Official UK procurement notice
Removal and Storage of Bodies on behalf of His Majesty's Coroner
Authority: Norfolk County Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis is a Preliminary Market Engagement Notice (PMEN) for information purposes only. It is not a formal invitation to tender. You will need to respond to the tender notice in order to be
considered for these contracts. The purpose of this PMEN is to maximise transparency and competition for the upcoming tender notice. All details in this PMEN are subject to being
updated or changed in the tender notice. We are publishing this notice to share engagement outputs and to ensure as wider audience as possible are aware and informed of Norfolk
County Council's intentions.
The PMEN fulfils the requirement for a Preliminary Market
Engagement Notice to be issued under the Procurement Act 2023. A tender notice will be published to advertise this opportunity .
If you wish to apply to attend the engagement and to find out further information, please read below on how to register on the Council's e-tendering portal.
CPV: Undertaking services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Norfolk County Council buys Funeral and related services (CPV 9837), and who usually turns up
Norfolk County Council’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: Funeral and related services (CPV 9837) →
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.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in East of England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
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.
Half of these awards have an award date within 74 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.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
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 bid9% / 10%
2–329% / 80%
4–643% / 10%
7+19% / 0%
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 estimate36% / 0%
Within ±2%53% / 78%
Above estimate11% / 22%
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 9837Published estimate£1.2m
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 10 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid10%
2–380%
4–610%
7+0%
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dignity Funerals LtdEarlier contract | Removal and Storage of Bodies on behalf of His Majesty's Coroner - Area 7 Norwichended Jun 2026 | Removal and Storage of Bodies on behalf of His Majesty's Coroner - Area 7 Norwich | £150k | Matched 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.
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.
81% title match.
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.
81% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (81% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid
Removal and Storage of Bodies on behalf of His Majesty's Coroner - Area 7 Norwich — held by Dignity Funerals Ltd; the published contract ends 30 Jun 2026.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 7 Jul 2026, 08:14 BST
- Last source update
- 27 Aug 2026, 12:59 BST
- Authority reference
NCCT43273- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-081741- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06c4b7Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
7 Jul 2026 → 1 Jul 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published109 days ago7 Jul 2026, 08:14 BST
- Latest notice published58 days ago27 Aug 2026, 12:59 BST
- Today24 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 7 days31 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
Norfolk Coroner's Service is undertaking preliminary market engagement in advance of a forthcoming procurement exercise for the provision of deceased body collection and storage services.
The purpose of this engagement is to inform the development of our procurement strategy and service specification, gain a better understanding of current market capability, and seek feedback from potential suppliers on the proposed service requirements.
In accordance with the Procurement Act 2023, this engagement is intended solely to obtain market intelligence and supplier feedback prior to the commencement of a formal procurement process.
Proposed Contract Scope
The future contract is expected to include services relating to:
- Collection and transportation of deceased persons on behalf of the Coroner's Service.
- Provision of secure body storage facilities.
- Out-of-hours and emergency response arrangements.
- Business continuity and major incident resilience.
- Associated reporting and performance management requirements.
The final scope and procurement approach will be informed by feedback received during this market engagement process.
Norfolk County Council is hosting a market engagement session. The session will provide:
- An overview of Norfolk Coroner's Service requirements.
- Information on current and anticipated service demand.
- An opportunity to discuss key service challenges and opportunities.
- An opportunity for suppliers to provide feedback on the proposed contract model, service specification, performance measures and commercial arrangements.
- Information regarding the anticipated procurement timetable.
This procurement will be managed electronically via the Council`s e-procurement system.
To participate in this procurement and gain access to documents when they are available, applicants must first be registered on the system at in-tendhost.co.uk/norfolkcc/aspx/Home ↗. Full instructions for registration and use of the system can be found at intendhost.co.uk/norfolkcc/aspx/Buyer… ↗. Once registered you will be able to see the procurement project under the `tenders` section and `express an interest` in this tender. If
you encounter any difficulties whilst using the system you can contact the In-tend support team by phoning +44 8442728810 or e-mailing [email protected].
The event will take place via TEAMS. If you wish to attend, please use the intend correspondence facility and send the email addresses of attendees. An invite will be issued. The time of this event will be 3pm to 4.30pm on Thursday 8th October.
- Tender notice expectedin 73 days5 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 249 days1 Jul 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
5 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 7 Jul 2026- Pipeline notice published7 Jul 2026, 08:14 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published26 Aug 2026, 15:27 BSTUK2
- Published value published: £1,200,00026 Aug 2026, 15:27 BST
- Preliminary market engagement notice published27 Aug 2026, 12:57 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published27 Aug 2026, 12:59 BSTUK2
Published amendments (2)
It has been brought to our attention that the links to the Council's e tendering site are not working. Please can you use the following link to register https://in-tendhost.co.uk/norfolkcc/aspx/Home Thank you
change to intend link to register
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2026-07: 1 release · 7 Jul 2026
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 (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender