Find a TenderPlanned procurementPipeline notice
Published 29 Apr 2026, 09:11 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Provision of Customer Information Solution Software, Support & Maintenance

Authority: Northern Trains Ltd (Public body)

GoodsAbove thresholdUtilitiesSME suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 1 Aug 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 4 yrsends 21 Jul 2031 · up to 21 Jul 2035 with extensions · starts 22 Jul 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Northern Trains Limited is seeking to replace its existing Customer Information System software and are therefore looking to award a single contract for the supply of Software and Support & Maintenance of the solution.

CPV: Communication and multimedia software package · Industry specific software package · Passenger information system

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 4 yrsSME
Contract period: 22 Jul 2027 – 21 Jul 2031 (4 yrs) · up to 21 Jul 2035 with extensions
Delivery: North East, North West, Yorkshire & HumberEligibility: 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 Northern Trains Ltd buys Information systems (CPV 4881), and who usually turns up

Northern Trains Ltd’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: Information systems (CPV 4881) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerNorthern Trains Ltd · all categories
The marketInformation systems (CPV 4881) · UK-wide
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: 12 of 62 known-size awards · market: CPV 4881 · UK-wide, n=48
19%38%

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.

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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 15 of 44 known-location awards · market: CPV 4881 · UK-wide, n=67
34%49%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 7 decided notices · market: CPV 4881 · UK-wide, n=7
42 days66 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 42 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 23 of 72 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 4881 · UK-wide, n=88
32%52%

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 buyer10 lots with bid counts · all categories
0% had one bid
The market12 lots with bid counts · CPV 4881 · UK-wide
8% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid0% / 8%
Buyer: 0 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
2–320% / 58%
Buyer: 2 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 7 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
4–640% / 25%
Buyer: 4 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
7+40% / 8%
Buyer: 4 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 12 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 market230 lots with estimate and award · division 48 · UK-wide
55% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate50% / 55%
Buyer: 6 of 12 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 126 of 230 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%25% / 25%
Buyer: 3 of 12 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 57 of 230 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate25% / 20%
Buyer: 3 of 12 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 47 of 230 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 4848 monthsSME suitableEstimate not published

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 48. The comparison uses that group.

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 379 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet15% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 379 similar lots
1 bid15%
58 of 379 similar past lots received 1 bid (15%).
2–331%
118 of 379 similar past lots received 2–3 (31%).
4–632%
120 of 379 similar past lots received 4–6 (32%).
7+22%
83 of 379 similar past lots received 7+ (22%).
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.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

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
Icomera UK LtdEarlier contractProvision of On Train Wi-Fi maintenance and software supportstarted May 2025—£8.5mMatched 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.

What this replaces
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

51% title match.

A past supplier may not bid again.

The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (51% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid

Provision of On Train Wi-Fi maintenance and software support — held by Icomera UK Ltd; no contract end date published.

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
Utilities
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
29 Apr 2026, 09:11 BST
Last source update
22 May 2026, 17:31 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-048280
Latest notice
Pipeline notice (UK1)
Classification (CPV)
Communication and multimedia software packageIndustry specific software packagePassenger information system
Delivery area
North East (UKC)North West (UKD)Yorkshire & Humber (UKE)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-068d78 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

29 Apr 2026 → 22 Jul 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published177 days ago
    29 Apr 2026, 09:11 BST
  2. Market engagement164 days ago
    11 May 2026, 23:59 BST

    Northern invites Suppliers to register their interest in attending a briefing call hosted by the Project Team & Procurement Manager to discuss the requirements in further detail.

    The briefing call will be hosted on Teams on 11/05/2026 for all suppliers to attend.

    If you are interested in attending the briefing call please send an expression of interest to Alex Ashman ([email protected]) along with a high level technical specification document outlining how the solution works, including station network and hardware requirements.

    Expressions of interest are to be submitted by 08/05/2026.

  3. Latest notice published153 days ago
    22 May 2026, 17:31 BST
  4. Tender notice expected82 days ago
    1 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
  5. Today
    23 Oct 2026
  6. Contract startsin 272 days
    22 Jul 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 29 Apr 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    29 Apr 2026, 09:11 BST
    UK2
  2. Pipeline notice published
    22 May 2026, 17:31 BST
    UK1
  3. Status changed to planned
    22 May 2026, 17:31 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

NORTHERN TRAINS LIMITED

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-COH: 03076444 · GB-PPON: PZCJ-2164-HJQZ George Stephenson House, York, Yorkshire & Humber, YO1 6JTContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure