Find a TenderPlanned procurementPlanned procurement notice
Published 20 Feb 2026, 11:48 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Port of Dover - External Audit Services

Authority: Dover Harbour Board (Public body)

ServicesCompetitive flexible procedureAbove threshold
Sectors: Business Services & Consultancy (79) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Planned pipeline value£0pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 16 Mar 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 4 yrsends 31 Aug 2030 · up to 31 Aug 2032 with extensions · starts 1 Sept 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The legal duties, powers and obligations of the Board are derived from national legislation, its own acts of Parliament and a variety of statutory instruments relating to the operation of ports. The business does not have shareholders. Nevertheless, the Board is accountable to its stakeholders for the performance of its duties and it encourages regular dialogue with its different groups of them in the furtherance of its objectives. The DHB group currently comprises Dover Harbour Board, Port of Dover Cargo Limited (10333520), Core Operational and Services Team Limited (11209566), Dover Developments Limited (09206042), Dover Waterfront Limited (09437228) (dormant) and Port of Dover Limited (07087839) (dormant). All subsidiary companies are 100% owned.

DHB wishes to appoint a service provider to deliver external audit services to DHB which will include:

  1. Provide an independent opinion on the financial statements of DHB and its subsidiaries and to report their opinion to the Secretary of State for Transport and to the Board members;
  2. Provide an independent opinion on whether, in their opinion, the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Board and that the results comply with Section 42 of the Harbours Act 1964 (as amended);
  3. Provide an independent opinion on whether the financial reporting framework that has been applied in the preparation of the financial statements is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice);
  4. Provide reports to senior management and the DHB Audit and Risk Committee. This requirement includes attendance and presentation of reports and findings at Committee meetings.

CPV: Accounting and auditing services · Accounting services · Auditing services · Financial auditing services · Statutory audit services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 4 yrsPublished value£0

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

How Dover Harbour Board buys Accounting and auditing services (CPV 7921), and who usually turns up

Dover Harbour Board’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: Accounting and auditing services (CPV 7921) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerDover Harbour Board · all categories
The marketAccounting and auditing services (CPV 7921) · South East England (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: 0 of 1 known-size awards · market: CPV 7921 · South East England (authority’s region), n=48
0 of 129%

No small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.

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 South East England (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 7921 · South East England (authority’s region), n=52
0 of 115%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside South East England.

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: 3 decided notices · market: CPV 7921 · South East England (authority’s region), n=7
166 days77 days

Half of these awards were announced within 166 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.

The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 procurements with awards; rival share unknown · market: CPV 7921 · South East England (authority’s region), n=58
—45%

Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.

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 buyerNo bid counts published
The market12 lots with bid counts · CPV 7921 · South East England (authority’s region)
0% had one bid
Market · select a colour for counts
1 bid0%
Market: 0 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
2–333%
Market: 4 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
4–633%
Market: 4 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
7+33%
Market: 4 of 12 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 buyerNo estimate-and-award pairs published
The market11 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7921 · South East England (authority’s region)
55% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate55%
Market: 6 of 11 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%9%
Market: 1 of 11 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate36%
Market: 4 of 11 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 792148 monthsNo real estimate
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 12 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet0% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 12 similar lots
1 bid0%
0 of 12 similar past lots received 1 bid (0%).
2–333%
4 of 12 similar past lots received 2–3 (33%).
4–633%
4 of 12 similar past lots received 4–6 (33%).
7+33%
4 of 12 similar past lots received 7+ (33%).
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.

—No real estimate
The buyer published £0 as the estimate (a placeholder, not the contract’s value), so there is nothing to forecast against.

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.

Restricted route (Stage 2 ITT / Shortlist): Bidding is restricted to invited candidates who qualified at Stage 1. Uninvited suppliers cannot participate in this round.

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
20 Feb 2026, 11:48 GMT
Last source update
20 Feb 2026, 11:48 GMT
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 7 Jul 2026
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-015598
Latest notice
Planned procurement notice (UK3)
Classification (CPV)
Accounting and auditing servicesAccounting servicesAuditing servicesFinancial auditing servicesStatutory audit services
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-065901 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: In-tend · Who buys & how to bid on In-tend
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission not allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free · one account per buying organisation's portal · reCAPTCHA on signup
Requests to participate (first stage)
10 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
Submission deadline
10 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Not allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

The tender will be administered through our Procurement Portal, available for registration here: in-tendhost.co.uk/portofdover/aspx/Home ↗

Timeline

20 Feb 2026 → 1 Sept 2026 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published244 days ago
    20 Feb 2026, 11:48 GMT
  2. Tender notice expected220 days ago
    16 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
  3. Submission deadline195 days ago
    10 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Award decision expected by107 days ago
    7 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
  5. Contract starts52 days ago
    1 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Planned procurement notice published
    20 Feb 2026, 11:48 GMT
    UK3

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

Dover Harbour Board

Contracting authorityPrivate utility GB-PPON: PBWQ-3165-XGNL Harbour House, Marine Parade, Dover, South East, CT17 9BUContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure