Official UK procurement notice
Preliminary Market Engagement - MBGWS Boxes
Authority: Sellafield Limited (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis notice builds on the previous Preliminary Market Engagement (UK2 Notice reference: 004728-2026), published on 20 January 2026, which sought to assess supplier capability and market interest in the manufacture and supply of Miscellaneous Beta Gamma Waste (MBGW) Boxes.
That engagement demonstrated a strong level of market interest and identified a number of capable suppliers. Sellafield Ltd is now undertaking a further phase of market engagement to refine its understanding of supplier capacity, mobilisation requirements, and commercial considerations in advance of finalising the procurement strategy.
The current preferred delivery model is for the full assembly of MBGW Boxes by a single supplier. This engagement is intended to gather targeted feedback to validate this approach and inform the design of the forthcoming procurement.
The requirement is expected to include the manufacture, assembly, testing, and delivery of Miscellaneous Beta Gamma Waste (MBGW) Boxes in accordance with Sellafield Ltd specifications and requirements.
The anticipated demand profile remains within a range of approximately 11 to 33 units per annum, subject to confirmation.
PLEASE NOTE THIS IS NOT A CALL FOR COMPETITION
CPV: Packaging of intermediate level nuclear waste · Steel
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Sellafield Limited buys Radioactive-, toxic-, medical- and hazardous waste services (CPV 9052), and who usually turns up
Sellafield Limited’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Radioactive-, toxic-, medical- and hazardous waste services (CPV 9052) →
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.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 62 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.
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.
1 bid17% / 26%
2–317% / 56%
4–650% / 15%
7+17% / 4%
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 estimate63%
Within ±2%31%
Above estimate6%
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 9052Published estimate£12m
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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 27 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid26%
2–356%
4–615%
7+4%
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- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- 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 Jan 2026, 11:37 GMT
- Last source update
- 29 May 2026, 15:04 BST
- Authority reference
C31446- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-050919- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0609b7Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
20 Jan 2026 → 1 Oct 2028 · 5 dates- Planning notice published278 days ago20 Jan 2026, 11:37 GMT
- Latest notice published148 days ago29 May 2026, 15:04 BST
- Market engagement134 days ago12 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
Responding to the Expression of Interest
To respond to this expression of interest, interested parties should respond in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) tendering portal Atamis atamis-2464.my.site.com/s/Welcome ↗
To access Click on View our Live Opportunities and search for C31446.
Purpose of Engagement
Sellafield Ltd is seeking to:
-Confirm the attractiveness of a full assembly (single supplier) delivery model
-Understand supplier mobilisation requirements and constraints
-Assess whether proposed delivery timelines are achievable
-Validate whether the anticipated volume range is commercially attractive
Suppliers are invited to provide responses to the following questions:
- Full Assembly Model
Based on the information available, would your organisation consider a full assembly (single supplier) model to be an attractive opportunity?
Please set out any conditions or factors that would influence your interest.
- Mobilisation Period
What mobilisation period would your organisation typically require for a requirement of this nature?
Please outline the key activities that would drive this timeline (e.g. tooling, design validation, supply chain, recruitment, approvals).
- 18-Month Mobilisation Feasibility
Do you consider an 18-month mobilisation period to be sufficient to establish capability and commence compliant production?
Please provide supporting rationale.
If not, please indicate what mobilisation period you would consider achievable.
- Volume and Demand Profile
Is the anticipated volume range (circa 11–33 units per annum) considered commercially attractive?
Please provide any comments on minimum viable volumes, batching, or production considerations.
- Product Introduction Approach and Experience
What experience does your organisation have in introducing new or technically complex products into production?
Please outline any structured approaches or methodologies (e.g. New Product Introduction (NPI), Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), or similar) that you typically use, and how these support mobilisation and transition into production.
- Additional Comments
Please provide any additional observations that may help inform the procurement strategy, including risk areas or key considerations.
Interested parties should respond to this by 12 June 2026.
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 8 days1 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts1 Oct 2028, 00:00 BST
Notice history
3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 20 Jan 2026- Pipeline notice published20 Jan 2026, 11:37 GMTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published29 May 2026, 15:04 BSTUK2
- Published value published: £12,000,00029 May 2026, 15:04 BST
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 (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender