Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 23 Jul 2026, 13:03 BST

Official UK procurement notice

PA23 UK2 - Athens Residence Refurbishment PME

Authority: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Central government)

WorksAbove thresholdSME suitable
Sectors: Construction & Civil Engineering (45) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Planned pipeline value£6,764,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 29 Sept 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yr 8 moends 16 Jan 2029 · starts 17 May 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description
  1. The project is a major refurbishment of the HMA Residence in Athens. The value of works (contract sum) is anticipated to be in the region of £8.9m to £9.4m (including Greek VAT).
  2. Summary of scope of works:

Seismic strengthening works to the British Ambassador's Residence in Athens have been completed successfully and all original heritage features have been reinstated. Investigations during these works identified the need for a full replacement of the building services installations, and additional scope has been introduced by the Client, including a new commercial kitchen and local audiovisual systems. The Stage 4 design is being finalised and will incorporate all of these requirements ahead of the ITT being issued.

The remaining scope comprises a major refurbishment of the residence, including repairs to internal walls, redecoration of internal rooms, bathroom and kitchen upgrades, installation of a new commercial kitchen, replacement of flooring throughout, full replacement of all MEP systems, fire safety improvements, installation of a new externally accessed lift, drainage works to separate foul and surface water systems, and roof replacement and solar PV install. All works will be undertaken with careful consideration of the heritage significance of the property.

The objective is to deliver a high-quality diplomatic residence that is modern, compliant and resilient while preserving the character and significance of the historic building.

The Contractor and any subcontractors utilised must demonstrate the capability and experience necessary to deliver the works in accordance with relevant UK standards and project-specific requirements to a high-quality finish.

Further information on experience of delivering complex refurbishment projects in heritage, diplomatic or similarly sensitive environments will be helpful in supporting our understanding of the relevant capabilities of suppliers interested in this opportunity.

  1. Contractors and sub-contractors undertaking work will need to have the required security vetting and be approved by the FCDO. It is expected this will be local police checks for all local labour. SC clearances for management are desirable but not essential.
  2. It is anticipated that the form of Contract to be used will be the NEC4 ECC Option a with Option X22, using a two-stage procurement route. Stage 1 will focus on any contractor design elements, long lead in procurement items and mobilisation including relevant visas for workers as required, with Stage 2 covering the execution of the refurbishment works.

CPV: Refurbishment work

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 1 yr 8 moSME
Contract period: 17 May 2027 – 16 Jan 2029 (1 yr 8 mo)
Eligibility: SME eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office buys Other building completion work (CPV 4545), and who usually turns up

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’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: Other building completion work (CPV 4545) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
The marketOther building completion work (CPV 4545) · Greater London (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: 19 of 34 known-size awards · market: CPV 4545 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=70
56%81%

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 Greater London (authority’s region).

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no winner locations published · market: CPV 4545 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=94
—30%

No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in Greater London.

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: 55 decided notices · market: CPV 4545 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=14
82 days43 days

Half of these awards were announced within 82 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 7 of 41 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 4545 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=130
17%22%

Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.

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 buyer138 lots with bid counts · all categories
14% had one bid
The market18 lots with bid counts · CPV 4545 · Greater London (authority’s region)
22% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid14% / 22%
Buyer: 20 of 138 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 18 lots with published bid counts.
2–354% / 0%
Buyer: 75 of 138 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 18 lots with published bid counts.
4–625% / 22%
Buyer: 34 of 138 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 18 lots with published bid counts.
7+7% / 56%
Buyer: 9 of 138 lots with published bid counts. Market: 10 of 18 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 buyer43 lots with estimate and award · all categories
33% below estimate
The market23 lots with estimate and award · CPV 4545 · Greater London (authority’s region)
48% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate33% / 48%
Buyer: 14 of 43 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 11 of 23 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%35% / 22%
Buyer: 15 of 43 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 23 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate33% / 30%
Buyer: 14 of 43 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 7 of 23 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 454520 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£6.8m
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 18 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet22% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 18 similar lots
1 bid22%
4 of 18 similar past lots received 1 bid (22%).
2–30%
0 of 18 similar past lots received 2–3 (0%).
4–622%
4 of 18 similar past lots received 4–6 (22%).
7+56%
10 of 18 similar past lots received 7+ (56%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 7.5 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.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £6.8m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

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
Works
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
23 Jul 2026, 13:03 BST
Last source update
23 Jul 2026, 13:03 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-069688
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Refurbishment work
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d1db Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

23 Jul 2026 → 17 May 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published91 days ago
    23 Jul 2026, 13:03 BST
  2. Market engagement52 days ago
    31 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST

    Suppliers are invited to complete and submit the Preliminary Market

    Engagement Questionnaire, which can be found at forms.cloud.microsoft/e/AkvaGmAXru ↗

    Please confirm interest by providing responses to the questions by 12:00 BST, 3rd August 2026.

    We intend to hold market engagement meetings with suppliers to further explain the project and discuss market conditions. Meetings will run between 10th and 28th August. Please confirm your availability to attend and your attendee’s (limited to 3 people) name, title and email address. Email your registration information to [email protected], with [email protected] copied in by 5 August.

  3. Tender notice expected23 days ago
    29 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Today
    22 Oct 2026
  5. Contract startsin 206 days
    17 May 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    23 Jul 2026, 13:03 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

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PXRR-8771-PHVX King Charles Street, London, London, SW1A 2AHContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure