Official UK procurement notice
Belfast Stories – Story Engine
Authority: Belfast City Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionBelfast Stories is seeking to procure an experienced supplier to design, build and support a digital platform known as the ‘Stories Engine’ that supports:
- Story collection and preservation
- Community participation
- Archive integration
- Search and discovery
- Information management including consent and participation considerations
- Governance on data management
- Public access points and satellite opportunities
- How the procedure runs: Separate PQQ and ITT exercise
CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Programming services of packaged software products · Software development services · Web server software development services · World wide web (www) site design services · World wide web (www) site operation host services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Published value£550,000
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
- Pass/Fail Criteria: Pass/Fail Criteria at PQQ Stage. Price/Quality at ITT Stage
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £624,376 (twice the annual value).
Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Belfast City Council buys Programming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221), and who usually turns up
Belfast City Council’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: Programming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221) →
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 44 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 bid42% / 4%
2–332% / 33%
4–620% / 33%
7+5% / 30%
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 estimate15% / 47%
Within ±2%69% / 33%
Above estimate17% / 19%
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 72Published estimate£550k
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 72. The comparison uses that group.
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.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid30%
2–342%
4–618%
7+11%
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.
Based on 5 comparable awards. Each lot reflects its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Middle 50%£535k–£550k
Estimate£550k
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
DeloitteLarge | £277m111 awards in 36m · last 1 month ago | 25 live · £237m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 3% below n=14 |
Ricardo AEA LtdLarge | £59m60 awards in 36m · last 4 months ago | 19 live · £48m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 7% below n=17 |
Turnitin, LLCLarge | £2.1m19 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 12 live · £1.4m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | no comparable pairs |
| £241k6 awards in 36m · last 3 months ago | 4 live · £147k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 6% below n=3 | |
| £300k3 awards in 36m · last 9 months ago | 2 live · £300k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | no comparable pairs |
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
- Services
- Notice status
- Open for tender
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 6 Oct 2026, 16:00 BST
- Last source update
- 23 Oct 2026, 12:16 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 30 Apr 2027
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-100418- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0781f6Find a Tender
- How it runs
Separate PQQ and ITT exercise
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via Jaggaer- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 23 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- —
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
6 Oct 2026 → 30 Apr 2027 · 6 dates- Planning notice published20 days ago6 Oct 2026, 16:00 BST
- Next notice expected10 days ago16 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published3 days ago23 Oct 2026, 12:16 BST
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Submission deadlinein 27 days23 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Contract startsin 184 days30 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
- Award decision expected byin 185 days30 Apr 2027, 23:59 BST
Notice history
5 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 6 Oct 2026- Planned procurement notice published6 Oct 2026, 16:00 BSTUK3
- Tender notice published23 Oct 2026, 12:16 BSTUK4
- Published value published: £550,00023 Oct 2026, 12:16 BST
- Status changed to active23 Oct 2026, 12:16 BST
- Deadline moved to 23 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT23 Oct 2026, 12:16 BST+13 days · was 10 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- 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 (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specificationsAccess: Via eSourcing NI portal - https://e-sourcingni.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.shtml
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender