Official UK procurement notice
Supply of Storage Boxes · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Natural History Museum (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Natural History Museum is one of the world’s best-loved visitor attractions, as well as a leading science research centre and commercial event space. We use the unique collection of more than 80 million objects we look after and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today.
The Museum has been awarded a substantial government investment to create a new science and digitisation centre at Thames Valley Science Park (TVSP), which is owned by the University of Reading. This is a once in a century opportunity to shape the future of the Museum, protect and share our unique collection and further our science.
The new centre will include large collections stores alongside new specialist laboratories and non-technical workspaces. As part of this development, the Museum will be moving over a third of its 80 million specimens and Library and Archive collections from its four sites to the new site, plus undertaking substantial internal moves. The physical moves are currently scheduled to take place from 2028, with an extensive programme of preparation that has already commenced.
The Museum is seeking to procure containers for housing Museum collections. There will be a variety of types and sizes required including the following:
-lidded archival card boxes
-archival card trays
-lidded plastic boxes
-plastic pallets
-plastazote
-acid free tissue
CPV: Box files, letter trays, storage boxes and similar articles · Library, archives, museums and other cultural services · Trays
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 3 yrs 10 mo from 1 Mar 2027
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).
- “Supply of Storage Boxes” 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 Natural History Museum buys Kitchen equipment, household and domestic items and catering supplies (CPV 3922), and who usually turns up
Natural History Museum’s published record next to the market for the same work. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Kitchen equipment, household and domestic items and catering supplies (CPV 3922) →
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.
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.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
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.
Half of these awards have an award date within 90 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.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.
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 bid7%
2–319%
4–619%
7+56%
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 price is set later, on each call-off.
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 3922Published estimate£2.0m
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 14 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid0%
2–37%
4–621%
7+71%
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- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- 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
- 30 Oct 2026, 12:14 GMT
- Last source update
- 30 Oct 2026, 12:14 GMT
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-103155- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-079490Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
30 Oct 2026 → 1 Mar 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published8h ago30 Oct 2026, 12:14 GMT
- Today30 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 14 days13 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
To respond to our survey, please use this link:
forms.cloud.microsoft/e/ZZdJGRTrwP ↗
The Museum is seeking to procure containers for housing Museum collections. There will be a variety of types and sizes required including the following: lidded archival card boxes, archival card trays, lidded plastic boxes, plastic pallets, plastazote, acid free tissue.
The majority of the boxes are likely to fall between 5cm x 5cm and 1.5m x 1m, but there might be some outliers.
The materials used in some of these products will be required to pass an Oddy test, to confirm that they do not release harmful volatile compounds that could damage or corrode collections over time. The Museum will carry out this test on supplied samples.
The survey closes end of the day GMT Friday 13th November 2026.
- Contract startsin 121 days1 Mar 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published30 Oct 2026, 12:14 GMTUK2
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender