Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 2 Mar 2026, 15:52 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Provision of Specialist Nuclear Technical Services

Authority: NATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY LIMITED

Framework agreementServicesCompetitive flexible procedureAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£10,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 23 Mar 2026from the planned procurement notice
Framework period 8 yrsends 30 Jun 2034 · starts 1 Jul 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

UKNNL would like to invite suppliers to apply to join a new Open Framework to support with the supply of Nuclear Technical Services for the United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory.

CPV: Analysis services · Environmental services · Fire and explosion protection and control consultancy services · Health and safety consultancy services · Health and safety services · Nuclear safety services · Research and development services and related consultancy services

How this framework works

From the published notice
Framework period
8 yrs from 1 Jul 2026

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

What it takes to win
i

How this buyer will score bids.

The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).

Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add more
What this means for your bid
  • “Provision of Specialist Nuclear Technical Services” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How NATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY LIMITED buys Analysis services (CPV 7162), and who usually turns up

NATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY LIMITED’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Analysis services (CPV 7162) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerNATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY LIMITED · all categories
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: 1 of 2 known-size awards · market: no supplier sizes published
1 of 2—

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: 5 of 5 known-location awards · market: no winner locations published
100%—

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: 3 decided notices · market: no decision dates published
41 days—

Half of these awards were announced within 41 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.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: exactly 2 of 4 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: no bid counts or routes published
2 of 4—

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 buyer13 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 71
8% had one bid
The marketNo bid counts published
Buyer · select a colour for counts
1 bid8%
Buyer: 1 of 13 lots with published bid counts.
2–38%
Buyer: 1 of 13 lots with published bid counts.
4–68%
Buyer: 1 of 13 lots with published bid counts.
7+77%
Buyer: 10 of 13 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.

On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.

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 716296 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£10m
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 yet9% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 11 similar lots
1 bid9%
1 of 11 similar past lots received 1 bid (9%).
2–355%
6 of 11 similar past lots received 2–3 (55%).
4–618%
2 of 11 similar past lots received 4–6 (18%).
7+18%
2 of 11 similar past lots received 7+ (18%).
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.

—Priced at call-off
On a framework or DPS the price is agreed on each call-off, so there is no award price to forecast here: the published figure is a ceiling.

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
Procedure method
Competitive flexible procedure
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
Framework agreement
Who may use this agreement
Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
2 Mar 2026, 15:52 GMT
Last source update
31 Mar 2026, 09:41 BST
Authority reference
NNL631F
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-029429
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Analysis servicesEnvironmental servicesFire and explosion protection and control consultancy servicesHealth and safety consultancy servicesHealth and safety servicesNuclear safety servicesResearch and development services and related consultancy services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-066005 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
—

Timeline

2 Mar 2026 → 1 Jul 2026 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published234 days ago
    2 Mar 2026, 15:52 GMT
  2. Tender notice expected212 days ago
    23 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
  3. Latest notice published205 days ago
    31 Mar 2026, 09:41 BST
  4. Market engagement189 days ago
    15 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST

    UKNNL would like to invite suppliers to a market engagement session on Mircosoft Teams to find out more about the upcoming Open Framework Tender for a Nuclear Technical Services Framework.

    The framework will run from June/July 2026 until June/July 2030 with the option to extend the framework by a further 4 years, until June/July 2034.

    The session will run on Thursday 16th April 2026 from 13:30, lasting approximately 1 hour.

    The session will provide an overview of all the Lots included and the work envisaged in each lot, information on how the framework admittance will work and provide suppliers an understanding of the call-off mechanisms within the Framework.

    The Lots under this Framework are:

    • Lot 1 Health Physics
    • Lot 2 Human Factors
    • Lot 3 Radiological, Chemotoxic,
    • Lot 4 Criticality Safety, Shielding
    • Lot 5 Nuclear Safety Case Management /Advice
    • Lot 6 Fire Safety Assessment (Conventional & Nuclear)
    • Lot 7 Environmental
    • Lot 8 Quality and Assurance
    • Lot 9 Security
    • Lot 10 Cross Discipline

    Suppliers will also be issued with a draft Framework Specification and Rate Card to provide feedback on.

    To book a place and receive the Specification and Rate Card drafts please use this link: www.ticketsource.com/national-nuclear-lab… ↗

    Ticket Sales close on the 15th April 2026.

  5. Contract starts113 days ago
    1 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 2 Mar 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    2 Mar 2026, 15:52 GMT
    UK1
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    31 Mar 2026, 09:41 BST
    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

UNITED KINGDOM NATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY LIMITED

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-COH: 03857752 · GB-PPON: PVXT-8784-YGNV Chadwick House Warrington Road, Warrington, North West, WA3 6AEContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure