Official UK procurement notice
A46 Newark Bypass · UK public procurement notice
Authority: National Highways Limited (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis opportunity relates to the A46 Newark Bypass road scheme which is a critical part of National Highways’ investment to make all our major roads more dependable, durable and most importantly, safe. Our improvements to the route that connects the M1 and Leicester to the A1 and central Lincolnshire will help reduce congestion in the area.
We propose to improve the A46 Newark bypass by widening 6.5km of the existing single carriageway to a dual carriageway, to provide two lanes in each direction between Farndon and Winthorpe roundabouts near Newark-on-Trent.
National Highways are looking to procure a design and build partner to deliver the A46 Newark Bypass road scheme.
National Highways are aware the Government are consulting on proposed changes to RIS3 and that includes this project. No decisions have been made at this time.
CPV: Construction work · Construction work for highways · Engineering design services · Technical support services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How National Highways Limited buys Construction work for pipelines, communication and power lines, for highways, roads, airfields and railways; flatwork (CPV 4523), and who usually turns up
National Highways Limited’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 pipelines, communication and power lines, for highways, roads, airfields and railways; flatwork (CPV 4523) →
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
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 42 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.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
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.
1 bid0% / 12%
2–380% / 36%
4–620% / 30%
7+0% / 21%
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.
Below estimate27% / 45%
Within ±2%64% / 34%
Above estimate9% / 21%
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 4523Published estimate£700m
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 184 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid12%
2–336%
4–630%
7+21%
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- 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
- 22 Sept 2026, 08:23 BST
- Last source update
- 22 Sept 2026, 16:33 BST
- Authority reference
pro_24563- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-089819- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0776faFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
22 Sept 2026 → 4 Dec 2028 · 4 dates- Planning notice published34 days ago22 Sept 2026, 08:23 BST
- Market engagement13 days ago13 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
This Preliminary Market Engagement Notice is issued by National Highways and invites suppliers to participate in market engagement activities to inform the development of the Commercial and Procurement Strategy for the A46 Newark Bypass scheme.
National Highways intends to release a pre-recorded presentation detailing the procurement on 20 October 2026 followed by supplier one-to-one engagement sessions from the 26th of October 2026.
- For Organisations interested in receiving the pre-recorded presentation on the 20th October 2026, and participating in the one-to-one sessions, please use the following link and complete the form by 17:00 on the 13th October 2026 –
Link to form: A46 Newark Bypass - Meet the Buyer – Fill in form - forms.cloud.microsoft/e/wGtt4r9HzR ↗
- A Q&A function will be opened with the issue of the information on the 20th October 2026.
- Further information regarding the supplier one-to-one engagement sessions will be released with the information on the 20th October 2026.
- Where expressions of interest exceed the number of available one-to-one sessions, National Highways reserves the right to allocate sessions in a manner that supports effective market engagement and provides a representative cross-section of the market.
The presentation will cover:
- Project Overview
- Commercial Approach
- Procurement Approach
- Next Steps and Summary
Further project specific detail
Link to National Highways Scheme webpage - nationalhighways.co.uk/roads-and-travel/roa… ↗
Link to A46 Newark Bypass DCO documentation - national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/TR010065/do… ↗
This notice is issued solely for the purpose of commencing a market consultation exercise and does not constitute any commitment by National Highways to undertake any public procurement exercise. Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to this notice. Nor shall a response to this notice guarantee an invitation to participate in this market consultation exercise or any
future procurement process that National Highways may conduct. This notice does not constitute a call for competition to procure any works or services and is not published to reduce time limited for the receipt of tenders. National Highways is not liable for any costs, fees or expenses incurred by any party responding to this notice or any party who may participate in the market consultation exercise.
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 261 days15 Jul 2027, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts4 Dec 2028
Notice history
3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 22 Sept 2026- Pipeline notice published22 Sept 2026, 08:23 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published22 Sept 2026, 16:33 BSTUK2
- Published value published: £700,000,00022 Sept 2026, 16:33 BST
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 (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender