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Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 25 Mar 2026, 13:58 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Somerset Council LEVI Market Engagement

Official notice Competition analysis

Authority: Somerset Council (Local council)

ServicesAbove thresholdConcession
Sectors: Transport Equipment & Vehicles (34)Transport & Passenger Services (60) Delivery: North East (UKC)North West (UKD)Yorkshire & Humber (UKE)
+6 moreEast Midlands (UKF)West Midlands (UKG)East of England (UKH)London (UKI)South East (UKJ)South West (UKK)
Concession value (operator's revenue)Value not publishedoperator revenue, not the authority's budget
Tender notice expected 1 Sept 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 17 yrsends 31 Jan 2044 · starts 1 Feb 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Following the withdrawal of our preferred supplier from the original LEVI tender request, the purpose of this market engagement is to understand the current level of chargepoint operator interest in Somerset. The information provided will inform our direction of travel and support our collaboration with LEVI to shape the future tender design, ensuring appropriate deliverability and a long‑term solution for Somerset's residents.

We are seeking further insight from chargepoint operators on commercial viability, delivery approaches and investment appetite, to help us determine whether our specification, commercial model or delivery strategy should be adjusted before we decide on our next steps.

CPV: Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation · Transport services (excl. Waste transport)

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 17 yrs
Contract period: 1 Feb 2027 – 31 Jan 2044 (17 yrs)
Delivery: North East, North West, Yorkshire & Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East, South West
34000000 Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportation60000000 Transport services (excl. Waste transport)

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How Somerset Council buys Transport equipment and products (CPV 34), and who usually turns up

Somerset 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: Transport equipment and products (CPV 34) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerSomerset Council · all categories
The marketTransport equipment and products (CPV 34) · UK-wide
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: 174 of 332 known-size awards · market: division 34 · UK-wide, n=1,034
52%59%

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: 346 of 427 known-location awards · market: division 34 · UK-wide, n=1,062
81%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: 12 decided notices · market: division 34 · UK-wide, n=171
52 days45 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 52 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 330 of 385 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 34 · UK-wide, n=1,383
86%51%

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 buyer55 lots with bid counts · all categories
36% had one bid
The market359 lots with bid counts · division 34 · UK-wide
25% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid36% / 25%
Buyer: 20 of 55 lots with published bid counts. Market: 88 of 359 lots with published bid counts.
2–325% / 45%
Buyer: 14 of 55 lots with published bid counts. Market: 160 of 359 lots with published bid counts.
4–620% / 25%
Buyer: 11 of 55 lots with published bid counts. Market: 89 of 359 lots with published bid counts.
7+18% / 6%
Buyer: 10 of 55 lots with published bid counts. Market: 22 of 359 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 buyer19 lots with estimate and award · all categories
37% below estimate
The market232 lots with estimate and award · division 34 · UK-wide
34% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate37% / 34%
Buyer: 7 of 19 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 80 of 232 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%53% / 41%
Buyer: 10 of 19 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 94 of 232 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate11% / 25%
Buyer: 2 of 19 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 58 of 232 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 34204 monthsEstimate not published

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 34. 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 359 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet25% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 359 similar lots
1 bid25%
88 of 359 similar past lots received 1 bid (25%).
2–345%
160 of 359 similar past lots received 2–3 (45%).
4–625%
89 of 359 similar past lots received 4–6 (25%).
7+6%
22 of 359 similar past lots received 7+ (6%).
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
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Concession
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
25 Mar 2026, 13:58 GMT
Last source update
29 Apr 2026, 12:16 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-039123
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Transport equipment and auxiliary products to transportationTransport services (excl. Waste transport)
Delivery area
North East (UKC)North West (UKD)Yorkshire & Humber (UKE)East Midlands (UKF)West Midlands (UKG)East of England (UKH)London (UKI)South East (UKJ)
+1 moreSouth West (UKK)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0673ec Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

25 Mar 2026 → 1 Feb 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published213 days ago
    25 Mar 2026, 13:58 GMT
  2. Latest notice published178 days ago
    29 Apr 2026, 12:16 BST
  3. Market engagement176 days ago
    30 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST

    If you would like to respond to this market engagement further details and questions are available via the following Microsoft Form:

    forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx ↗

    Please note deadline for responses has been extended until 12.00noon, 15 May 2026

  4. Tender notice expected52 days ago
    1 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
  5. Today
    24 Oct 2026
  6. Contract startsin 100 days
    1 Feb 2027

Notice history

3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 25 Mar 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    25 Mar 2026, 13:58 GMT
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    26 Mar 2026, 11:21 GMT
    UK2
  3. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    29 Apr 2026, 12:16 BST
    UK2
Published amendments (2)

Notice updated due to incorrect link provided

update to deadline for comments to be received to 15 May 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

Somerset Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PPGC-1434-MQPJ County Hall, The Crescent, Taunton, South West, TA1 4DYContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure