Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 21 Jan 2026, 12:13 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Ventnor Coastal Defence Scheme

Authority: Environment Agency (Central government)

WorksCompetitive flexible procedureAbove threshold
Planned pipeline value£150,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 1 Jun 2027from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 12 yrs 10 moends 1 Nov 2040 · up to 1 Dec 2040 with extensions · starts 4 Jan 2028

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Environment Agency is currently planning the next phase of the Ventnor Coastal Defence Scheme (the Project).

The town of Ventnor is located on the south coast of the Isle of Wight and is constructed on a large, deep seated coastal landslide complex known as the ‘Undercliff’. It is the largest urbanised landslide complex in north-west Europe.

The project is for the refurbishment of over 3km of existing coastal defences to sustain their level of service and protect against coastal erosion, which reduces the risk of catastrophic landslips to the town. The work will involve concrete esplanade repair, installation of wave return walls and, installation of a rock revetment along most of the defences. Challenges include working in a constrained access site, delivery of rock by sea, a high energy marine environment and consideration of marine environmental designations adjacent to the site area.

This opportunity will likely be contracted via the NEC4 contract suite, either as a full Design & Build ECC or a separate Detailed Design contract and an ECI & Construction contract using the X22 clause. Detailed Design is programmed to last for 2 years before Construction.

Please note: This is NOT a call for competition. All information provided is subject to change including the programme dates, contract value and is not a guarantee of work.

This UK2 notice invites interested suppliers to participate in Preliminary Market Engagement which will be used to develop the preferred procurement option for this opportunity. Participation is not a mandatory requirement.

CPV: Breakwater construction work · Civil engineering consultancy services · Coastal-defence works · Construction work for sewage pipes · Construction work for water projects · Construction-related services · Engineering services · Environmental management · Flood-defences maintenance works · Flood-prevention works · Marine construction works · Sea defences construction work

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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

How Environment Agency buys Construction work for water projects (CPV 4524), and who usually turns up

Environment Agency’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Construction work for water projects (CPV 4524) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerEnvironment Agency · division 45
The marketConstruction work for water projects (CPV 4524) · South East England
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: 1 of 14 known-size awards · market: CPV 4524 · South East England, n=16
7%75%

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.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in South East England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 of 6 known-location awards · market: CPV 4524 · South East England, n=28
50%64%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.

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: CPV 4524 · South East England, n=10
—21 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 21 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 11 of 15 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 4524 · South East England, n=27
73%22%

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 buyer44 lots with bid counts · all categories
16% had one bid
The market8 lots with bid counts · CPV 4524 · South East England
25% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid16% / 25%
Buyer: 7 of 44 lots with published bid counts. Market: 2 of 8 lots with published bid counts.
2–352% / 50%
Buyer: 23 of 44 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 8 lots with published bid counts.
4–632% / 25%
Buyer: 14 of 44 lots with published bid counts. Market: 2 of 8 lots with published bid counts.
7+0% / 0%
Buyer: 0 of 44 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 8 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 buyer18 lots with estimate and award · all categories
61% below estimate
The market6 lots with estimate and award · CPV 4524 · South East England
67% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate61% / 67%
Buyer: 11 of 18 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 4 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%33% / 17%
Buyer: 6 of 18 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 1 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate6% / 17%
Buyer: 1 of 18 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 1 of 6 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 4523154 monthsPublished estimate£150m

This lot is listed as CPV 4523. The table above uses the notice category.

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 25 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet4% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 25 similar lots
1 bid4%
1 of 25 similar past lots received 1 bid (4%).
2–332%
8 of 25 similar past lots received 2–3 (32%).
4–624%
6 of 25 similar past lots received 4–6 (24%).
7+40%
10 of 25 similar past lots received 7+ (40%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 5 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 £150m, 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
Procedure method
Competitive flexible procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Works
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
21 Jan 2026, 12:13 GMT
Last source update
2 Feb 2026, 16:51 GMT
Authority reference
P-39153
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-009168
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Breakwater construction workCivil engineering consultancy servicesCoastal-defence worksConstruction work for sewage pipesConstruction work for water projectsConstruction-related servicesEngineering servicesEnvironmental managementFlood-defences maintenance worksFlood-prevention works
+2 moreMarine construction worksSea defences construction work
Delivery area
South East (UKJ34)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-060aef Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

21 Jan 2026 → 4 Jan 2028 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published278 days ago
    21 Jan 2026, 12:13 GMT
  2. Latest notice published266 days ago
    2 Feb 2026, 16:51 GMT
  3. Market engagement248 days ago
    20 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT

    Preliminary Market Engagement will be used to gauge market interest and gather market intelligence on the risks, opportunities and commercial approach for this opportunity. Participation is not a pre-requisite for inclusion in the tender list, but supplier feedback will be considered when determining the preferred delivery model and procurement option.

    Parties should express their interest via contacting the email address detailed in this notice. Parties will then receive an information pack and questionnaire. Subsequent activities may be organised at a later date.

  4. Today
    27 Oct 2026
  5. Tender notice expectedin 217 days
    1 Jun 2027, 23:59 BST
  6. Contract starts
    4 Jan 2028

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 21 Jan 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    21 Jan 2026, 12:13 GMT
    UK1
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    2 Feb 2026, 16:51 GMT
    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

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PNWW-1475-NYLN Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street, London, London, SW1P 4DFContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure