Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 18 Mar 2026, 14:47 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Provision of Canine Support Services with Explosive Search Capacity - Preliminary Market Engagement Presentation

Authority: Nuclear Restoration Services Limited (Public body)

ServicesAbove thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline value£420,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 30 Apr 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 2 yrsends 19 Sept 2028 · up to 19 Sept 2030 with extensions · starts 20 Sept 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) Limited (Dounreay) is seeking to establish a Contract for the Provision of Canine Support Services with explosive search capacity to the Dounreay Site.

The duration of the Contract shall be up to a maximum of 4 years (2+1+1) from September 2026 to September 2028 with the option to extend for a further 2 years following mutual agreement by both parties.

NRS Limited (Dounreay) invite interested Contractors to an online Preliminary Market Engagement Presentation and Feedback session on 31st March 2026 at 1100 hours.

Please respond to this notice through Atamis to confirm attendance by 1200 noon on 26th March 2026.

  1. Log in to the supplier portal at: atamis-2464.my.site.com/s/Welcome ↗
  2. Locate the opportunity using 'Find Opportunities' or use ref C30236
  3. Register Interest
  4. Access documentation and submit response within 'My Proposals and Quotes'

CPV: Guard services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 2 yrsSME
Contract period: 20 Sept 2026 – 19 Sept 2028 (2 yrs) · up to 19 Sept 2030 with extensions
Delivery: ScotlandEligibility: 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 Nuclear Restoration Services Limited buys Security services (CPV 7971), and who usually turns up

Nuclear Restoration Services Limited’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: Security services (CPV 7971) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerNuclear Restoration Services Limited · division 79
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: 6 of 20 known-size awards · market: CPV 7971 · Scotland, n=13
30%62%

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 Scotland.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 2 of 5 known-location awards · market: CPV 7971 · Scotland, n=16
40%75%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Scotland.

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: 9 decided notices · market: CPV 7971 · UK-wide, n=87
83 days65 days

Half of these awards were announced within 83 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 26 of 28 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7971 · Scotland, n=19
93%53%

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 buyer18 lots with bid counts · all categories
6% had one bid
The market11 lots with bid counts · CPV 7971 · Scotland
27% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid6% / 27%
Buyer: 1 of 18 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 11 lots with published bid counts.
2–344% / 9%
Buyer: 8 of 18 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 11 lots with published bid counts.
4–644% / 36%
Buyer: 8 of 18 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 11 lots with published bid counts.
7+6% / 27%
Buyer: 1 of 18 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 11 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 buyer12 lots with estimate and award · all categories
50% below estimate
The market5 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7971 · Scotland
40% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate50% / 40%
Buyer: 6 of 12 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 2 of 5 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%33% / 20%
Buyer: 4 of 12 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 1 of 5 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate17% / 40%
Buyer: 2 of 12 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 2 of 5 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 797124 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£420k
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 11 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet27% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 11 similar lots
1 bid27%
3 of 11 similar past lots received 1 bid (27%).
2–39%
1 of 11 similar past lots received 2–3 (9%).
4–636%
4 of 11 similar past lots received 4–6 (36%).
7+27%
3 of 11 similar past lots received 7+ (27%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 5 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 £420k, 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.

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.

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
18 Mar 2026, 14:47 GMT
Last source update
18 Mar 2026, 14:47 GMT
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-024699
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Guard services
Delivery area
Scotland (UKM61)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-066dd8 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

18 Mar 2026 → 20 Sept 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published218 days ago
    18 Mar 2026, 14:47 GMT
  2. Market engagement210 days ago
    26 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT

    Online Pre Market Engagement Presentation and Feedback Session to take place on 31st March 2026 at 1100 hours.

  3. Tender notice expected175 days ago
    30 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Contract starts33 days ago
    20 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    18 Mar 2026, 14:47 GMT
    UK2

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

Nuclear Restoration Services Limited

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PXPQ-2228-DGTY Hinton House, Birchwood Park Avenue, Risley, Warrington, North West, WA3 6GRContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure