Official UK procurement notice
Travel Management, Meetings & Events Services
Authority: Southern Universities Management Services (SUMS) (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe purpose of this Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) exercise is to engage with the market to understand current supplier capability, market developments and potential approaches to the delivery of travel management services. SUPC is seeking to gather information to help inform the scope, lotting structure, commercial model and service requirements of the proposed framework, including the potential provision of business travel, student travel, meetings and events, and associated services. The proposed framework will provide higher and further education institutions and other public sector organisations with access to a range of travel management services. The final scope and lotting structure will be informed by member requirements, supplier engagement and wider market intelligence. Information gathered through this exercise will help SUPC to develop the procurement strategy and specification. The PME is not a tender and does not constitute a commitment by SUPC to proceed with any particular approach or award a contract. The resulting framework agreement would be available to all members of the regional consortia that comprise UKUPC (APUC, LUPC, NEUPC, NWUPC, SUPC, TEC and TUCO). Members span a range of public sector organisations and include higher education institutions, schools and colleges, government departments, local authorities, charitable organisations, housing associations, NHS trusts, and others.
CPV: Business travel services · Event services · Hotel meeting and conference services · Travel agency and similar services · Travel management services · Travel services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 2 yrs · up to 4 yrs from 3 Apr 2028
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).
- “Travel Management, Meetings & Events 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 Southern Universities Management Services (SUMS) buys Travel agency and similar services (CPV 6351), and who usually turns up
Southern Universities Management Services (SUMS) has little published record in this market. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Travel agency and similar services (CPV 6351) →
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.
Across this market, small firms won 69% of awards with a known supplier size.
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.
Across this market, 33% of winners were registered in the delivery region.
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 57 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.
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.
Across this market, at least 14% 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.
1 bid10%
2–330%
4–630%
7+30%
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 6351Published estimate£800m
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 10 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid10%
2–330%
4–630%
7+30%
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
- 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
- 1 Sept 2026, 09:02 BST
- Last source update
- 1 Sept 2026, 09:02 BST
- Authority reference
PFB4070 SU- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-082440- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06ef24Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Appointment period ends
- —
Timeline
1 Sept 2026 → 3 Apr 2028 · 4 dates- Planning notice published53 days ago1 Sept 2026, 09:02 BST
- Today24 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 28 days20 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
Suppliers are invited to access the PME via our tendering portal, Mercell: uk.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/rwlentrance_… ↗ On the portal you will find: 1. PME overview document - which includes a link to the survey 2. Draft specification - which suppliers are invited to review. Suppliers are welcome to annotate the draft specification and return it to SUPC via the Mercell messaging function, and may also use the messaging function to raise any clarification queries. Suppliers are invited to complete the market engagement survey via Microsoft Forms to provide feedback on the proposed scope, potential service requirements, commercial models and pricing approaches. You can find the survey here: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/0X0Wz7HsLe ↗ The PME survey will open on Tuesday 1 September and remain open for four weeks, closing on Friday 25 September. We would also welcome any feedback on the draft specification by this date. The wider PME process will remain open until Friday 20 November to allow time for SUPC to review responses, hold any follow-up discussions with suppliers and carry out any further engagement activity required.
- Tender notice expectedin 101 days1 Feb 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts3 Apr 2028
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published1 Sept 2026, 09:02 BSTUK2
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