Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 23 Apr 2026, 13:38 BST

Official UK procurement notice

REPLACEMENT OF ASEPTIC/CYTOTOXIC UNIT

Authority: Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (Central government)

WorksAbove thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 1 Jul 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yr 4 moends 31 Dec 2027 · starts 1 Sept 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

We are looking to engage with potential suppliers for the replacement of an Aseptic/Cytotoxic unit at the Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust.

CPV: Construction work · Modular and portable buildings · Pharmacy services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 1 yr 4 moSME
Contract period: 1 Sept 2026 – 31 Dec 2027 (1 yr 4 mo)
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust buys Structures and parts of structures (CPV 4421), and who usually turns up

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’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: Structures and parts of structures (CPV 4421) →

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: 64 of 106 known-size awards · market: CPV 4421 · UK-wide, n=92
60%60%

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: 49 of 55 known-location awards · market: CPV 4421 · UK-wide, n=96
89%46%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in 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: no decision dates published · market: CPV 4421 · UK-wide, n=17
—45 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 45 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 125 of 146 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 4421 · UK-wide, n=136
86%45%

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 buyerNo bid counts published
The market28 lots with bid counts · CPV 4421 · UK-wide
7% had one bid
Market · select a colour for counts
1 bid7%
Market: 2 of 28 lots with published bid counts.
2–364%
Market: 18 of 28 lots with published bid counts.
4–614%
Market: 4 of 28 lots with published bid counts.
7+14%
Market: 4 of 28 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 buyerNo estimate-and-award pairs published
The market23 lots with estimate and award · CPV 4421 · UK-wide
43% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate43%
Market: 10 of 23 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%39%
Market: 9 of 23 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate17%
Market: 4 of 23 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 442116 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 28 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet7% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 28 similar lots
1 bid7%
2 of 28 similar past lots received 1 bid (7%).
2–364%
18 of 28 similar past lots received 2–3 (64%).
4–614%
4 of 28 similar past lots received 4–6 (14%).
7+14%
4 of 28 similar past lots received 7+ (14%).
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
Works
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
23 Apr 2026, 13:38 BST
Last source update
23 Apr 2026, 13:38 BST
Authority reference
ID0195
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-037089
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Construction workModular and portable buildingsPharmacy services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0689a1 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

23 Apr 2026 → 1 Sept 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published184 days ago
    23 Apr 2026, 13:38 BST
  2. Market engagement161 days ago
    15 May 2026, 23:59 BST

    We are looking to engage with potential suppliers for the replacement of an Aseptic/Cytotoxic unit at the Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust. The purpose of the engagement will be

    Developing the authority's requirements and approach to the procurement;

    Designing a procedure, conditions of participation or award criteria;

    Preparing the tender notice and associated tender documents;

    Identifying suppliers that may be able to supply the works required;

    Identifying likely contractual terms

    Building capacity among suppliers in relation to the contract being awarded.

    Potential suppliers will be invited to a Supplier Day with a date to be confirmed.

    If you wish to submit an expression of interest please e mail-

    [email protected]

  3. Tender notice expected114 days ago
    1 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Contract starts53 days ago
    1 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    23 Apr 2026, 13:38 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

COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-NHS: RJR · GB-PPON: PGCG-2135-TXWL Liverpool Road, Chester, North West, CH2 1ULContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure