Official UK procurement notice
Project Phoenix: EBRI Integrated Laboratory Safety Programme
Authority: ASTON UNIVERSITY (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionAston University is conducting a Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise for Project Phoenix, an integrated programme of safety-critical works within the EBRI building.
The project encompasses gas detection systems, Building Management System (BMS) upgrades and integration, emergency power-off and life-safety systems, gas storage facilities, laboratory ventilation controls, and associated electrical, mechanical, civil and structural works.
The purpose of this exercise is to gather industry feedback to inform the University’s decisions on the project’s procurement strategy, contract structure, delivery model and packaging of works. Potential approaches include appointing a Principal Contractor to manage and coordinate the entire programme, procuring individual specialist work packages, or adopting a combined approach.
Interested suppliers are invited to access the opportunity via the Delta eSourcing portal, review the attached Preliminary Market Engagement Exercise document and submit completed responses to the questions provided. Responses must be submitted by 11:00 am on Friday 30 October 2026.
Requests for site visits, additional technical information and clarification must be submitted through the Delta eSourcing messaging facility.
This preliminary market engagement exercise is for information-gathering purposes only and does not constitute a commitment by Aston University to proceed with a formal procurement process or appoint a supplier.
Further information and participation
To view the opportunity, visit the Delta eSourcing portal:
www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-Birmingha… ↗
To submit a response, please use the following link:
CPV: Electrical installation work · Gas-fitting installation work · Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning installation work · Mechanical installations
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How ASTON UNIVERSITY buys Plumbing and sanitary works (CPV 4533), and who usually turns up
ASTON 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: Plumbing and sanitary works (CPV 4533) →
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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 West Midlands.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in West Midlands.
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 75 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.
Both shares are minimums: 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 bid0% / 8%
2–338% / 26%
4–638% / 28%
7+25% / 38%
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 estimate67% / 42%
Within ±2%22% / 31%
Above estimate11% / 27%
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 4533Published estimate£792k
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 129 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid18%
2–333%
4–619%
7+31%
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
- Works
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- 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
- 19 Oct 2026, 10:51 BST
- Last source update
- 19 Oct 2026, 11:02 BST
- Authority reference
1343- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-098354- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078a76Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
19 Oct 2026 → 16 Nov 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published2 days ago19 Oct 2026, 10:51 BST
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 9 days30 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
To participate, please complete the preliminary market engagement questionnaire on Delta.
Suppliers should review the preliminary market engagement document and submit their completed questionnaire via Delta by 11:00am on Friday 30 October 2026.
No engagement events or site visits have been scheduled at this stage. Suppliers requiring a site visit or survey, or seeking clarification or further technical information, should submit their requests through Delta. The University will review requests and provide relevant information where appropriate.
This engagement is for market-testing purposes only and does not represent a commitment to commence a formal procurement process, use a particular procurement or delivery model, or appoint a supplier.
- Contract startsin 25 days16 Nov 2026
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 19 Oct 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published19 Oct 2026, 10:51 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published19 Oct 2026, 11:02 BSTUK2
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
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender