Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 17 Dec 2025, 11:16 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

T1184 - IP20 Blood Sample Collection

Authority: University of Essex (Education)

ServicesAbove threshold
Planned pipeline value£1,125,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 10 moends 31 Jan 2027 · up to 31 Jan 2028 with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) is a longitudinal social survey of households and individuals living in the UK. Data collection began in January 2009 and participants are interviewed annually. In Waves 2 and 3 of the Study (2010-13) a wide range of objective health measures were collected via a nurse visit, including venous blood samples from which we produced a range of analytes, extracted DNA and produced genetic and epigenetic data. A similar exercise is being undertaken at Wave 16 (2024-26), where the nurse visit has been replaced by participants collecting samples/measurements themselves.

This contract covers the data collection and analysis for a further bio-data collection on the Study's Innovation Panel (2027) ahead of a potential roll out on the main Study sample at Wave 22 (2030-32). The Study is designed and managed by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex ("the University"). The Principal Investigator of the Study is Professor Michaela Benzeval. Survey fieldwork is carried out by Verian. The Study is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and pseudo-anonymised data are shared with broader research community.

Please register your interest and upload a short document outlining why you think your organisation would be suitable on our Proactis E-Sourcing site - supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login ↗

CPV: Blood analysis services · Medical analysis services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 10 mo
Contract period: 1 Apr 2026 – 31 Jan 2027 (10 mo) · up to 31 Jan 2028 with extensions
Delivery: East of England
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How University of Essex buys Hospital and related services (CPV 8511), and who usually turns up

University of Essex’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Hospital and related services (CPV 8511) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerUniversity of Essex · 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 12 known-size awards · market: CPV 8511 · East of England, n=346
42%54%

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.

Here, local means registered in East of England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 1 of 8 known-location awards · market: CPV 8511 · East of England, n=371
13%79%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside East of England.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 decided notices · market: CPV 8511 · East of England, n=5
61 days61 days

Half of these awards were announced within 61 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 13 of 18 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 8511 · East of England, n=361
72%70%

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
57% had one bid
The market11 lots with bid counts · CPV 8511 · East of England
27% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid57% / 27%
Buyer: 4 of 7 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 11 lots with published bid counts.
2–314% / 9%
Buyer: 1 of 7 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 11 lots with published bid counts.
4–614% / 36%
Buyer: 1 of 7 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 11 lots with published bid counts.
7+14% / 27%
Buyer: 1 of 7 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 11 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 buyer6 lots with estimate and award · all categories
50% below estimate
The market34 lots with estimate and award · CPV 8511 · UK-wide
18% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate50% / 18%
Buyer: 3 of 6 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 6 of 34 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%17% / 50%
Buyer: 1 of 6 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 17 of 34 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate33% / 32%
Buyer: 2 of 6 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 11 of 34 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 851110 monthsPublished estimate£1.1m
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 11 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet27% single-bid risk
Past bids on 11 similar lots
1 bid27%
3 of 11 similar past lots received 1 bid (27%).
2–39%
1 of 11 similar past lots received 2–3 (9%).
4–636%
4 of 11 similar past lots received 4–6 (36%).
7+27%
3 of 11 similar past lots received 7+ (27%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 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 £1.1m, 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
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
17 Dec 2025, 11:16 GMT
Last source update
18 Dec 2025, 08:55 GMT
Authority reference
T1184
FTS notice number
2025/S 000-084108
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Blood analysis servicesMedical analysis services
Delivery area
East of England (UKH3)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05f794 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

17 Dec 2025 → 1 Apr 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published307 days ago
    17 Dec 2025, 11:16 GMT
  2. Market engagement276 days ago
    16 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT

    This preliminary market engagement notice is to gauge interest in the market and potentially conduct some supplier meetings/calls if time permits in the new year - 2026 following the 16th January 2026 end date of the PME process.

    Please register your interest and upload a short document outlining why you think your organisation would be suitable on our Proactis E-Sourcing site - supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login ↗

    Following that it is currently anticipated that a competitive flexible procedure will be conducted and the completion of the required tender notice at that point.

    All subject to change

  3. Contract starts202 days ago
    1 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 17 Dec 2025
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    17 Dec 2025, 11:16 GMT
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    18 Dec 2025, 08:55 GMT
    UK2
Published amendments (1)

Added engagement information - "Please register your interest and upload a short document outlining why you think your organisation would be suitable on our Proactis E-Sourcing site - https://supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login"

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

University of Essex

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PQBL-6931-JNGJ Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, East of England, CO4 3SQContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure