Official UK procurement notice
Port of Dover - External Audit Services
Authority: Dover Harbour Board (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe 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:
- 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;
- 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);
- 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);
- 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 publishedPipeline 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) →
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.
No small-firm winners recorded among this authority’s published awards in this sample.
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.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside South East England.
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 166 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 market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.
How many bids did past lots attract?
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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 bid0%
2–333%
4–633%
7+33%
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 estimate55%
Within ±2%9%
Above estimate36%
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 7921No real estimate
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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.
1 bid0%
2–333%
4–633%
7+33%
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- 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)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-065901Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- 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
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- Planning notice published244 days ago20 Feb 2026, 11:48 GMT
- Tender notice expected220 days ago16 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Submission deadline195 days ago10 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Award decision expected by107 days ago7 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts52 days ago1 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Planned procurement notice published20 Feb 2026, 11:48 GMTUK3
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
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender