Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 3 Mar 2026, 16:12 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

WHC - Mobile phone contract including funding for new handsets

Authority: West Herts College (Education)

ServicesBelow thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£50,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 31 Jul 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 2 yrsends 31 Jul 2028 · up to 31 Jul 2029 with extensions · starts 1 Aug 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

West Herts College comprises of 3 campuses.

West Herts College is based in Watford, Hemel Hempstead and Luton

The current contract expires in August 2026 and is with a third party provider, and the carrier is o2 the College would like to enter into contract directly with the carrier provider but is not against working with a third party provider again. The contract length will either be 24- or 36-months in length, we request prices for both options.

CPV: Telephone and data transmission services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 2 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Aug 2026 – 31 Jul 2028 (2 yrs) · up to 31 Jul 2029 with extensions
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How West Herts College buys Telephone and data transmission services (CPV 6421), and who usually turns up

West Herts College has little published record in this market. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Telephone and data transmission services (CPV 6421) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerWest Herts College · all categories
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: CPV 6421 · UK-wide, n=78
—22%

No supplier sizes published for this authority.

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: CPV 6421 · UK-wide, n=58
—53%

No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address 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 6421 · UK-wide, n=6
—57 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 57 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: exactly 1 of 1 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 6421 · UK-wide, n=102
1 of 163%

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 buyerNo bid counts published
The market15 lots with bid counts · CPV 6421 · UK-wide
13% had one bid
Market · select a colour for counts
1 bid13%
Market: 2 of 15 lots with published bid counts.
2–347%
Market: 7 of 15 lots with published bid counts.
4–620%
Market: 3 of 15 lots with published bid counts.
7+20%
Market: 3 of 15 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 buyerNo estimate-and-award pairs published
The market6 lots with estimate and award · CPV 6421 · UK-wide
67% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate67%
Market: 4 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%0%
Market: 0 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate33%
Market: 2 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 642124 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£50k
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 15 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet13% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 15 similar lots
1 bid13%
2 of 15 similar past lots received 1 bid (13%).
2–347%
7 of 15 similar past lots received 2–3 (47%).
4–620%
3 of 15 similar past lots received 4–6 (20%).
7+20%
3 of 15 similar past lots received 7+ (20%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 2 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 £50k, 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
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
3 Mar 2026, 16:12 GMT
Last source update
3 Mar 2026, 16:12 GMT
Authority reference
CA17310
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-019158
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Telephone and data transmission services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-066168 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

3 Mar 2026 → 1 Aug 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published235 days ago
    3 Mar 2026, 16:12 GMT
  2. Market engagement220 days ago
    18 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT

    The Contracting Authority will conduct the procurement in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 and the associated regulations, ensuring compliance with the statutory objectives.

  3. Tender notice expected85 days ago
    31 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Contract starts85 days ago
    1 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    3 Mar 2026, 16:12 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

West Herts College

Contracting authorityPublic undertaking GB-PPON: PYCL-3178-PCTP Hempstead Road, Watford, East of England, WD1 3EZContact email, phone

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure