Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 5 Jun 2026, 09:52 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Route Optimisation Software · UK public procurement notice

Authority: Torfaen County Borough Council (Local council)

ServicesBelow thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline value£75,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 20 Jul 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 10 moends 26 Jul 2027 · starts 1 Oct 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Torfaen County Borough Council is seeking information on route optimisation software to support a review of waste and recycling collection rounds following proposed changes to tipping arrangements for dry recycling.

The Council is interested in software solutions that can:

  • Integrate with Microsoft-based systems and remain compatible with any future in-cab tablet solution
  • Be used internally to redesign and optimise waste and recycling collection routes

CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 10 moSME
Contract period: 1 Oct 2026 – 26 Jul 2027 (10 mo)
Delivery: WalesEligibility: SME eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How Torfaen County Borough Council buys IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72), and who usually turns up

Torfaen County Borough 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: IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerTorfaen County Borough Council · 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: 5 of 10 known-size awards · market: division 72 · Wales (Cymru), n=139
50%32%

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. The market figure counts awards delivered in Wales (Cymru).

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 8 of 15 known-location awards · market: division 72 · Wales (Cymru), n=164
53%15%

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: 5 decided notices · market: division 72 · Wales (Cymru), n=26
56 days38 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 56 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 8 of 15 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 72 · Wales (Cymru), n=224
53%63%

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 buyer7 lots with bid counts · all categories
29% had one bid
The market55 lots with bid counts · division 72 · Wales (Cymru)
15% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid29% / 15%
Buyer: 2 of 7 lots with published bid counts. Market: 8 of 55 lots with published bid counts.
2–314% / 42%
Buyer: 1 of 7 lots with published bid counts. Market: 23 of 55 lots with published bid counts.
4–643% / 20%
Buyer: 3 of 7 lots with published bid counts. Market: 11 of 55 lots with published bid counts.
7+14% / 24%
Buyer: 1 of 7 lots with published bid counts. Market: 13 of 55 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 buyer8 lots with estimate and award · all categories
50% below estimate
The market37 lots with estimate and award · division 72 · Wales (Cymru)
57% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate50% / 57%
Buyer: 4 of 8 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 21 of 37 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%25% / 30%
Buyer: 2 of 8 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 11 of 37 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate25% / 14%
Buyer: 2 of 8 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 37 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 7210 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£75k

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 72. The comparison uses that group.

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 55 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet15% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 55 similar lots
1 bid15%
8 of 55 similar past lots received 1 bid (15%).
2–342%
23 of 55 similar past lots received 2–3 (42%).
4–620%
11 of 55 similar past lots received 4–6 (20%).
7+24%
13 of 55 similar past lots received 7+ (24%).
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.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £75k, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

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
Services
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
5 Jun 2026, 09:52 BST
Last source update
5 Jun 2026, 09:52 BST
Authority reference
T.4621
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-053146
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
Delivery area
Wales (UKL16)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06ae4d Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

5 Jun 2026 → 1 Oct 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published140 days ago
    5 Jun 2026, 09:52 BST
  2. Market engagement126 days ago
    19 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST

    Authority Name and Address

    Torfaen County Borough Council

    Postal Address

    Waste & Recycling, Ty Blaen, Panteg Way, New Inn, Torfaen NP4 0LS

    For the attention of: Claire Cutforth Telephone: 07889056096 Email: [email protected]

    Contract Details

    Title

    Preliminary Market Engagement Notice: provision of route optimisation software to support waste and recycling collection service redesign.

    Description of the goods or services required

    Torfaen County Borough Council is seeking information on route optimisation software to support a review of waste and recycling collection rounds following proposed changes to tipping arrangements for dry recycling.

    The Council is interested in software solutions that can:

    • Integrate with Microsoft-based systems and remain compatible with any future in-cab tablet solution
    • Be used internally to redesign and optimise waste and recycling collection routes

    The review is expected to cover:

    • Refuse Collection (tipped at one location)
    • Recycling Collection (Dry recycling and food tipped at two separate locations)
    • Green waste collection (tipped at one location)

    The solution should be flexible, support future service changes, and allow additional forms or service interactions to be developed if required.

    The Council would welcome the following information from interested suppliers:

    • Indicative costs or pricing model
    • Software specification and key capabilities
    • Indicative implementation timescales and key requirements

    Torfaen County Borough Council provides fortnightly residual waste collections, weekly source-separated food and dry recycling collections, and a seasonal green waste collection service. The proposed relocation of dry recycling and food tipping arrangements creates an opportunity to review collection rounds and improve operational efficiency.

    This notice is intended to inform the market and invite expressions of interest from suppliers able to provide this type of solution. Responses will help the Council understand available options, likely costs, and delivery considerations before any future procurement activity.

    Specific Requirement

    The software must:

    • Have a user-friendly map-based interface
    • Have the ability to generate balanced rounds based on service and travel times and break times and break locations
    • Have the ability to model scenarios based on different disposal points and depot locations
    • Have the ability to select and move properties or streets from one round to another using drag and drop functionality with a map-based interface
    • Have the ability when properties are moved or parameters changed to show the impact on round times, mileage, number of bins and weight collected and number of tips
    • Have the ability for a waste professional to successfully complete projects without GIS and scripting knowledge
    • To be used by council staff as a standalone optimisation solution
    • Have the ability to model different scenarios such as 4/5 day working and different shift patterns
    • Have the ability to produce customisable collection round maps colour coded by round directly from the system without third party applications
    • Be able to produce reports
    • Have the ability to calculate both number of rounds and number of working hours required for a particular service
    • Have the ability to consider service specific restrictions relating to health and safety guidelines such as one sided street collections
    • Have the ability to allow manual modifications for assisted collections and properties with more than one bin
    • Have the ability to amend logistical parameters for selected properties and areas including performance rates, participation rates and bin weights
    • Have the ability to view performance statistics on screen at all times which is instantly updated when changes are made
    • Have the ability to produce round summaries showing working and driving time, distance travelled and waste tonnage by round
    • Have the ability to work with a mixed vehicle fleet in terms of size, capacity and crew number
    • Have the ability to include service restriction time windows, this will restrict certain vehicles from specific roads at critical times of the day Be able to import and export data (xml, csv) including round data for use in other applications
    • Solution must be able to input the council’s specific round data from the councils current ‘Bin System’ which includes property and round based information. This will be supplied in either one of xml or csv.

    If you would like a discussion first or to express your interest, Telephone: 07889056096 or by email to [email protected]

  3. Tender notice expected95 days ago
    20 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Contract starts23 days ago
    1 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    5 Jun 2026, 09:52 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

Torfaen County Borough Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central governmentWelsh devolved regulations apply GB-PPON: PDNG-5431-HGYV Civic Centre, Torfaen, Wales, NP4 0LSContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure