Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 24 Jun 2026, 13:31 BST

Official UK procurement notice

The provision of Recruitment Services

Authority: Wales & West Utilities Limited (Public body)

Framework agreementServicesAbove thresholdUtilitiesSME suitable
Planned pipeline value£40,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 31 Jul 2026from the planned procurement notice
Framework period 8 yrsends 30 Jun 2035 · starts 1 Jul 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The intent is to award a multi-supplier Open Framework agreement for eight (8) years. The Open Framework will be opened every two (2) years, and the initial framework period shall have the option to extend for 12 months. The awarded contracts (frameworks) shall be aligned with the reopeners, which is for an initial two years with the option to extend by a further twelve months. There will be a different set of WWU Terms & Conditions for each of the three Open Framework Lots.

  • Lot 1 - Recruitment Services for the Provision of Permanent and Fixed Term Staff- with departmental based Sub-Lots.
  • Lot 2 - Recruitment Services for the Provision of Contingency Workers: Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) clerical & administrative staff.
  • Lot 3 - Recruitment Services for the Provision of Contingency Workers: Contractor(s) - with departmental based Sub-Lots.

CPV: Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

How this framework works

From the published notice
Framework period
8 yrs from 1 Jul 2027

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 8 yrsSME

What it takes to win
i

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 more
What this means for your bid
  • “The provision of Recruitment Services” 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 Wales & West Utilities Limited buys Business services: law, marketing, consulting (CPV 79), and who usually turns up

Wales & West Utilities Limited has little published record in this market. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Business services: law, marketing, consulting (CPV 79) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerWales & West Utilities Limited · this authority
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: no supplier sizes published · market: division 79 · UK-wide, n=1,085
—44%

Across this market, small firms won 44% of awards with a known supplier size.

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: no winner locations published · market: division 79 · UK-wide, n=765
—49%

Across this market, 49% of winners were registered in the delivery region.

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: division 79 · UK-wide, n=211
—72 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 72 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.

The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no awards on record · market: division 79 · UK-wide, n=399
—23%

Across this market, at least 23% of awarded procurements had no recorded rival.

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 buyerNo bid counts published
The market1,185 lots with bid counts · division 79 · UK-wide
4% had one bid
Market · select a colour for counts
1 bid4%
Market: 44 of 1,185 lots with published bid counts.
2–314%
Market: 168 of 1,185 lots with published bid counts.
4–621%
Market: 252 of 1,185 lots with published bid counts.
7+61%
Market: 721 of 1,185 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.

On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

Not comparable on a framework or DPS: the price is set later, on each call-off.

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 7996 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£40m

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 79. 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 1,185 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet4% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 1,185 similar lots
1 bid4%
44 of 1,185 similar past lots received 1 bid (4%).
2–314%
168 of 1,185 similar past lots received 2–3 (14%).
4–621%
252 of 1,185 similar past lots received 4–6 (21%).
7+61%
721 of 1,185 similar past lots received 7+ (61%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 8 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.

—Priced at call-off
On a framework or DPS the price is agreed on each call-off, so there is no award price to forecast here: the published figure is a ceiling.

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
Utilities
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
24 Jun 2026, 13:31 BST
Last source update
24 Jun 2026, 13:31 BST
Authority reference
WWU124
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-059427
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
Delivery area
South West (UKK)Wales (UKL)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06bc2c Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
—

Timeline

24 Jun 2026 → 1 Jul 2027 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published122 days ago
    24 Jun 2026, 13:31 BST
  2. Tender notice expected84 days ago
    31 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
  3. Today
    24 Oct 2026
  4. Contract startsin 250 days
    1 Jul 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    24 Jun 2026, 13:31 BST
    UK2

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

Wales & West Utilities Limited

Contracting authorityPrivate utility GB-COH: 05046791 · GB-PPON: PMVL-3238-DQDX Wales & West House, Newport, Wales, NP10 8FZContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure