar events.
Suppliers should note that there is no obligation to take part in this exercise and that if they do not take part, it will not preclude them from any subsequent related procurement process. Engaging suppliers will not receive preferential treatment in any subsequent tender process, and this is in no way an indication of the selection of any organisation or a guarantee of future work.
SMT Supporting Information
The following documents have been included as part of the PME Briefing pack via the e-tendering portal, Intend -
- PME Briefing Document (this document)
- Mass Participation Running Event - PME 1-1 EOI
- Conflict of Interest Statement
- Conflicts of Interest Declaration Form
- Intend Guidance, Supporting Information & Clarification Process.
in-tendhost.co.uk/portsmouthcc/aspx/home ↗
Conflicts Assessment
The Procurement Act 2023 requires the Council to identify and keep under review actual and potential conflicts of interest. The Council must also mitigate conflicts of interest and address circumstances which the Council considers are likely to cause a reasonable person to wrongly believe there to be a conflict or potential conflict of interest.
A conflict of interest arises when an individual's personal interests, relationships, or activities have the potential to interfere with their impartiality or the integrity of the procurement process. This may include financial, personal, familial, or business interests that could improperly influence, or be perceived to influence, their decisions or actions.
Suppliers should refer to Conflicts of Interest Declaration Form for further details of the Council's duty regarding conflict of interests.
Suppliers should complete and submit one conflict of interest declaration per organisation in word format.
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 88 days25 Jan 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 Dec 2025, 16:12 GMTUK2
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