Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 17 Jun 2026, 14:09 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Met Office Communications Framework

Authority: Met Office (Central government)

Framework agreementServicesAbove thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline value£1,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 5 Oct 2026from the planned procurement notice
Framework period 4 yrsends 31 Jan 2031 · starts 1 Feb 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Link to the opportunity to register your interest and download the information relating to the PME (Copy this link into the search engine to take you to the opportunity):

procontract.due-north.com/Advert ↗

The Met Office has commenced market engagement activities to inform its approach to sourcing a new Framework for Communications. The Met Office is seeking suppliers who we can work with to help us deliver impactful, innovative, cost-effective and on-brand campaigns and communications related projects. Our ambition is that we can be much more agile in bringing on board suppliers, agencies and specialists for short-term projects and campaigns - making it quicker, easier and simpler for us and you.

It is the intention to procure this requirement via an Open Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23).

The proposed structure of the framework is split into four Lots:

Lot 1 - THINK: Communications Strategy, Campaigns and Reputation

Lot 2 - MAKE: Content, Studio and Technical Delivery

Lot 3 - IDENTITY: Brand, Identity and Experience

Lot 4 - DELIVER: Events and Engagement Delivery

Note: Suppliers can bid for a single lot or multiple lots.

The total estimated value of the framework is £1,000,000, covering all four Lots over a 4-year period.

Supplier Engagement Event

A virtual supplier engagement event will be held as follows:

Date: 5th August 2026

Time: 13:30 - 15:00

Location: Microsoft Teams

This session will provide an opportunity for suppliers to contribute to the development of the Met Office's approach to sourcing these capabilities.

The event will primarily consist of:

A presentation outlining current thinking

A Q&A session

A briefing on next steps

Attendance Registration

Suppliers interested in attending must register via the Proactis portal, providing:

Attendee name(s)

Email address(es)

Please note that attendance is limited to a maximum of two representatives per organisation. Please confirm attendance by 31st July 2026 12 Noon.

CPV: Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security · Research and development services and related consultancy services

How this framework works

From the published notice
Framework period
4 yrs from 1 Feb 2027

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

What it takes to win
i

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 more
What this means for your bid
  • “Met Office Communications 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 Met Office buys Research and development services (CPV 73), and who usually turns up

Met Office’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Research and development services (CPV 73) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerMet Office · 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: 2 of 4 known-size awards · market: division 73 · South West England (authority’s region), n=6
2 of 417%

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 South West England (authority’s region).

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 1 of 1 known-location awards · market: division 73 · South West England (authority’s region), n=6
1 of 117%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in South West 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: 7 decided notices · market: division 73 · UK-wide, n=22
57 days67 days

Half of these awards were announced within 57 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 3 of 6 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 73 · UK-wide, n=42
50%24%

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 buyer13 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 73
0% had one bid
The market107 lots with bid counts · division 73 · UK-wide
12% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid0% / 12%
Buyer: 0 of 13 lots with published bid counts. Market: 13 of 107 lots with published bid counts.
2–30% / 17%
Buyer: 0 of 13 lots with published bid counts. Market: 18 of 107 lots with published bid counts.
4–60% / 14%
Buyer: 0 of 13 lots with published bid counts. Market: 15 of 107 lots with published bid counts.
7+100% / 57%
Buyer: 13 of 13 lots with published bid counts. Market: 61 of 107 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.

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

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.

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

Our matching links this notice to “Met Office Academic Partnership Science Framework” of this authority, but none of the 8 panel members sit in a category matching this notice.

Lot #148 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£1.0m
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 107 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet12% single-bid risk
Past bids on 107 similar lots
1 bid12%
13 of 107 similar past lots received 1 bid (12%).
2–317%
18 of 107 similar past lots received 2–3 (17%).
4–614%
15 of 107 similar past lots received 4–6 (14%).
7+57%
61 of 107 similar past lots received 7+ (57%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 8 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.

—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

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
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
17 Jun 2026, 14:09 BST
Last source update
18 Jun 2026, 11:53 BST
Authority reference
DN819308
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-057499
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and securityResearch and development services and related consultancy services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06b712 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
—

Timeline

17 Jun 2026 → 1 Feb 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published125 days ago
    17 Jun 2026, 14:09 BST
  2. Market engagement76 days ago
    5 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST

    The Met Office has commenced market engagement activities to inform its approach to sourcing a new Framework for Communications. The Met Office is seeking suppliers who we can work with to help us deliver impactful, innovative, cost-effective and on-brand campaigns and communications related projects. Our ambition is that we can be much more agile in bringing on board suppliers, agencies and specialists for short-term projects and campaigns - making it quicker, easier and simpler for us and you.

    It is the intention to procure this requirement via an Open Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23).

    The proposed structure of the framework is split into four Lots:

    Lot 1 - THINK: Communications Strategy, Campaigns and Reputation

    Lot 2 - MAKE: Content, Studio and Technical Delivery

    Lot 3 - IDENTITY: Brand, Identity and Experience

    Lot 4 - DELIVER: Events and Engagement Delivery

    Note: Suppliers can bid for a single lot or multiple lots.

    The total estimated value of the framework is £1,000,000, covering all four Lots over a 4-year period.

    Supplier Engagement Event

    A virtual supplier engagement event will be held as follows:

    Date: 5th August 2026

    Time: 13:30 - 15:00

    Location: Microsoft Teams

    This session will provide an opportunity for suppliers to contribute to the development of the Met Office's approach to sourcing these capabilities.

    The event will primarily consist of:

    A presentation outlining current thinking

    A Q&A session

    A briefing on next steps

    Attendance Registration

    Suppliers interested in attending must register via the Proactis portal, providing:

    Attendee name(s)

    Email address(es)

    Please note that attendance is limited to a maximum of two representatives per organisation. Please confirm attendance by 31st July 2026 12 Noon.

  3. Tender notice expected15 days ago
    5 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Today
    20 Oct 2026
  5. Contract startsin 103 days
    1 Feb 2027

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 17 Jun 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    17 Jun 2026, 14:09 BST
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    18 Jun 2026, 11:53 BST
    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

Met Office

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PVZW-3234-DTLY Met Office, Exeter, South West, EX1 3PBContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure