Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 25 Feb 2026, 21:01 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Pre-Market Engagement Exercise: Internal Audit Services

Authority: Bournemouth University (Education)

ServicesSME suitable
Planned pipeline value£666,666pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 20 Mar 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Jul 2029 · up to 31 Jul 2031 with extensions · starts 1 Aug 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

This is a pre-market engagement exercise.

Bournemouth University is looking at its requirement for an internal auditor to provide independent assurance on the adequacy and effectiveness of governance, risk management, and internal controls across the University, including compliance with regulatory requirements.

The Supplier would recommend improvements, informed by sector best practice, and deliver insights that help optimise resources and enhance efficiency. In addition, the Supplier would support the University in strengthening processes and controls through actionable recommendations, enhancing assurance and building confidence among the Board, Audit, Risk and Governance Committee, and senior management.

The University is looking to engage with the supply market for the purposes of:

*Identifying suppliers that may be able to supply the goods, services or works required;

*Building capacity among suppliers in relation to the contract being awarded.

CPV: Accounting and auditing services · Accounting, auditing and fiscal services · Auditing services · Financial auditing services · Internal audit services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 3 yrsSME
Contract period: 1 Aug 2026 – 31 Jul 2029 (3 yrs) · up to 31 Jul 2031 with extensions
Delivery: South WestEligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How Bournemouth University buys Accounting and auditing services (CPV 7921), and who usually turns up

Bournemouth University’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 buyerBournemouth University · division 79
The marketAccounting and auditing services (CPV 7921) · South West England
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: 1 of 3 known-size awards · market: CPV 7921 · South West England, n=51
1 of 316%

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 South West England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 0 of 5 known-location awards · market: CPV 7921 · South West England, n=55
0%22%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside South West 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: 4 decided notices · market: CPV 7921 · South West England, n=11
130 days66 days

Half of these awards were announced within 130 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 4 of 6 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7921 · South West England, n=62
67%39%

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer4 lots with bid counts · all categories · too few to chart
The market16 lots with bid counts · CPV 7921 · South West England
6% had one bid
Market · select a colour for counts
1 bid6%
Market: 1 of 16 lots with published bid counts.
2–338%
Market: 6 of 16 lots with published bid counts.
4–650%
Market: 8 of 16 lots with published bid counts.
7+6%
Market: 1 of 16 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 buyer1 lot with estimate and award · broad CPV 79 · too few to chart
The market12 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7921 · South West England
50% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate50%
Market: 6 of 12 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%33%
Market: 4 of 12 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate17%
Market: 2 of 12 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 792136 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£667k
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 16 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet6% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 16 similar lots
1 bid6%
1 of 16 similar past lots received 1 bid (6%).
2–338%
6 of 16 similar past lots received 2–3 (38%).
4–650%
8 of 16 similar past lots received 4–6 (50%).
7+6%
1 of 16 similar past lots received 7+ (6%).
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 model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £667k, 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.

SupplierThis buyer’s earlier contractLotAward valueWhy listed
BDO LLPEarlier contractExternal Audit Services 2025started Feb 2026External Audit Services—Matched as the earlier contract

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
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
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
25 Feb 2026, 21:01 GMT
Last source update
26 Feb 2026, 12:18 GMT
Authority reference
PS/NB/537
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-017264
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Accounting and auditing servicesAccounting, auditing and fiscal servicesAuditing servicesFinancial auditing servicesInternal audit services
Delivery area
South West (UKK24)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-065ca2 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

25 Feb 2026 → 1 Aug 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published238 days ago
    25 Feb 2026, 21:01 GMT
  2. Market engagement224 days ago
    11 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT

    The exercise will consist of interested suppliers indicating their interest, purely for information purposes.

    To do this please download, complete and submit the pre-market engagement document which can be found on the In-Tend portal: in-tendhost.co.uk/bournemouthuniversit… ↗

  3. Tender notice expected215 days ago
    20 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
  4. Contract starts82 days ago
    1 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 25 Feb 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    25 Feb 2026, 21:01 GMT
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    26 Feb 2026, 12:18 GMT
    UK2
Published amendments (1)

Additional wording added in the "Engagement process description" section confirming the process for indicating interest.

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

Bournemouth University

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PVRY-5141-LLTP Poole House, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, South West, BH12 5BBContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure