Research and experimental development services: UK Tenders, Buyers & Competition

CPV 73100000Services · classin Research & Development (R&D)

Open now4open for bids now · see them in the search
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Tenders you can still bid for.

Notices at tender stage whose deadline has not passed, counted the way the search counts them: a notice shows under every code and region it names.

Notices, last 12 months5029 contracting authorities · 135 in the catalogue
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Notices published in the last 12 months.

Counted per tender, not per lot, against the 12 months before where shown.

Typical bids per lot46 procedures, 36 months
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How many companies usually bid for a lot here.

The middle value of the bid counts that award notices publish, one per lot. Only real competitions count: direct awards and framework places are left out.

Based on 6 lots from 6 competitions run by 6 buyers, last 36 months. A buyer with many similar contests counts only up to a limit. 3 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 7) and 3 from older notices (bids received, middle 1).

Last 36 months.

Typical contract value£79,947middle value of 59 contract awards, net · not frameworks
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What a contract here is usually worth.

Middle value of published award values, VAT excluded. Framework ceilings are left out because they are not real contract values.

Based on 59 awards with a usable value, last 36 months.

Published values, not actual spend.

Last 36 months.

Codes and neighbouring classes

The 8-digit CPV codes notices in this class actually use, and the other classes of the same division

Who buys
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Which buyers publish the most notices here.

Buyers ranked by the number of notices, duplicate names merged.

All notices carrying this code · official UK_CA_TYPE where published (NHS bodies are central government authorities), else derived from the authority name

Buyer type
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What kinds of public bodies buy here.

Notices by the buyer’s type as published, otherwise by its name.

  • Central government57%(76 notices)
    76 of 134 notices are Central government (57%).
  • Other public bodies9%(12 notices)
    12 of 134 notices are Other public bodies (9%).
  • Education & universities4%(6 notices)
    6 of 134 notices are Education & universities (4%).
  • Local authorities4%(5 notices)
    5 of 134 notices are Local authorities (4%).
  • Charities1%(2 notices)
    2 of 134 notices are Charities (1%).
  • Not classified25%(33 notices)
    33 of 134 notices are Not classified (25%).
Contracting authorityTypeNoticesLast 12 monthsOpen now
Met OfficeCentral government19150
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authoritynot classified1500
Nuclear Decommissioning AuthorityCentral government1110
Ministry of DefenceCentral government810
UK Research and InnovationCentral government810
NATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY LIMITEDnot classified710
Department for Science, Innovation & TechnologyCentral government320
Sellafield LimitedOther public bodies320
CONNECTED PLACES CATAPULTOther public bodies220
Cardiff UniversityEducation & universities210

51 distinct authorities in total · the ten most active shown.

Where the work is delivered
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Where the work on these notices is delivered.

Delivery regions published on the notices. A notice with several regions counts in each.

Where the work is, not where the buyer is based.

Delivery regions (ITL1) published on 46 of 135 notices · a notice covering several regions counts in each · competition columns: contracts awarded in the last 36 months, lots delivered in the region

RegionNoticesBids / lotSME winsLocal wins
South East England14 · 30%———
North West England10 · 22%———
Greater London10 · 22%———
Wales (Cymru)9 · 20%———
Scotland8 · 17%———
South West England8 · 17%———
East Midlands7 · 15%———
West Midlands6 · 13%———
North East England6 · 13%———
Yorkshire and the Humber6 · 13%———
East of England6 · 13%———

Local wins = the winner’s registered region is the delivery region. Dashes: fewer than ten observations.

How it is bought
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How work here is packaged.

Notices by commercial tool: a single contract, a framework, or a dynamic purchasing system.

Commercial tool, procedure route and threshold as published on the notice, not a legal-regime claim

Commercial tool
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How work here is packaged.

Notices by commercial tool: a single contract, a framework, or a dynamic purchasing system.

  • Contract90%(121 notices)
    121 of 135 notices are Contract (90%).
  • Framework9%(12 notices)
    12 of 135 notices are Framework (9%).
  • Dynamic purchasing system1%(2 notices)
    2 of 135 notices are Dynamic purchasing system (1%).
Procedure route
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Which procedures buyers here use.

Notices by the procedure they declare: open, selective, limited or direct. Open and selective are competitions; limited and direct are not.

  • Direct award30%(41 notices)
    41 of 135 notices are Direct award (30%).
  • Open27%(37 notices)
    37 of 135 notices are Open (27%).
  • Limited / restricted18%(24 notices)
    24 of 135 notices are Limited / restricted (18%).
  • Route not published18%(24 notices)
    24 of 135 notices are Route not published (18%).
  • Selective7%(9 notices)
    9 of 135 notices are Selective (7%).
Threshold
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How much of this market is above the legal threshold.

Notices by whether the buyer marked them above or below the threshold that triggers the full rules.

  • Above threshold44%(8 notices)
    8 of 18 notices are Above threshold (44%).
  • Below threshold56%(10 notices)
    10 of 18 notices are Below threshold (56%).
Typical tender window
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How long bidders get to respond.

Middle value in days from the tender notice to its deadline.

All notices we hold, not just recent ones.

23 daysrobust · n=10middle value, notice to deadline

Competition

Contracts published in the last 36 months (78) · bid counts per lot from award notices · values are net contract awards, framework and DPS ceilings excluded · SME and local status as declared

Contract value, net
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The usual range of contract values here.

The middle half of published award values, VAT excluded, with the middle value marked. Framework ceilings are left out.

Published values, not actual spend.

p25 £42,669middle value £79,947p75 £203,656
interquartile range of 59 awards · p90 £446,269
Typical bids per lot
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How many companies usually bid for a lot here.

The middle value of the bid counts that award notices publish, one per lot. Only real competitions count: direct awards and framework places are left out.

Based on 6 lots from 6 competitions run by 6 buyers, last 36 months. A buyer with many similar contests counts only up to a limit. 3 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 7) and 3 from older notices (bids received, middle 1).

Last 36 months.

4robust · n=6middle half 2–7
Competed
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How much of this market is actually put out to competition.

Notices run as an open or selective procedure, out of all notices that say which procedure was used. Direct awards count as not competed.

19 of 72 notices that state a procedure, last 36 months. 6 more give no procedure and are left out.

Last 36 months.

26%robust · n=72
Bids from SMEs
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What share of bids come from small and medium firms.

SME bids divided by all bids, on lots where the buyer published the split.

50 SME bids out of 64, on 4 lots where the buyer published the split.

Last 36 months.

78%robust · n=64
Awards won by SMEs
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What share of contracts go to small and medium firms.

Awards to a single supplier that declared its size. SME divided by all.

12 of 43 awards where the winner declared its size.

Last 36 months.

28%robust · n=43
Won locally
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How much work here goes to companies based in the region.

Contract awards where the winner’s registered address is in this region, out of awards where the address is known.

Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.

Last 36 months.

63%robust · n=24winner registered in the delivery region
Abandoned
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How often a tender ends with no award.

Notices cancelled, withdrawn or marked unsuccessful, plus terminated ones that never got an award.

2 of 78 notices, last 36 months.

Only what buyers published. Tenders that quietly went nowhere are not counted.

Last 36 months.

3%robust · n=78

Who wins
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Which suppliers win the most here.

Suppliers ranked by the number of tenders won, not by money. A supplier on one big framework with many call-offs does not outrank one that won many separate competitions.

Ranked by distinct procedures won on notices carrying this code, then award records · 128 awards to 98 suppliers · the five most frequent winners hold 18% of contract awards in the last 36 months

Where to submit
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Where bids for this work are submitted.

Notices by the portal in their submission link, where one is published.

E-sourcing portals named in the submission address · 26 of 135 notices name one · each portal page explains registration

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.
  • What counts here. Every notice with a CPV code starting 7310. A notice with several codes counts in each sector it names. Notices from 2021 to 22 Oct 2026.
  • Competition. Bids and winners cover the last three years and count each lot as its own contest; frameworks and dynamic purchasing systems are shown apart from ordinary contracts.
  • Why no total spend. Notice estimates often repeat a framework’s ceiling, so adding them up would overstate the market. Typical contract values are shown instead.
  • 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.