Official UK procurement notice
Services-Framework-Debt Collection · UK public procurement notice
Authority: United Utilities Water Limited (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionService Requirement - Debt Collection (Household only).
The scope is for Debt Collection services for United Utilities Household Customers. Debt Collection Agencies play a part in the strategy of recovering debt in at various stages within the collections processes.
Debt Collection activities at United Utilities include:
- Recovery of live debt on existing customer base.
- Trace and Collect on Leaver Debts.
- Field visits for various campaign activity.
- Campaign Activity for earlier collections.
- Specialist activities e.g. Probate.
CPV: Collection agency services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 3 yrs from 1 Dec 2026
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedWhat it takes to wini
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 morei
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).
- “Services-Framework-Debt Collection” 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 United Utilities Water Limited buys Collection agency services (CPV 7994), and who usually turns up
United Utilities Water 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: Collection agency services (CPV 7994) →
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.
Here, local means the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in North West England.
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 91 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 bid0% / 0%
2–30% / 83%
4–678% / 0%
7+22% / 17%
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.
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.
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 7994Estimate not published
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 99 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid2%
2–311%
4–615%
7+72%
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- 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
- Utilities
- 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
- 27 Jan 2026, 13:56 GMT
- Last source update
- 27 Jan 2026, 13:56 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 10 Nov 2026
- Authority reference
PRO004741- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-007121- Accelerated
- Negotiated tendering period - utilities/not central government
- Latest notice
- Planned procurement notice (UK3)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-060fbaFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- 10 Feb 2026, 14:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 3 Feb 2026, 14:00 GMT
- Accepted languages
- en
United Utilities is seeking to gather information from suppliers with a capability to provide the services either in part or in whole. If you have experience in this area, please could you provide at a minimum the following information and submit to [email protected]:
- Company Name.
- Contact details, including locations, telephone number, email address, main point of contact and position in the company.
- Completion of the matrix (spreadsheet) to identify what service/s you can offer.
- Details of your company's core/specialist skills
- Case studies from any similar debt collection contracts that your company has completed within a regulated environment in the last 2 years.
- A response to this PPN does not guarantee any invitation to participate in any future procurement process that United Utilities may conduct. Applicants will be required to participate in a pre-qualification process.
Timeline
27 Jan 2026 → 1 Dec 2026 · 6 dates- Planning notice published267 days ago27 Jan 2026, 13:56 GMT
- Tender notice expected266 days ago28 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Clarification questions by260 days ago3 Feb 2026, 14:00 GMT
- Admission / appointment period ends253 days ago · period end, not a bid countdown10 Feb 2026, 14:00 GMT
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Award decision expected byin 20 days10 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 40 days1 Dec 2026
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Planned procurement notice published27 Jan 2026, 13:56 GMTUK3
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 copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications The purpose of this PPN is to understand the capability and capacity of the Debt Collection Services market. This information will then be used to help determine United Utilities overall approach and any future strategy in relation to Debt Collection Services. Interested parties …
Notices published for this procedure
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender