Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 4 Aug 2026, 16:58 BST

Official UK procurement notice

ATROPOS project · UK public procurement notice

Authority: NATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY LIMITED

GoodsAbove thresholdSME suitable
Sectors: Industrial machinery (42) Delivery: UK
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 6 moends 1 Apr 2027 · up to 25 Oct 2027 with extensions · starts 16 Oct 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

UKNNL wishes to install a test rig which will consist of a powder feed equipment, a rotary kiln, powder collection, and an off gas scrubber. An associated control system and safety PLC will also be required as part of the procurement. The test rig shall be assembled as a module / skid with ancillary equipment / pipework provided for tie into UKNNL's designated location. UKNNL will undertake vendor engagement & issue a detailed process design pack along with preliminary EC&I documentation & mechanical layouts.

CPV: Machinery for the production and use of mechanical power · Miscellaneous general and special-purpose machinery

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 6 moSME
Contract period: 16 Oct 2026 – 1 Apr 2027 (6 mo) · up to 25 Oct 2027 with extensions
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME 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 NATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY LIMITED buys Machinery for the production and use of mechanical power (CPV 4210), and who usually turns up

NATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY 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: Machinery for the production and use of mechanical power (CPV 4210) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerNATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY LIMITED · division 42
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 4 known-size awards · market: division 42 · UK-wide, n=429
1 of 460%

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.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 0 of 4 known-location awards · market: division 42 · UK-wide, n=414
0 of 444%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside 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: division 42 · UK-wide, n=116
—32 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 32 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 3 of 5 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 42 · UK-wide, n=719
60%48%

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 buyer6 lots with bid counts · all categories
17% had one bid
The market220 lots with bid counts · division 42 · UK-wide
24% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid17% / 24%
Buyer: 1 of 6 lots with published bid counts. Market: 53 of 220 lots with published bid counts.
2–367% / 39%
Buyer: 4 of 6 lots with published bid counts. Market: 86 of 220 lots with published bid counts.
4–617% / 29%
Buyer: 1 of 6 lots with published bid counts. Market: 64 of 220 lots with published bid counts.
7+0% / 8%
Buyer: 0 of 6 lots with published bid counts. Market: 17 of 220 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 buyerToo few to chart: 1 lot with estimate and award, 5 needed · all categories
The market145 lots with estimate and award · division 42 · UK-wide
44% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate44%
Market: 64 of 145 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%34%
Market: 49 of 145 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate22%
Market: 32 of 145 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 426 monthsSME suitableEstimate not published

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 42. 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 220 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet24% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 220 similar lots
1 bid24%
53 of 220 similar past lots received 1 bid (24%).
2–339%
86 of 220 similar past lots received 2–3 (39%).
4–629%
64 of 220 similar past lots received 4–6 (29%).
7+8%
17 of 220 similar past lots received 7+ (8%).
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.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

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
Goods
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
4 Aug 2026, 16:58 BST
Last source update
4 Aug 2026, 16:58 BST
Authority reference
NNLC785
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-073887
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Machinery for the production and use of mechanical powerMiscellaneous general and special-purpose machinery
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06dbba Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

4 Aug 2026 → 16 Oct 2026 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published83 days ago
    4 Aug 2026, 16:58 BST
  2. Market engagement56 days ago
    31 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST

    Engagement is dependent on response from interested supply partners.

    Presentation will be made of the requirements to suitably qualified and experienced contractors/ specialists. This may be conducted via over the internet or in person at a UKNNL site.

  3. Contract starts11 days ago
    16 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    4 Aug 2026, 16:58 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

UNITED KINGDOM NATIONAL NUCLEAR LABORATORY LIMITED

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-COH: 03857752 · GB-PPON: PVXT-8784-YGNV Chadwick House Warrington Road, Warrington, North West, WA3 6AEContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure