Official UK procurement notice
TfL Street Lighting - Control Management System (CMS)
Authority: Transport for London (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionTransport for London (TfL) is seeking to procure a replacement Central Management System (CMS) to supersede the current platform, which is being phased out due to its reliance on obsolete 2G/3G networks. The new CMS is required to support TfL's ongoing LED upgrade programme across the Transport for London Road Network (TLRN), where approximately 37,000 lighting column luminaires form part of a wider 190,000‑point lighting estate.
As LED adoption increases-forecast to reach 85% of lighting column luminaires by March 2026-TfL requires a modern, interoperable CMS to control lighting assets, manage Harvard‑equipped luminaires, and provide real‑time fault monitoring essential for maintenance and operational efficiency. The upgraded estate incorporates both NEMA and ZHAGA socket standards, reflecting the transition to more flexible and future‑proof lighting technologies.
TfL intends to invest to complete the lighting upgrade programme and implement a unified, modernised control solution. The procurement will cover:
CMS hardware (nodes, gateways, infrastructure)
CMS software and asset monitoring
Support and maintenance services
Installation and on-boarding
Training for operational teams
Technical and design consultancy
Delivery as a SaaS-based solution
The new CMS will enable standardisation, improved performance visibility, and long-term compatibility across TfL's lighting network
CPV: Electrical machinery, apparatus, equipment and consumables; lighting · Highway materials · IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Lampposts · Public utilities · Software package and information systems · Street lamps · Street-lighting columns · Street-lighting equipment
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Transport for London buys Road equipment (CPV 3492), and who usually turns up
Transport for London’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: Road equipment (CPV 3492) →
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 registered in Greater London.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Greater London.
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 96 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.
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.
1 bid45% / 30%
2–346% / 40%
4–68% / 20%
7+2% / 10%
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.
Below estimate48% / 40%
Within ±2%32% / 40%
Above estimate20% / 20%
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 3492Estimate not published
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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 10 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid30%
2–340%
4–620%
7+10%
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
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Utilities
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 4 Mar 2026, 14:47 GMT
- Last source update
- 4 Mar 2026, 14:47 GMT
- Authority reference
ICT15423- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-019544- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06623fFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
4 Mar 2026 → 1 Jan 2029 · 4 dates- Planning notice published231 days ago4 Mar 2026, 14:47 GMT
- Market engagement49 days ago2 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
The purpose of the Early Market Engagement exercise is to understand TfL's options for a TfL Street Lighting Control Management System (CMS) that can manage the end to end process.
In addition TfL would like to receive market feedback on how the potential solution will make use of open standards to allow for integration with other TfL platforms, flexibility to adapt over the life of the technology to continue to meet TfL business needs and remove the need for multiple data entry etc but create operational efficiencies through use of technology.
Further information regarding the background to the CMS and TfL's objectives in relation to the Street Lighting Project can be found in the Market Sounding Questionnaire (MSQ).
Should you be interested in taking part in TfL Street Lighting
Control Management System (CMS) market engagement and would like to register your EOI, you can do so by sending an email to [email protected].
Your EOI should include your organisation's full company name, company registration number and key contact Name and email address. The MSQ will be issued via a SAP Ariba event to all suppliers who express interest in completing the questionnaire.
Responses will be treated in strict confidence and reviewed by internal TfL staff only. In order for your feedback to be taken into account, your completed MSQ must be received via SAP Ariba by Midnight, Wednesday 25th March 2026.
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 162 days1 Apr 2027, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts1 Jan 2029
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published4 Mar 2026, 14:47 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