Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 28 May 2026, 16:32 BST

Official UK procurement notice

UKFE Embedded Engineering Resources Framework (UKFE EERF)

Authority: UK Fusion Energy Ltd (Public body)

ServicesBelow threshold
Planned pipeline value£0pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 moends 23 Jun 2026 · starts 29 May 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

For the purposes of this early market engagement, UKFE is seeking views from suppliers capable of providing embedded engineering and technical resources to support complex, safety-critical engineering programmes. The proposed framework is intended to provide access to specialist resource on a short- to medium-term basis, typically aligned to defined roles and project needs, rather than the delivery of discrete works packages. In all capability areas, UKFE is interested in understanding suppliers’ experience to operate within the UK regulatory, safety and assurance environment, and to provide suitably qualified and experienced personnel across a range of role seniorities. Detailed requirements will be refined following market engagement. Please see a further detailed scope within the attachment.

For more information about this opportunity, please visit the eSourcing portal at:

ukfe.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Culham… ↗

To respond to this opportunity, please click here:

ukfe.delta-esourcing.com/respond/KHNR372453 ↗

CPV: Engineering design services · Engineering services · Mechanical and electrical engineering services · Mechanical engineering services · Miscellaneous engineering services · Research and experimental development services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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

How UK Fusion Energy Ltd buys Engineering services (CPV 7130), and who usually turns up

UK Fusion Energy Ltd’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: Engineering services (CPV 7130) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerUK Fusion Energy Ltd · division 71
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 16 known-size awards · market: CPV 7130 · South East England (authority’s region), n=7
31%71%

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 South East England (authority’s region).

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 of 3 known-location awards · market: CPV 7130 · South East England (authority’s region), n=9
3 of 378%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in South East 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: 11 decided notices · market: CPV 7130 · UK-wide, n=5
25 days68 days

Half of these awards were announced within 25 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 10 of 26 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7130 · South East England (authority’s region), n=8
38%25%

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 buyer8 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 71
0% had one bid
The market16 lots with bid counts · CPV 7130 · UK-wide
19% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid0% / 19%
Buyer: 0 of 8 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 16 lots with published bid counts.
2–363% / 38%
Buyer: 5 of 8 lots with published bid counts. Market: 6 of 16 lots with published bid counts.
4–625% / 19%
Buyer: 2 of 8 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 16 lots with published bid counts.
7+13% / 25%
Buyer: 1 of 8 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 16 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 buyer9 lots with estimate and award · broad CPV 71
33% below estimate
The market11 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7130 · UK-wide
45% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate33% / 45%
Buyer: 3 of 9 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 11 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%67% / 45%
Buyer: 6 of 9 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 11 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0% / 9%
Buyer: 0 of 9 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 1 of 11 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 71301 monthNo real estimate
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 128 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet11% single-bid risk
Past bids on 128 similar lots
1 bid11%
14 of 128 similar past lots received 1 bid (11%).
2–320%
25 of 128 similar past lots received 2–3 (20%).
4–621%
27 of 128 similar past lots received 4–6 (21%).
7+48%
62 of 128 similar past lots received 7+ (48%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 6 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 real estimate
The buyer published £0 as the estimate (a placeholder, not the contract’s value), so there is nothing to forecast against.

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
Below threshold
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
28 May 2026, 16:32 BST
Last source update
28 May 2026, 16:32 BST
Authority reference
PP-UKFE-615
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-050506
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Engineering design servicesEngineering servicesMechanical and electrical engineering servicesMechanical engineering servicesMiscellaneous engineering servicesResearch and experimental development services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06a81d Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

28 May 2026 → 23 Jun 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published145 days ago
    28 May 2026, 16:32 BST
  2. Contract starts145 days ago
    29 May 2026, 00:00 BST
  3. Market engagement119 days ago
    23 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST

    To respond to this MEN, please complete and submit Appendix 1: Questionnaire via the facility in the Delta portal by 5pm 23rd June 2026. Early responses would be appreciated to help inform planning decisions.

    If you experience any difficulties with the portal, please contact the portal helpdesk [email protected] cc [email protected]. Information obtained from responses to Appendix 1: Questionnaire will help UKFE understand current market capabilities and shape the scope, direction, and design of the future procurement activities. If you have any questions about this MEN, please contact UKFE through the Delta portal. We are keen to engage with suppliers to assist with the MEN completion if needed, to ensure quality responses enabling us to shape the future requirement and procurement.

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    28 May 2026, 16:32 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

United Kingdom Fusion Energy Ltd

Contracting authorityPublic undertaking GB-PPON: PCRM-7973-DCBL Culham Campus, Abingdon, Culham, South East, OX14 3DBContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure