Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 18 Sept 2026, 14:50 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Avaya Aura Contact Centre System Replacement

Authority: Greater Manchester Combined Authority (Local council)

ServicesAbove thresholdSME suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 6 yrsends 31 Dec 2034 · starts 1 Jan 2029

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), as the contracting authority for Greater Manchester Police (GMP), would like to hear from suppliers willing to share information about possible replacement solutions for its current Avaya Aura Contact Centre (AACC) system for the management its telephony platform.

AACC is a critical component of the telephony platform, enabling the routing of emergency (999) and non-emergency (101) contact to GMP call handlers within its Force Contact, Crime, and Operations branch (FCCO). The system is also used by GMP’s Cell Allocation Unit, Estates team, and IT Service Desk, equating to between roughly 1000-1500 users (not concurrent users).

CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 6 yrsSME
Contract period: 1 Jan 2029 – 31 Dec 2034 (6 yrs)
Delivery: North WestEligibility: SME eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

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

How Greater Manchester Combined Authority buys IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72), and who usually turns up

Greater Manchester Combined Authority’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: IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerGreater Manchester Combined Authority · division 72
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: 13 of 41 known-size awards · market: division 72 · North West England, n=563
32%36%

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. The market figure counts awards delivered in North West England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 10 of 37 known-location awards · market: division 72 · North West England, n=698
27%14%

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 72 · North West England, n=52
—63 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 63 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 45 of 56 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 72 · North West England, n=876
80%64%

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 buyer55 lots with bid counts · all categories
25% had one bid
The market76 lots with bid counts · division 72 · North West England
9% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid25% / 9%
Buyer: 14 of 55 lots with published bid counts. Market: 7 of 76 lots with published bid counts.
2–327% / 32%
Buyer: 15 of 55 lots with published bid counts. Market: 24 of 76 lots with published bid counts.
4–625% / 21%
Buyer: 14 of 55 lots with published bid counts. Market: 16 of 76 lots with published bid counts.
7+22% / 38%
Buyer: 12 of 55 lots with published bid counts. Market: 29 of 76 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 buyer29 lots with estimate and award · all categories
38% below estimate
The market66 lots with estimate and award · division 72 · North West England
32% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate38% / 32%
Buyer: 11 of 29 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 21 of 66 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%59% / 52%
Buyer: 17 of 29 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 34 of 66 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate3% / 17%
Buyer: 1 of 29 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 11 of 66 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 7272 monthsSME suitableEstimate not published

This lot lists more than one class in CPV 72. 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 76 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet9% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 76 similar lots
1 bid9%
7 of 76 similar past lots received 1 bid (9%).
2–332%
24 of 76 similar past lots received 2–3 (32%).
4–621%
16 of 76 similar past lots received 4–6 (21%).
7+38%
29 of 76 similar past lots received 7+ (38%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4.5 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
Services
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
18 Sept 2026, 14:50 BST
Last source update
18 Sept 2026, 14:50 BST
Authority reference
A1348
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-088758
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
Delivery area
North West (UKD3)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077596 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

18 Sept 2026 → 1 Jan 2029 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published39 days ago
    18 Sept 2026, 14:50 BST
  2. Market engagement18 days ago
    10 Oct 2026, 00:59 BST

    Prior to any procurement process, GMP is undertaking a period of market engagement. This will help the project team define the requirements.

    Interested parties are invited to complete the short questionnaire included in this document, which will allow GMP to better understand the current market and assist the Force in the development of the final specification and most appropriate route to market.

    Expressions of interest, and requests to complete the questionnaire can be made by contacting Chris Garner (GMP Procurement Officer) via email at procurement@gmp.police.uk.

    Clarifications may also be sought via the same address. Please quote reference A1348 on all correspondence.

    It should be noted that tender documents have not yet been issued for this contract. The full specification will be made available at the start of any formal procurement process.

    The deadline for receipt of completed responses is 12:00 on Friday 9th October 2026.

  3. Today
    28 Oct 2026
  4. Contract starts
    1 Jan 2029

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    18 Sept 2026, 14:50 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

Greater Manchester Combined Authority

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PXBN-3793-LCTQ 56 Oxford Street, Manchester, North West, M1 6EUContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure