Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 29 Sept 2026, 15:35 BST

Official UK procurement notice

AI Overlay for the Existing Avaya Elite Telephony Platform

Authority: North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (Central government)

ServicesAbove thresholdConcessionSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: Software Packages & ERP (48)IT Services & Software (72) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Concession value (operator's revenue)£200,000operator revenue, not the authority's budget
Tender notice expected 30 Oct 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Mar 2030 · up to 31 Mar 2031 with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The purpose is to test feasibility, capability, assurance needs, delivery complexity, indicative cost and market appetite for an AI-enabled overlay to the existing telephony environment.

The engagement will also help NEAS identify requirements that should inform a future complete telephony replacement aligned with emerging national standards and design. The evidence may support an options appraisal, business case, pilot proposal or future procurement strategy, but none is guaranteed.

CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Software package and information systems

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 3 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Apr 2027 – 31 Mar 2030 (3 yrs) · up to 31 Mar 2031 with extensions
Eligibility: 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 North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust buys Software package and information systems (CPV 48), and who usually turns up

North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has little published record in this market. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Software package and information systems (CPV 48) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
The marketSoftware package and information systems (CPV 48) · North East England (authority’s region)
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: division 48 · North East England (authority’s region), n=362
—32%

Across this market, small firms won 32% of awards with a known supplier size.

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 North East England (authority’s region).

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no winner locations published · market: division 48 · North East England (authority’s region), n=492
—5%

Across this market, 5% of winners were registered in the delivery region.

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: division 48 · North East England (authority’s region), n=27
—42 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 42 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: no awards on record · market: division 48 · North East England (authority’s region), n=574
—68%

Across this market, at least 68% of awarded procurements had no recorded rival.

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 market37 lots with bid counts · division 48 · North East England (authority’s region)
14% had one bid
Market · select a colour for counts
1 bid14%
Market: 5 of 37 lots with published bid counts.
2–338%
Market: 14 of 37 lots with published bid counts.
4–635%
Market: 13 of 37 lots with published bid counts.
7+14%
Market: 5 of 37 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 market24 lots with estimate and award · division 48 · North East England (authority’s region)
67% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate67%
Market: 16 of 24 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%13%
Market: 3 of 24 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate21%
Market: 5 of 24 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 4836 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£200k

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 48. The comparison uses that group.

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 37 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet14% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 37 similar lots
1 bid14%
5 of 37 similar past lots received 1 bid (14%).
2–338%
14 of 37 similar past lots received 2–3 (38%).
4–635%
13 of 37 similar past lots received 4–6 (35%).
7+14%
5 of 37 similar past lots received 7+ (14%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 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 £200k, 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
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Concession
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
29 Sept 2026, 15:35 BST
Last source update
29 Sept 2026, 15:35 BST
Authority reference
C472308
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-091997
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and supportSoftware package and information systems
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077cc4 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

29 Sept 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published29 days ago
    29 Sept 2026, 15:35 BST
  2. Today
    28 Oct 2026
  3. Tender notice expectedin 2 days
    30 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
  4. Market engagementin 2 days
    30 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT

    The engagement will also help NEAS identify requirements that should inform a future complete telephony replacement aligned with emerging national standards and design. The evidence may support an options appraisal, business case, pilot proposal or future procurement strategy, but none is guaranteed.

  5. Contract startsin 154 days
    1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    29 Sept 2026, 15:35 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

North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PQGJ-4428-JQJD Bernicia House, Goldcrest Way, Newburn Riverside, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, North East, NE15 8NYContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure