Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 22 May 2026, 11:20 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Supply and Maintenance of Urban Traffic Management and Control Systems (software)

Authority: Bristol City Council (Local council)

ServicesAbove thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline value£900,000pipeline notice, not a live tender · 1 value update
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 5 yrsends 1 Aug 2032 · up to 1 Aug 2036 with extensions · starts 1 Aug 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The purpose of this contract is to provide the supply and maintenance of the Urban Traffic Management & Control (UTMC) systems (software) that controls our intelligent transport (ITS) equipment in Bristol.

The UTMC Common database system interacts with external systems to collate and disseminate traffic and transport information from existing or new UTMC sub systems. This allows Traffic Managers with the ability to develop better, integrated traffic and transport control strategies in line with current national and local transport policies.

To ensure minimal disruption to the network the system must be able to deliver all requirements on day one of the contract which will be 1st August 2027.

CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Industry specific software package · Installation of traffic monitoring equipment · Support services for road transport

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 5 yrsSME

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

How Bristol City Council buys Industry specific software package (CPV 4810), and who usually turns up

Bristol City 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: Industry specific software package (CPV 4810) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerBristol City Council · division 48
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: 2 of 6 known-size awards · market: CPV 4810 · South West England, n=18
33%39%

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 South West England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 of 9 known-location awards · market: CPV 4810 · South West England, n=19
33%0%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside 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 4810 · UK-wide, n=14
—42 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 42 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 9 of 12 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 4810 · South West England, n=28
75%82%

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 buyer31 lots with bid counts · all categories
19% had one bid
The market23 lots with bid counts · CPV 4810 · UK-wide
17% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid19% / 17%
Buyer: 6 of 31 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 23 lots with published bid counts.
2–332% / 35%
Buyer: 10 of 31 lots with published bid counts. Market: 8 of 23 lots with published bid counts.
4–639% / 35%
Buyer: 12 of 31 lots with published bid counts. Market: 8 of 23 lots with published bid counts.
7+10% / 13%
Buyer: 3 of 31 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 23 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 buyer20 lots with estimate and award · all categories
50% below estimate
The market12 lots with estimate and award · CPV 4810 · UK-wide
75% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate50% / 75%
Buyer: 10 of 20 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 9 of 12 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%45% / 17%
Buyer: 9 of 20 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 2 of 12 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate5% / 8%
Buyer: 1 of 20 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 1 of 12 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 453160 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£900k

This lot is listed as CPV 4531. The table above uses the notice category.

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 15 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet0% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 15 similar lots
1 bid0%
0 of 15 similar past lots received 1 bid (0%).
2–327%
4 of 15 similar past lots received 2–3 (27%).
4–613%
2 of 15 similar past lots received 4–6 (13%).
7+60%
9 of 15 similar past lots received 7+ (60%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 7 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 £900k, 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.

SupplierThis buyer’s earlier contractLotAward valueWhy listed
CIVICA UK LIMITEDEarlier contractSupply of a legal Case Management System (CMS)notice published Jul 2022—£316kMatched 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.

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
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
22 May 2026, 11:20 BST
Last source update
6 Oct 2026, 09:45 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-094092
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and supportIndustry specific software packageInstallation of traffic monitoring equipmentSupport services for road transport
Delivery area
South West (UKK11)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06a0ae Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

22 May 2026 → 1 Aug 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published157 days ago
    22 May 2026, 11:20 BST
  2. Latest notice published20 days ago
    6 Oct 2026, 09:45 BST
  3. Market engagement10 days ago
    16 Oct 2026, 00:59 BST

    Bristol City Council wishes to invite contractors to a virtual supplier's information event on Thursday 15th October at 10am. We recommend this event is attended by any prospective bidder.

    The purpose of the event is build upon the engagement undertaken in May 2026 and engage with the market in advance of issuing a formal ITT by providing early information and background to our requirements and gain an understanding of the market capacity / capability to deliver the scope. We intend to discuss the scope of the procurement as well as providing an overview of the procurement and contracting approach.

    Time will be allotted for questions and answers and depending on questions asked we may follow individually with contractors.

    Please register to attend this information session by emailing: [email protected]

    The event will take place via MS Teams with a link being sent further registration.

  4. Today
    26 Oct 2026
  5. Contract startsin 279 days
    1 Aug 2027

Notice history

3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 22 May 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    22 May 2026, 11:20 BST
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    6 Oct 2026, 09:45 BST
    UK2
  3. Published value published: £900,000
    6 Oct 2026, 09:45 BST

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

Bristol City Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PWXH-3837-PDTD City Hall, College Green, Bristol, South West, BS1 5TRContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure