Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 22 May 2026, 14:00 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Control Room Technology Support Services

Authority: National Highways Limited (Central government)

ServicesCompetitive flexible procedureAbove thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 8 Jan 2027from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 5 yrsends 30 Apr 2032 · up to 30 Apr 2034 with extensions · starts 1 May 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Reprocurement of Control Room Technology Support Services

CPV: Business analysis consultancy services · Business development consultancy services · Communications infrastructure · Computer audit services · Data-transmission equipment · Development consultancy services · General management consultancy services · Helpdesk and support services · Human resources management consultancy services · Information systems or technology strategic review services · Information technology services · Integrated telecommunications services · +12 more

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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

How National Highways Limited buys Systems and technical consultancy services (CPV 7222), and who usually turns up

National Highways 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: Systems and technical consultancy services (CPV 7222) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerNational Highways Limited · division 72
The marketSystems and technical consultancy services (CPV 7222) · West Midlands (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: 4 of 30 known-size awards · market: CPV 7222 · West Midlands (authority’s region), n=72
13%51%

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 West Midlands (authority’s region).

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 0 of 1 known-location awards · market: CPV 7222 · West Midlands (authority’s region), n=100
0 of 112%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside West Midlands.

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: 4 decided notices · market: CPV 7222 · West Midlands (authority’s region), n=6
87 days34 days

Half of these awards were announced within 87 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 27 of 39 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7222 · West Midlands (authority’s region), n=113
69%60%

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 buyer24 lots with bid counts · all categories
8% had one bid
The market11 lots with bid counts · CPV 7222 · West Midlands (authority’s region)
0% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid8% / 0%
Buyer: 2 of 24 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 11 lots with published bid counts.
2–346% / 45%
Buyer: 11 of 24 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 11 lots with published bid counts.
4–633% / 9%
Buyer: 8 of 24 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 11 lots with published bid counts.
7+13% / 45%
Buyer: 3 of 24 lots with published bid counts. Market: 5 of 11 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 buyer11 lots with estimate and award · all categories
27% below estimate
The market10 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7222 · West Midlands (authority’s region)
30% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate27% / 30%
Buyer: 3 of 11 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 10 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%64% / 50%
Buyer: 7 of 11 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 10 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate9% / 20%
Buyer: 1 of 11 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 2 of 10 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 722260 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 11 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet0% single-bid risk
Past bids on 11 similar lots
1 bid0%
0 of 11 similar past lots received 1 bid (0%).
2–345%
5 of 11 similar past lots received 2–3 (45%).
4–69%
1 of 11 similar past lots received 4–6 (9%).
7+45%
5 of 11 similar past lots received 7+ (45%).
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
Procedure method
Competitive flexible procedure
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
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
22 May 2026, 14:00 BST
Last source update
12 Oct 2026, 09:23 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-095908
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Business analysis consultancy servicesBusiness development consultancy servicesCommunications infrastructureComputer audit servicesData-transmission equipmentDevelopment consultancy servicesGeneral management consultancy servicesHelpdesk and support servicesHuman resources management consultancy servicesInformation systems or technology strategic review services
+14 moreInformation technology servicesIntegrated telecommunications services
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06a156 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

22 May 2026 → 1 May 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published151 days ago
    22 May 2026, 14:00 BST
  2. Latest notice published9 days ago
    12 Oct 2026, 09:23 BST
  3. Today
    20 Oct 2026
  4. Market engagementin 10 days
    30 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT

    National Highways is seeking market feedback to inform the potential procurement of specialist support services for Control Room Technology across the Strategic Road Network. The requirement may include a range of technical, advisory and delivery support capabilities relating to operational technology, communications systems, resilience, technology transition and modernisation.

    National Highways is seeking supplier views on the most effective way to structure and procure these services to ensure access to the right expertise whilst delivering flexibility, value for money and effective competition. Responses will inform the future procurement approach.

    This questionnaire is issued on an open, non‑committal basis. Please respond to the questions as fully as you are able. No clarification process will be run at this stage, so we ask suppliers to answer based on the information provided.

    To access to documentation and questionnaire, you must be registered for National Highways eProcurement Portal;

    nationalhighways.ukp.app.jaggaer.com ↗ - where you can create an account & request assistance

    Once registered you'll be able to access to the specific Preminiary Market Engagement through this link:

    nationalhighways.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/go/7865750901A11B754E33 ↗

    Or by searching for

    PQQ_155 Control Room Technology Support Services - Preliminary Market Engagement Questionnaire

  5. Tender notice expectedin 80 days
    8 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
  6. Contract startsin 192 days
    1 May 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 22 May 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    22 May 2026, 14:00 BST
    UK1
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    12 Oct 2026, 09:23 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

National Highways Limited

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PGMJ-3793-VBBN Three Snowhill, Snow Hill Queensway, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 6GAContact email, phone

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure