Official UK procurement notice
Provision of Aerial Surveillance for HMCG
Authority: Maritime and Coastguard Agency (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionHM Coastguard (HMCG) helicopters and planes, provided under the UKSAR2G contract, have a primary role to provide search and rescue. However, they undertake a range of other missions in support of wider Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) objectives, and those of other government departments.
In addition, HMCG require an Search and Surveillance service to provide near real time situational awareness in support of specialised SAR operations.
Therefore, the MCA is planning to undertake a procurement for this additional Search and Surveillance service. The MCA will procure for intelligence, search, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets that can supply the information required. This service will not require national coverage.
Potentially, during high-risk times, an HMCG surveillance asset could be operating for a full 24‑hour period extending into consecutive days and sometimes weeks.
Respondents should bear in mind that the MCA will take a solution agnostic approach to the procurement and is open to different technological approaches, providing they can demonstrably meet the requirement to provide persistent maritime situational awareness in areas of need.
CPV: Air-sea rescue services · Surveillance services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Maritime and Coastguard Agency buys Aerial and related services (CPV 6044), and who usually turns up
Maritime and Coastguard Agency’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: Aerial and related services (CPV 6044) →
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.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered 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 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 39 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 bid19% / 21%
2–337% / 26%
4–641% / 22%
7+4% / 31%
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 estimate44% / 46%
Within ±2%44% / 31%
Above estimate11% / 23%
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 6044No 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 58 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid21%
2–326%
4–622%
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
- 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
- 11 Jun 2025, 17:37 BST
- Last source update
- 27 Oct 2026, 10:00 GMT
- Authority reference
TCA 3/7/1819- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-101358- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-054718Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
11 Jun 2025 → 1 Mar 2029 · 5 dates- Planning notice published11 Jun 2025, 17:37 BST
- Latest notice published45h ago27 Oct 2026, 10:00 GMT
- Today29 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 8 days6 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) are grateful for all responses to Market Consultation rounds in the lead up to this procurement.
We have been reviewing and refining the Single Statement of User Need (SSUN) following several rounds of market engagement. The most recent draft version of the SSUN is shared alongside this questionnaire for the reference of potential bidders.
This is intended to be the last round of market engagement before proceeding with procurement, so is the last opportunity for potential bidders to express concerns about the requirements.
The MCA would like to:
- Build on the findings of the previous market engagement.
- Provide potential bidders with a final opportunity to comment on the SSUN as it currently stands before formal procurement commences.
If you wish to participate in this consultation, and have not previously engaged with the Authority, you are required to create an account on Jaggaer if you do not already have one.
The portal can be accessed using the following link: dft.app.jaggaer.com ↗
Once you have accessed the e-procurement portal, please navigate to pqq_821 - Provision of Aerial Surveillance for HMCG - Further Engagement. Once registered you will be sent further information.
If you have previously answered previous Market Questionnaires, information will be sent via the Jaggaer portal, and no additional action is necessary.
Any correspondence must be submitted via Jaggaer and not directly to different areas of the MCA.
- Tender notice expectedin 11 days9 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts1 Mar 2029
Notice history
8 events · 7 releases on Find a Tender · since 11 Jun 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published11 Jun 2025, 17:37 BSTUK2
- Pipeline notice published7 Jul 2025, 08:39 BSTUK1
- Status changed to planned7 Jul 2025, 08:39 BST
- Preliminary market engagement notice published12 Sept 2025, 12:14 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published15 Jan 2026, 16:54 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published11 May 2026, 11:56 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published21 Jul 2026, 15:16 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published27 Oct 2026, 10:00 GMTUK2
Routine re-releases (7)
- 2026-01: 1 release · 15 Jan 2026
- 2025-09: 1 release · 12 Sept 2025
- 2025-07: 1 release · 7 Jul 2025
- 2025-06: 1 release · 11 Jun 2025
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 (7)
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
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender