Official UK procurement notice
Provision of Worldwide Conveyance Services of HM Forces Mail
Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Ministry of Defence, acting through the British Forces Post Office (BFPO), intends to procure a comprehensive global mail conveyance service to support the delivery and return of Forces mail and courier services worldwide.
BFPO's mission is to provide an efficient, effective and resilient postal and courier service in order to sustain the fighting power of UK Armed Forces worldwide. BFPO delivers postal services to Service Personnel, Defence Civil Servants and entitled family members located across the globe through a combination of military and commercial transportation networks.
The Authority is considering a requirement that may include some or all of the following service elements:
Scheduled Worldwide Mail Conveyance
International inbound and outbound mail conveyance services.
Freight forwarding through commercial air carriers and express courier networks.
Customs management and associated documentation.
Provision of tracking and tracing services.
Non-Scheduled (Ad Hoc) Worldwide Mail Conveyance
Urgent and operational mail movements.
Support to HM Ships and deployed military operations.
Flexible worldwide collection and delivery capability.
Airport Road Trunking
Routine movement of mail between BFPO Headquarters and designated airport cargo facilities.
Handling, storage and secure transportation of military mail consignments.
UK Road Trunking
Collection and delivery services between BFPO, Royal Mail facilities, RAF Brize Norton and other Defence locations.
Provision of suitable vehicles, drivers and associated operational support.
Witness Loading and Specialist Freight Forwarding Services
Support for secure international movement of designated consignments.
Airport handling and customs liaison activities.
Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) Filing Services
Submission and management of customs declarations and associated regulatory requirements.
Support for BFPO requirements relating to the movement of mail into EU territories.
Key Requirements
Potential suppliers should be capable of demonstrating:
Proven experience in international freight forwarding, mail conveyance or logistics services.
Access to worldwide transportation networks.
Appropriate aviation, freight forwarding and customs accreditations.
Robust track and trace capabilities.
Ability to operate within secure and sensitive government environments.
Compliance with all applicable UK transport, customs, security and health and safety legislation.
Business continuity and resilience arrangements capable of supporting operational military requirements.
Experience supporting public sector or defence customers is desirable.
CPV: Multi-modal courier services · Non-scheduled airmail transport services · Parcel delivery services · Parcel transport services · Post office counter services · Postal services related to newspapers and periodicals · Postal services related to parcels · Public road transport services · Scheduled airmail transport services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Ministry of Defence buys Postal services (CPV 6411), and who usually turns up
Ministry of Defence’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: Postal services (CPV 6411) →
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.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside the delivery region.
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.
Half of these awards were announced within 50 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.
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.
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 bid46%
2–332%
4–617%
7+5%
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 estimate61%
Within ±2%22%
Above estimate17%
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 6411Published estimate£12m
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 64 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid19%
2–344%
4–620%
7+17%
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
- 10 Aug 2026, 11:41 BST
- Last source update
- 8 Sept 2026, 11:24 BST
- Authority reference
715913500- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-084787- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06dfeaFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
10 Aug 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published73 days ago10 Aug 2026, 11:41 BST
- Latest notice published44 days ago8 Sept 2026, 11:24 BST
- Tender notice expected29 days ago23 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
- Market engagement29 days ago23 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
This is a Preliminary Market Engagement Notice (UK2) issued to inform the market of
early engagement activities in a Request for Information (RFI).
Participation in this exercise:
- Is voluntary
- Will not be formally evaluated
- Will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any future procurement
The British Forces Post Office (BFPO) provides postal services in support of UK Armed Forces personnel, civil servants and their families stationed or deployed worldwide. BFPO’s operational requirement is to enable the reliable, secure, compliant and resilient movement of mail and parcel traffic between the UK and its global network of permanent locations, deployed operations, HM Ships and other Defence activities.
The Authority is undertaking this RFI to understand current market capability, available delivery models, commercial and pricing approaches, supplier appetite, risk allocation, resilience, innovation and potential procurement structures for the future provision of worldwide mail conveyance services. The Authority is also seeking industry views on how the future requirement could best be structured, packaged, routed and priced before determining any future procurement approach.
This RFI is intended to test the market’s view of the requirement and is not intended to confirm that the current service architecture, routes, lots or pricing structure will be adopted in any future procurement. Responses may inform the future Statement of Requirement, procurement strategy, commercial model, lotting strategy, evaluation approach and contract documentation.
Requirement Overview
The future requirement is expected to involve the collection, movement, processing, handling and delivery of BFPO mail, including letters, large letters, small packets and parcels, between designated UK and overseas locations. The service must support a diverse range of operational and non-operational destinations, including permanent overseas bases, deployed operations, exercises, HM Ships and remote locations, whilst maintaining compliance with applicable postal, customs, security, aviation, road transport and wider regulatory requirements.
The Authority welcomes responses from organisations with relevant experience in international logistics, freight forwarding, postal conveyance, courier and parcel services, defence support services, regulated air cargo, customs and compliance services, IT customs filing solutions, road trunking or related sectors. Respondents may provide information in relation to all or part of the requirement.
Current service structure being tested through market engagement
For the purpose of this market engagement, the Authority is describing the current requirement by reference to five potential service areas. These are provided to assist suppliers in understanding the current operating model and should not be interpreted as the Authority’s final lotting strategy or preferred future delivery model:
- Scheduled Mail Conveyance — routine inbound and outbound Forces mail services to static and enduring overseas locations using commercial air carriers or express couriers.
- Non-scheduled / Ad Hoc Mail Conveyance — inbound and outbound mail services to worldwide locations, including HM Ships, where taskings may be un-programmed, unpredictable or infrequent.
- Road Trunking — current road movement requirements associated with BFPO mail operations, including:
o Airport road trunking between HQ BFPO and London Heathrow, or another pre-arranged Southeast airport, for delivery and collection of mail to/from commercial air carriers and express couriers; and
o UK road trunking, including Royal Mail Greenford Mail Centre, HQ BFPO, RAF Brize Norton and Defence Mail Centre movements as currently described in the Draft Statement of Requirement (StOR).
- Witness Loading — freight-forwarding support for the booking, coordination and witness loading/unloading of Protectively Marked Materiel (PMM) moved by AKE between London Heathrow and Dulles International Airport, Washington.
- Entry Summary Declaration (ENS) / Import Control System 2 (ICS2) Filing — third-party IT service provider support to access the EU customs electronic data interchange and submit ENS filings for relevant mail movements.
The Authority is specifically seeking market feedback on whether these service areas should be procured together, separately, in different combinations, or through an alternative structure that better reflects market capability, competition, operational resilience, accountability and value for money.
Suppliers interested in participating in this RFI should:
1.Register via:
contracts.mod.uk/esop/guest/go/opport… ↗
- Access the RFI documentation
- Submit responses by: 16:00 on 23 Sep 2026. Clarification Questions by 16:00hrs on
14 Sep 2026 to [email protected]
The Authority reserves the right to:
- Amend or discontinue this engagement
- Use information gathered to inform any future procurement
- This notice is not a call for competition.
Estimated date for Tender documents is November 2026 – This date may be subject to change
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 160 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 10 Aug 2026- Pipeline notice published10 Aug 2026, 11:41 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published8 Sept 2026, 11:24 BSTUK2
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 (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender