Official UK procurement notice
Operational Communications Platform (OCP)
Authority: London Underground Limited (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionTransport for London is conducting a preliminary engagement to establish the availability and appetite of the market to improve efficiency and consistency of TfL incident communications.
The Operational Communications Platform (OCP) will provide a single portal for sending out bulk communications around ongoing incidents to relevant stakeholders across multiple channels (such as email, SMS and potentially Teams messages). Primary users will be the Surface Control Centre (SCC) and Rail Control Centre (RCC). The platform will provide auditable logging of (and reporting on) communications, and facilitate message creation and distribution (including the use of pre-defined templates, distributions lists, etc.). It is envisioned that the solution will reuse existing enterprise capabilities (including TfL's Azure tenancy for sending emails and teams messages) and potentially integrate with other third-party services for SMS delivery via API (for example, gov.notify).
This initiative is essential to simplify and standardise communication across TfL's operational control centres, replacing fragmented and outdated methods with a unified, modern platform. By moving away from a heavy reliance on SMS-based messaging and adopting app-based delivery, the organisation can significantly reduce ongoing communication costs while improving message traceability and user experience.
The proposed solution will also enhance operational resilience by supporting full failover capability and off-network access, ensuring continuity of communication during system outages or emergencies. Additionally, the platform will incorporate identity and access management features, including integration with TfL's Directory Management Lifecycle (DML) processes to effectively manage user provisioning, movers, and leavers. This will strengthen security, streamline user administration, and ensure compliance with governance standards.
The total estimated contract value is to be confirmed. We are seeking input on initial upfront capital investment and the operational/subscription cost for the first year, and potential future year extensions.
CPV: Backup or recovery software development services · Data security software development services · IT software development services · IT software package · Platform interconnectivity software development services · Programming services of systems and user software · Railway traffic control software development services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Planned
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Transport for London buys Programming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221), and who usually turns up
Transport for London’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: Programming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221) →
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.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside the delivery region.
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.
Half of these awards were announced within 103 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.
The buyer’s share is a minimum: 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 bid45%
2–346%
4–68%
7+2%
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 estimate48%
Within ±2%32%
Above estimate20%
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 7221Estimate 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 79 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid4%
2–332%
4–633%
7+32%
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
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Concession
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 9 Mar 2026, 14:01 GMT
- Last source update
- 9 Mar 2026, 14:01 GMT
- Authority reference
WS2992037955- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-020922- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06656eFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
9 Mar 2026 → 27 Mar 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published225 days ago9 Mar 2026, 14:01 GMT
- Market engagement210 days ago23 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
For more information, and the opportunity to complete a Market Sounding Questionnaire (MSQ), contact [email protected]
to express your organisation's interest.
- Today20 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 158 days27 Mar 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published9 Mar 2026, 14:01 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