Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 16 Feb 2026, 20:52 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Meet the buyer-LGA Graduate Programmes

Authority: Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government (IDeA) (Public body)

ServicesBelow thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yrends 1 Apr 2027 · starts 1 Apr 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The LGA Graduate programmes invite suppliers to attend a 'meet the buyer' session with the team. At this virtual event, the team will run through what each of our programmes are and the types of tenders we expect to run. This session will specifically focus around:

Our marketing work which could include videography, photography, graduate promotional services, and support promoting the programme to students and graduates

Our recruitment work which could include assessment design, assessment delivery, and assessors.

For further information about our programmes and the types of marketing and recruitment we do please visit:

www.local.gov.uk/our-support/councill… ↗

www.local.gov.uk/pathways-to-planning ↗

The format of the session will be a presentation from the team followed by a structured discussion with suppliers. The topics of discussion will be circulated in advance on 23rd February 2026.

CPV: Marketing services · Recruitment services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 1 yrSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Apr 2026 – 1 Apr 2027 (1 yr)
Delivery: UKEligibility: 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 Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government (IDeA) buys Advertising and marketing services (CPV 7934), and who usually turns up

Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government (IDeA)’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) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
The marketAdvertising and marketing services (CPV 7934) · Greater London (authority’s region)
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: 5 of 6 known-size awards · market: CPV 7934 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=69
83%55%

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 registered in Greater London (authority’s region).

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 of 3 known-location awards · market: CPV 7934 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=101
3 of 356%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in Greater London.

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: 5 decided notices · market: CPV 7934 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=22
6 days60 days

Half of these awards were announced within 6 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.

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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 10 procurements with awards; rival share unknown · market: CPV 7934 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=104
—40%

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer5 lots with bid counts · all categories
0% had one bid
The market31 lots with bid counts · CPV 7934 · Greater London (authority’s region)
6% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid0% / 6%
Buyer: 0 of 5 lots with published bid counts. Market: 2 of 31 lots with published bid counts.
2–320% / 10%
Buyer: 1 of 5 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 31 lots with published bid counts.
4–620% / 52%
Buyer: 1 of 5 lots with published bid counts. Market: 16 of 31 lots with published bid counts.
7+60% / 32%
Buyer: 3 of 5 lots with published bid counts. Market: 10 of 31 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 buyer6 lots with estimate and award · all categories
67% below estimate
The market28 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7934 · Greater London (authority’s region)
29% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate67% / 29%
Buyer: 4 of 6 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 8 of 28 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%33% / 57%
Buyer: 2 of 6 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 16 of 28 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0% / 14%
Buyer: 0 of 6 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 4 of 28 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 793412 monthsSME 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 31 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet6% single-bid risk
Past bids on 31 similar lots
1 bid6%
2 of 31 similar past lots received 1 bid (6%).
2–310%
3 of 31 similar past lots received 2–3 (10%).
4–652%
16 of 31 similar past lots received 4–6 (52%).
7+32%
10 of 31 similar past lots received 7+ (32%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 5 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
Below threshold
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 Feb 2026, 20:52 GMT
Last source update
16 Feb 2026, 20:52 GMT
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-014070
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Marketing servicesRecruitment services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-065576 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

16 Feb 2026 → 1 Apr 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published246 days ago
    16 Feb 2026, 20:52 GMT
  2. Market engagement232 days ago
    1 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT

    The LGA Graduate programmes invite suppliers to attend a 'meet the buyer' session with the team. At this virtual event, the team will run through what each of our programmes are and the types of tenders we expect to run. This session will specifically focus around:

    Our marketing work which could include videography, photography, graduate promotional services, and support promoting the programme to students and graduates

    Our recruitment work which could include assessment design, assessment delivery, and assessors.

    For further information about our programmes and the types of marketing and recruitment we do please visit:

    www.local.gov.uk/our-support/councill… ↗

    www.local.gov.uk/pathways-to-planning ↗

    The format of the session will be a presentation from the team followed by a structured discussion with suppliers. The topics of discussion will be circulated in advance on 23rd February 2026.

    The event will be run on 2 March 2026, 11am-12pm. Suppliers are asked to provide their contact details if they are interested in attending and an invitation will be sent to them.

  3. Contract starts202 days ago
    1 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    16 Feb 2026, 20:52 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

IMPROVEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-COH: 03675577 · GB-PPON: PYRW-6354-VTHM 18 Smith Square, London, London, SW1P 3HZContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure