Official UK procurement notice
Media Buying — AFFINITY WATER LIMITED (Oct 2026)
Authority: AFFINITY WATER LIMITED
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionTo appoint a supplier or suppliers to provide paid media (digital and offline advertising) services to Affinity Water.
Affinity Water is seeking a strategic paid media supplier(s) to develop, plan, activate, optimise and evaluate an ongoing programme supporting Keep Life Flowing and our wider water saving and behaviour change activity.
The programme must run throughout the year, supporting annual water reduction targets that reset on 1 April 2027. Activity must be ready to launch from April 2027, ahead of potential early heatwaves and increases in demand.
The supplier(s) should be able to provide all services including but not limited to:
- Paid media strategy,
- Insight, analytics and optimisation,
- Media and channel planning,
- Media buying,
- TV,
- Radio,
- Performance digital,
- Social media buying.
- How the procedure runs: Selection questionnaire (SQ) submissions will be scored in accordance with the criteria defined in the SQ documentation. Suppliers that are shortlisted will be invited to submit a proposal in response to the invitation to tender (ITT). Tender submissions will be evaluated and clarification meetings conducted (virtually or in person). Affinity Water may negotiate with tenderers and/or request best and final offers (BAFO). The successful tenderer will be awarded the agreement according to the percentage weightings and criteria set out in the ITT.
CPV: Advertising and marketing services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£6,000,000
- Value
- £6,000,000 exc. VAT · £7,200,000 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- Initial contract period 1st March 2027 - 28th February 2030 The contract will be awarded for an initial term of 3 years with the option to extend for up five periods of one year, with a maximum overall term of 8 years.
What 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).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Technical — 40%
- Commercial — 60%
Published award criteria (2)
- Commercial
- Technical
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
- Price carries 60 of 100 points — a 10% discount moves about 6 points. This one is won on the number — sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £3,996,350 (twice the annual value).
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring — the tender pack may use another formula. Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How AFFINITY WATER LIMITED buys Advertising and marketing services (CPV 7934) — and who usually turns up
AFFINITY WATER LIMITED’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Advertising and marketing services (CPV 7934) →
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 East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in North 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 41 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.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
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%
2–333%
4–647%
7+20%
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 estimate17%
Within ±2%75%
Above estimate8%
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 7934Published estimate£6.0m
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.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid22%
2–312%
4–651%
7+15%
i
Where the winning price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
Based on 13 comparable awards. Each lot reflects its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative.
A guide, not a price to bid.
Middle 50%£6.0m
Estimate£6.0m
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | ||||
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
KPMGLarge | £1.1bn173 awards in 36m · last this month | 40 live · £100m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=22 |
Wavemaker LtdLarge | £1.6bn40 awards in 36m · last this month | 27 live · £2.7bn iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | no comparable pairs |
| £149m22 awards in 36m · last 3 months ago | 11 live · £144m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=8 | |
OMD Group Ltd.Large | £90m9 awards in 36m · last 3 months ago | 4 live · £24m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=2 |
Penna plcLarge | £5.4m25 awards in 36m · last this month | 5 live · £1.8m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 15% below n=2 |
Coverage and what to read with care
- Each figure explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two sides are never blended. A lot’s own market is read at its delivery region where the lot names one; where it names several, or none that can be resolved, the chart falls back to the UK-wide record for the same category and says so under the bar. An empty cell means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
- When we call out a difference. A buyer figure is only flagged against the market when the sample is large enough that the gap is unlikely to be chance; at most two callouts appear, always phrased as a comparison with both numbers and the sample size.
- Coverage (re-measured 5 Oct on the live record, 94,497 awarded procedures of the last three years). 51 % publish a bid count and 72 % a delivery region, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice names none, labelled. Of the 17,687 award-vs-estimate pairs, 34 % sit exactly on the estimate — the buyer published the award at the figure it advertised. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden, and a distribution is not drawn as percentages below ten observations.
- “Match”, text similarity, the expected-bid figure and the distribution drawn beneath it are model outputs, not published facts or win probabilities. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Requests to participate open
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 1 Oct 2026, 14:17 BST
- Last source update
- 2 Oct 2026, 12:21 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end — 31 Dec 2026
- Authority reference
C-04487- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-092889- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077eb6Find a Tender
- How it runs
- Selection questionnaire (SQ) submissions will be scored in accordance with the criteria defined in the SQ documentation. Suppliers that are shortlisted will be invited to submit a proposal in response to the invitation to tender (ITT). Tender submissions will be evaluated and clarification meetings conducted (virtually or in person). Affinity Water may negotiate with tenderers and/or request best and final offers (BAFO). The successful tenderer will be awarded the agreement according to the percentage weightings and criteria set out in the ITT.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via In-tend- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 2 Nov 2026, 09:00 GMT
- Tender submission deadline
- 2 Nov 2026, 09:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- —
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
4 published dates · Europe/London- Tender notice published12 days ago1 Oct 2026, 14:17 BST
- Submission deadlinein 20 days2 Nov 2026, 09:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 80 days31 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 139 days1 Mar 2027
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Notice history
4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 1 Oct 2026- Tender notice published2 Oct 2026, 12:21 BSTUK4
- Tender notice published1 Oct 2026, 15:15 BSTUK4
- Tender notice published1 Oct 2026, 14:17 BSTUK4
- First tender notice published1 Oct 2026, 14:17 BST
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender