Official UK procurement notice
Middlesbrough Play Area Improvements
Authority: Middlesbrough Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionMiddlesbrough Council's Environment Team is undertaking a programme of improvements across a number of play areas within the town and is seeking to engage with providers in a divine of any formal procurement process.
Over the next 4 years, we plan to undertake a series of improvements across several play This will include refurbishing existing sites, replacing equipment that is beyond repair and upgrading multi-climber units at a number of locations.
We are also committed to enhancing inclusive play provision and exploring the development of dedicated spaces for teenage girls incorporating appropriate play and recreational elements.
The Council is seeking information to identify suitable qualified and interest providers, capable of delivering the full scope of service, including supply, installation and ongoing maintenance and aftercare.
How to Participate
If you are interested in this opportunity, please confirm your expression of interests by 5PM on 9th April and include:
- Organisation name and primary contact details
- A brief summary of relevant experience in providing play equipment, safety surfacing and related services
- A paragraph on how your organisation can deliver what is outlined in the 'Purpose of the engagement'
CPV: Park and playground equipment
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Middlesbrough Council buys Construction equipment (CPV 4332), and who usually turns up
Middlesbrough 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: Construction equipment (CPV 4332) →
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 North East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in 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 15 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 bid8% / 10%
2–331% / 20%
4–619% / 70%
7+42% / 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% / 26%
Within ±2%58% / 42%
Above estimate17% / 32%
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 4332Estimate not published
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.
1 bid10%
2–320%
4–670%
7+0%
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
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- 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
- 19 Mar 2026, 15:51 GMT
- Last source update
- 19 Mar 2026, 15:51 GMT
- Authority reference
ESC103/2026- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-025370- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-066f6bFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
19 Mar 2026 → 27 Jul 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published221 days ago19 Mar 2026, 15:51 GMT
- Market engagement200 days ago9 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
If you are interested in this opportunity, please confirm your expression of interests by 5PM on 9th April and include:
- Organisation name and primary contact details
- A brief summary of relevant experience in providing play equipment, safety surfacing and related services
- A paragraph on how your organisation can deliver what is outlined in the 'Purpose of the engagement'
Please follow the below link to access our document, complete it and submit it via OPEN:
- Contract starts92 days ago27 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published19 Mar 2026, 15:51 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