Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 29 Sept 2026, 13:18 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Ofcom Skilled Persons — UK public procurement notice

Authority: Ofcom (Public body)

ServicesAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: IT Services & Software (72) Delivery: UK
Published estimate£2,000,000≈ £500k / year · £2,000,000 inc. VAT
Tender notice expected 1 Apr 2027from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 4 yrsstarts 31 Aug 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Ofcom are keen to engage with suitably experienced suppliers capable of delivering a 'Skilled Persons' service.

The Skilled Persons' report powers under the Online Safety Act are new powers for Ofcom. This Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise seeks feedback from the market and particularly from experienced experts who specialise in any of the identified Work Areas (detailed in the PME document), through responses to the PME Questionnaire .

We are keen to engage to better understand the market in relation to:

• the work areas and how they are grouped;

• the different contracting models;

• the different payment mechanisms; and

• how to cost for the services of a Skilled Persons' report.

The PME document can be found on Ofcom's eSourcing portal. Please see 'Engagement process description' below.

CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Systems and technical consultancy services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Lot 1Planned 4 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 31 Aug 2027 — 30 Aug 2031 (4 yrs)Eligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleDelivery: UK
72000000 IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support72220000 Systems and technical consultancy services

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
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
No (one-off requirement)
First published
29 Sept 2026, 13:18 BST
Last source update
29 Sept 2026, 13:18 BST
Authority reference
C20262747/COM-00183
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and supportSystems and technical consultancy services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077c72

How it was run

Submission deadline
—

Timeline

4 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Planning notice publishedearlier today
    29 Sept 2026, 13:18 BST
  2. Market engagementin 30 days
    29 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
    The purpose of this preliminary market engagement (PME) questionnaire is to seek input from market participants to inform and help us inform our procurement strategy. The PME will provide Ofcom with the opportunity to obtain insight into how potential Suppliers might approach delivery of the more…service in question and gain an understanding of the capability/interest from the market. This PME will be in the form of a questionnaire, and possibly some discussion between the Ofcom Project Team and interested Suppliers. If you would like to participate in the PME exercise, please access the PME document available via Ofcom's Jaggaer procurement portal at https://ofcom.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/. To access the PME documents interested suppleirs will need to be registered as a supplier on the Ofcom Jaggaer esourcing portal. Visit the URL above and click on 'Register here'. When registered log-in to Ofcom's Jaggaer esourcing portal and go to the PQQ page 'pqq_100 - Ofcom Skilled Persons', complete the questionnaire, attach it where indicated in the Technical envelope and Submit. Clarification questions can be submitted via the messaging facility within pqq_100. The closing deadline for submitting completed questionnaires is 12 noon, 29 October 2026.
  3. Tender notice expectedin 184 days
    1 Apr 2027, 23:59 BST
  4. Contract startsin 335 days
    31 Aug 2027, 00:00 BST

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    29 Sept 2026, 13:18 BSTUK2

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Ofcom

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PQQZ-1663-NWMN Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road, London, London, SE1 9HA [email protected]

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure