Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 10 Feb 2026, 11:48 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Provision of Fire-Retardant Hi-Vis Tabards

Authority: The Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria (Police & fire)

GoodsBelow thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 2 yrsends 16 Apr 2028 · up to 16 Apr 2029 with extensions · starts 17 Apr 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Northumbria Police (the 'force') invites to participate in a request for information (RFI). This market engagement is focused on assessing Fire Retardant Hi-Vis Tabard offerings available to the force.

The outcome of the RFI process will help us determine our procurement strategy moving forward.

The force intends to procure an agreement for the provision of Fire Retardant Hi-Vis Tabards, to ensure officers are provided with the correct uniform/kit options to assist with operational requirements.

Following the conclusion of the RFI process, the responses received will be reviewed to ascertain the best procurement route forward before proceeding through our internal governance process. Once we can provide an update on the next steps, any Supplier that has registered an interest will be contacted using the contact information provided in this document.

Early internal stakeholder engagement has identified a requirement for 1000 Hi-vis Tabards, however this is an indicative number and may change once the tender opportunity is released.

Please can all suppliers interested in this opportunity, send confirmation via email to:

[email protected]

CPV: Police uniforms · Special clothing and accessories · T-shirts and shirts

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 2 yrsSME
Contract period: 17 Apr 2026 – 16 Apr 2028 (2 yrs) · up to 16 Apr 2029 with extensions
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 The Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria buys Individual equipment (CPV 3581), and who usually turns up

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria’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: Individual equipment (CPV 3581) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bidWhat 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 30 known-size awards · market: no supplier sizes published
20%—

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.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 15 of 27 known-location awards · market: no winner locations published
56%—

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in the delivery region.

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: 8 decided notices · market: no decision dates published
53 days—

Half of these awards were announced within 53 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.

The buyer’s share is a minimum: 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 47 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: no bid counts or routes published
49%—

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
10% had one bid
The marketNo bid counts published
Buyer · select a colour for counts
1 bid10%
Buyer: 1 of 10 lots with published bid counts.
2–340%
Buyer: 4 of 10 lots with published bid counts.
4–630%
Buyer: 3 of 10 lots with published bid counts.
7+20%
Buyer: 2 of 10 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 buyer7 lots with estimate and award · all categories
43% below estimate
The marketNo estimate-and-award pairs published
Buyer · select a colour for counts
Below estimate43%
Buyer: 3 of 7 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%29%
Buyer: 2 of 7 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate29%
Buyer: 2 of 7 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 358124 monthsSME suitableEstimate not published
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 145 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet22% single-bid risk
Past bids on 145 similar lots
1 bid22%
32 of 145 similar past lots received 1 bid (22%).
2–334%
49 of 145 similar past lots received 2–3 (34%).
4–628%
41 of 145 similar past lots received 4–6 (28%).
7+16%
23 of 145 similar past lots received 7+ (16%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 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.

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
Goods
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
10 Feb 2026, 11:48 GMT
Last source update
10 Feb 2026, 11:56 GMT
Authority reference
NP0526
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-011791
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Police uniformsSpecial clothing and accessoriesT-shirts and shirts
Delivery area
North East (UKC)North West (UKD)Yorkshire & Humber (UKE)East Midlands (UKF)West Midlands (UKG)East of England (UKH)London (UKI)South East (UKJ)
+1 moreSouth West (UKK)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-064c43 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

10 Feb 2026 → 17 Apr 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published252 days ago
    10 Feb 2026, 11:48 GMT
  2. Market engagement243 days ago
    18 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT

    The suppliers in receipt of this RFI are requested to provide email notification of their intention to either supply or, not to supply, a response.

    All responses to this RFI Must be submitted by 18th February 2026.

    Please email responses to [email protected]

  3. Contract starts186 days ago
    17 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 10 Feb 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    10 Feb 2026, 11:48 GMT
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    10 Feb 2026, 11:56 GMT
    UK2
Published amendments (1)

Change to Scope, providing additional information.

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

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Northumbria

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PCZY-7834-QRMM 2nd Floor, Victory House, Balliol Business Park, Longbenton, Newcastle, North East, NE12 8EWContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure