Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 9 Jan 2026, 10:06 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Meet the Buyer Event · UK public procurement notice

Authority: East Suffolk Council (Local council)

ServicesSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term Ends 6 Feb 2026starts 5 Feb 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

East Suffolk Council's Procurement Team is hosting a Meet the Buyer event at their Woodbridge offices on Thursday 5th February 2026.

In this event, you will be offered a 121 session for up to 15 minutes with a member of the Procurement Team.

This event is aimed at suppliers who want to get involved in bidding for council or public sector contracts but maybe don't know where to start!

Please note that this session is for training purposes only and no open tender opportunities will be discussed in detail at the event.

To book your 15 minute slot, please email [email protected]. If you have any specific area of business to discuss or questions you would like answered, please let us know in this email so we can match you with the right member of the Procurement Team.

CPV: General public services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedSMEVCSE
Contract period: 5 Feb 2026 – 6 Feb 2026
Delivery: East of EnglandEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How East Suffolk Council buys General public services (CPV 7511), and who usually turns up

East Suffolk Council’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: General public services (CPV 7511) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerEast Suffolk Council · all categories
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 53 of 74 known-size awards · market: CPV 7511 · UK-wide, n=26
72%42%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 69 of 93 known-location awards · market: CPV 7511 · UK-wide, n=14
74%43%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in East of England.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 23 decided notices · market: division 75 · East of England, n=14
26 days33 days

Half of these awards were announced within 26 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 29 of 89 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7511 · UK-wide, n=32
33%56%

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer33 lots with bid counts · all categories
21% had one bid
The market6 lots with bid counts · CPV 7511 · UK-wide
17% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid21% / 17%
Buyer: 7 of 33 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 6 lots with published bid counts.
2–321% / 67%
Buyer: 7 of 33 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 6 lots with published bid counts.
4–639% / 17%
Buyer: 13 of 33 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 6 lots with published bid counts.
7+18% / 0%
Buyer: 6 of 33 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 6 lots with published bid counts.

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer22 lots with estimate and award · all categories
41% below estimate
The market18 lots with estimate and award · division 75 · East of England
28% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate41% / 28%
Buyer: 9 of 22 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 18 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%50% / 67%
Buyer: 11 of 22 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 12 of 18 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate9% / 6%
Buyer: 2 of 22 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 1 of 18 lots with an estimate and award.
2

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.

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

Lot #1CPV 7511SME suitableEstimate not published
Expected competition
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 20 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet5% single-bid risk
Past bids on 20 similar lots
1 bid5%
1 of 20 similar past lots received 1 bid (5%).
2–340%
8 of 20 similar past lots received 2–3 (40%).
4–625%
5 of 20 similar past lots received 4–6 (25%).
7+30%
6 of 20 similar past lots received 7+ (30%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 bids.
Commercial price forecast
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.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

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.

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.

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
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
9 Jan 2026, 10:06 GMT
Last source update
9 Jan 2026, 10:06 GMT
Authority reference
5226
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-001715
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
General public services
Delivery area
East of England (UKH14)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-060275 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

9 Jan 2026 → 5 Feb 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published284 days ago
    9 Jan 2026, 10:06 GMT
  2. Contract starts257 days ago
    5 Feb 2026
  3. Market engagement256 days ago
    5 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT

    About the Event

    In this event, you will be offered a 121 session for up to 15 minutes with a member of the Procurement Team.

    This event is aimed at suppliers who want to get involved in bidding for council or public sector contracts but maybe don't know where to start!

    Topics to discuss with Procurement Team members in your individual session could include:

    • Social Value
    • Completing tender documents (examples will be available)
    • How to register on the government's Central Digital Platform, Find a Tender Service
    • East Suffolk's tendering system, In-tend, and how to create and manage your profile on the system, guidance on submitting Clarifications
    • Guidance on navigating the different procurement procedures under new procurement legislation

    Please note that this session is for training purposes only and no open tender opportunities will be discussed in detail at the event.

    To book your 15 minute slot, please email [email protected]. If you have any specific area of business to discuss or questions you would like answered, please let us know in this email so we can match you with the right member of the Procurement Team.

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    9 Jan 2026, 10:06 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

East Suffolk Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PLPP-1174-BHLX East Suffolk House, Station Road, Melton, Woodbridge, East of England, IP12 1RTContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure