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Published 21 Sept 2026, 17:36 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Postal Services — UK public procurement notice

Official notice Competition analysis

Authority: Sunderland City Council (Local council)

2 lotsServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: Postal and telecommunications services (64) Delivery: North East (UKC23)
Final published estimate £3,816,000initial estimate £3,000,000 · 1 value update
Submission deadline 22 Oct 202612:00 BST · 30d 12h left
Clarification cut-off 16 Oct 202612:00 BST · questions to the authority
Contract term 4 yrsup to 6 yrs with extensions · starts 1 Jul 2027
Bids per lot · this authority 4all categories · n=26 · competition analysis ↓

What is being bought2 lots · detail below

Published requirement description

Postal Services that includes hybrid mail, bulk mailings and revenues and benefits

  • No preliminary market engagement: The Authority undertook limited market engagement solely for the purpose of obtaining indicative market capacity information. Given the specialist nature of the market and the proportionate scope of the engagement, the Authority determined that publication of a Preliminary Market Engagement Notice would not provide more…additional benefit. The Authority has taken appropriate measures to ensure that competition is not distorted and that all bidders have access to the same information.

CPV: Postal services

Lots and requirements (2)Procurement structure

2 lots · all with a published value (£3,816,000 together) · evaluation weights differ by lot
Lot #1Hybrid and Bulk MailRenewal 4 yrsSMEVCSEPublished value£2,742,000
The Provider must be capable of supporting a full range of outbound customer communications, including (but not limited to) the printing and posting of hard copy documents, the generation and issuance of mail such as email and SMS, and the production of bulk documents from supplied data for delivery via either physical or digital channels. The Council has operated a hybrid mail system for over seven years, during which time it has significantly transformed its outgoing mail processes to improve quality, flexibility, and digital capability. The Council is seeking opportunities to work collabora…
Contract period: 1 Jul 2027 — 30 Jun 2031 (4 yrs) · up to 6 yrs with extensionsEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleDelivery: North EastTurnover guideline: ~£1,370,062/yr≈ 2× annual value
Value
£2,742,000 exc. VAT · £3,290,400 inc. VAT
Extensions
The contract may be extended at the entire discretion of the Authority for a maximum period of up to 2 years.
64110000 Postal services
Award criteria (4)
Quality: 50%Price: 45%Social value: 5%
Published sub-criteria (4)
  • Quality — 45%
  • Demonstration — 5%
  • Price — 45%
  • Social Value — 5%

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Lot #2Physical MailRenewal 4 yrsSMEPublished value£1,074,000
The Council requires a postal services Provider to collect physical mail items from The Council's offices and post them on behalf of the Council and its Partners (The Council). Volumes of post will not be evenly distributed across the year therefore the Provider must have flexibility to accommodate increased volumes during peak periods.
Contract period: 1 Jul 2027 — 30 Jun 2031 (4 yrs) · up to 6 yrs with extensionsEligibility: SME eligibleDelivery: North EastTurnover guideline: ~£536,632/yr≈ 2× annual value
Value
£1,074,000 exc. VAT · £1,288,800 inc. VAT
Extensions
The contract may be extended at the entire discretion of the Authority for a maximum period of up to 2 years.
64110000 Postal services
Award criteria (3)
Quality: 50%Price: 45%Social value: 5%
Published sub-criteria (3)
  • Quality — 50%
  • Price — 45%
  • Social Values — 5%

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win

Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published — the tender pack may add more
How bids are scored

Lots publish different evaluation splits — there is no single procedure weighting.

LotQualityPriceSocial valueSplit
1 · Hybrid and Bulk Mail50%45%5%
2 · Physical Mail50%45%5%

No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.

Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid

How Sunderland City Council buys Postal services (CPV 6411) — and who usually turns up

Sunderland City Council’s own published record, next to the North East England market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Postal services (CPV 6411) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested contracts only — direct awards (including PA 2023 transparency notices) report one bid by definition and are left out. On Procurement Act 2023 notices the count is the tenders assessed at the final stage, not every submission received; pairs compare like with like (VAT-exclusive, or VAT-inclusive on both sides). Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.

This authority

Sunderland City Council

contract notices in 36 months: 1 in CPV 6411 · 2 in division 64 · 94 in all categories (28 direct)

Bids per lot4all categories · 36m · n=26 lots
Single-bid lots8%all categories · 36m · n=26 lots
Award vs estimate1% belowall categories · 36m · n=13 pairs
Deadline → award date35dall categories · 36m · n=7 notices
Notice updates0all categories · 24m · n=213 notices
Awarded without competition30%all categories · 36m · n=94 notices
Bids per lot · history, not this notice’s lots robust · n=26
  • 1 bid 8%
  • 2–3 27%
  • 4–6 46%
  • 7+ 19%

Median 4 · 26 lots on 25 contested notices · all categories.

Winning award vs estimate robust · n=13
  • Below estimate 46%
  • Within ±2% 31%
  • Above estimate 23%

13 lot pairs · all categories.

The market · delivery region

North East England · Postal services (CPV 6411)

contract notices delivered in North East England in 36 months: 13 in CPV 6411 (12 contested) · 60 in division 64 (43 contested)

Bids per lot3.5division 64 · 36m · n=12 lots
Single-bid lots17%division 64 · 36m · n=12 lots
Award vs estimate2% abovedivision 64 · 36m · n=4 pairs
Deadline → award date47ddivision 64 · 36m · n=10 notices
SME bidders73%division 64 · 36m · n=11 lots
Winners based in the region81%division 64 · 36m · n=31 awards
Bids per lot · history, not this notice’s lots robust · n=12
  • 1 bid 17%
  • 2–3 33%
  • 4–6 33%
  • 7+ 17%

Median 3.5 · 12 lots on 12 contested notices · division 64.

Winning award vs estimate moderate · n=4
  • Below estimate 0%
  • Within ±2% 50%
  • Above estimate 50%

4 lot pairs · division 64.

robust · n=13 Awards in Sunderland City Council (all categories, n=13 pairs) land a median 1% below. Applied to each lot’s own published value in the lot table below — the notice total (£3,816,000) is an envelope for 2 lots and is not converted.

Method and what to read with care
  • Two columns, no blending. The authority column walks its own record only: notices in the 4-digit class, then the 2-digit division, then all categories (36 months, per lot, contested only), and as a last resort its 24-month row across all categories (per lot, contested contract notices). The market column is the notice’s primary delivery ITL1 × the same class, then division (36 months). Nothing is filled from the UK-wide class; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable.
  • Per lot, contested only. Find a Tender publishes bid counts per lot; a seven-lot tender is seven contests. Procedures awarded without competition (limited / direct) are excluded from bids, price pairs and decision days — they report one bid by definition. Frameworks and DPS are a separate population from contracts (6–7 bids per lot against 2–4) and only the notice’s own kind is shown.
  • Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). Award-vs-estimate pairs need a lot estimate, one active award on the lot, one canonical supplier and a gap under 60 %; about 30 % of pairs are exact matches (the buyer published the award at the estimate). n is on every figure; below 3 the tile is muted, never hidden.
  • Pounds. The expected award applies the authority’s median movement (or the region’s, when the authority has fewer than 3 pairs) to this notice’s estimate; the middle half uses the region’s quartiles. A multi-lot notice publishes an envelope, so the movement is applied per lot, never to the total. A benchmark, not a recommended price.
  • “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Open procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Open for tender
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Light touch regime
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
21 Sept 2026, 17:36 BST
Last source update
21 Sept 2026, 17:36 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end — 3 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
Authority reference
Open Reference 20262082
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Postal services
Delivery area
North East (UKC23)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-051f61 Find a Tender

How to participate & submission route

Official notice Submit via OPEN-UK
Submission portal named on this notice: OPEN-UK
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free
Expression of interest (EOI)
—
Tender submission deadline
22 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
Clarification deadline
16 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
open-uk.org ↗

Timeline

7 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Planning notice published
    22 May 2025, 17:46 BST
  2. Next notice expected234 days ago
    30 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
  3. Tender notice publishedearlier today
    21 Sept 2026, 17:36 BST
  4. Clarification questions byin 25 days
    16 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
  5. Submission deadlinein 31 days
    22 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
  6. Award decision expected byin 73 days
    3 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
  7. Contract startsin 282 days
    1 Jul 2027, 00:00 BST

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Nothing awarded yet
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Notice history

6 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 22 May 2025
  1. Tender notice published
    21 Sept 2026, 17:36 BSTUK4
  2. Published value published: £3,816,000
    21 Sept 2026, 17:36 BST
  3. Status changed to active
    21 Sept 2026, 17:36 BST
  4. Procurement method changed
    21 Sept 2026, 17:36 BST
  5. Deadline published: 22 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
    21 Sept 2026, 17:36 BST
  6. Pipeline notice published
    22 May 2025, 17:46 BSTUK1

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Sunderland City Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PLVZ-4154-GGRZ City Hall, Plater Way,, Sunderland, North East, SR1 3AA

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

  • Conflict of interest declarationtenderConflict of interest declarationNot published

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender
  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender