Find a TenderOpen for tender Tender notice
Published 14 Oct 2026, 16:03 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Carbine Torches · UK public procurement notice

Authority: Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA) / Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) (Police & fire)

GoodsOpen procedureAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Published estimate£230,000≈ £46k / year · £250,000 inc. VAT
Submission deadline 16 Nov 202612:00 GMT · 20d 16h left
Clarification cut-off 2 Nov 202612:00 GMT · questions to the authority
Contract term 5 yrsends 8 Dec 2031 · extension options published · starts 8 Dec 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The CNC is seeking to procure high-reliability, for carbine weapon-mounted tactical torches. The equipment must provide realistic weight distribution, functional ergonomics, and accurate activation placement for close-quarters battle (CQB) training, while avoiding any damage to CNC equipment, or training environments. Please refer to the specification document for the full requirement.

  • No preliminary market engagement: CNC conducted a previous tender for the same product (ref: 1258 Carbine Torches) where CNC took lessons for this procurement as such no market engagement needed.

CPV: Torches

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1 5 yrsSMEVCSEPublished value£230,000
Contract period: 8 Dec 2026 – 8 Dec 2031 (5 yrs)Value: £230,000 exc. VAT · £250,000 inc. VAT
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligibleTurnover guideline: ~£91,899/yr≈ 2× annual value
Extensions: Options include 2x12 months for a total of 2 years (until 2033

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

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 more
How bids are scored
Quality: 60%Price: 30%Social value: 10%
Published award criteria (3)
  • Price
  • Quality: Including Technical 30% and Trial 30%
  • Social Value

No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.

What this means for your bid
  • Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
  • Turnover usually expected at this size: about £91,899 (twice the annual value).

Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula. 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 Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA) / Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) buys Lamps and light fittings (CPV 3152), and who usually turns up

Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA) / Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC)’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: Lamps and light fittings (CPV 3152) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bidWhat 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: 5 of 19 known-size awards · market: CPV 3152 · UK-wide, n=38
26%76%

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: 7 of 7 known-location awards · market: CPV 3152 · UK-wide, n=46
100%37%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in 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: 3 decided notices · market: CPV 3152 · UK-wide, n=16
65 days23 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 65 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 43 of 46 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 3152 · UK-wide, n=68
93%40%

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 buyerToo few to chart: 4 lots with bid counts, 5 needed · all categories
The market18 lots with bid counts · CPV 3152 · UK-wide
6% had one bid
Market · select a colour for counts
1 bid6%
Market: 1 of 18 lots with published bid counts.
2–328%
Market: 5 of 18 lots with published bid counts.
4–656%
Market: 10 of 18 lots with published bid counts.
7+11%
Market: 2 of 18 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 market19 lots with estimate and award · CPV 3152 · UK-wide
53% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate53%
Market: 10 of 19 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%37%
Market: 7 of 19 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate11%
Market: 2 of 19 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 315260 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£230k
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.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

3expected bids17% chance of a single bid
similar past contests in this category: 3
Forecast chances for this lot
1 bid17%
Chance this lot gets 1 bid: 17%. This is a forecast.
2–330%
Chance this lot gets 2–3: 30%. This is a forecast.
4–641%
Chance this lot gets 4–6: 41%. This is a forecast.
7+12%
Chance this lot gets 7+: 12%. This is a forecast.
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.

Based on 2 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.

£230kLevel with estimate
2 comparable awards
Forecast compared with the buyer’s estimate
Middle 50%£208k–£230k
Half of likely prices fall between £208,186 and £230,000.
Estimate£230k
The buyer published an estimate of £230,000 for this lot.
A 35% chance the award lands exactly on the estimate.

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.

SupplierWon in this categoryLive contractsAward vs estimate
6 panel places
£7.1m29 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago8 live · £90m
i

Public 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
1 panel places
£1.7m14 awards in 36m · last 1 months ago2 live · £765k
i

Public 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
£510k6 awards in 36m · last 3 months ago4 live · £463k
i

Public 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=5
11 panel places
£6.3m17 awards in 36m · last 3 months agoNone on fileat estimate n=5
£68k1 awards in 36m · last 1 months agoNone on fileno 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
Open procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Goods
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
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
14 Oct 2026, 16:03 BST
Last source update
26 Oct 2026, 16:27 GMT
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 1 Dec 2026
Authority reference
1318
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-097167
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Torches
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0787e3 Find a Tender

How to participate & submission route

Official notice Submit via EU-Supply (CTM)
Submission portal named on this notice: EU-Supply (CTM) · Who buys & how to bid on EU-Supply
Public notice page · account needed to bidElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free · 5–10 minutes
Requests to participate (first stage)
—
Tender submission deadline
16 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
Clarification deadline
2 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Published estimate £230,000 excludes VAT (£250,000 including VAT).

Timeline

14 Oct 2026 → 8 Dec 2026 · 6 dates
  1. Tender notice published12 days ago
    14 Oct 2026, 16:03 BST
  2. Latest notice publishedearlier today
    26 Oct 2026, 16:27 GMT
  3. Today
    26 Oct 2026
  4. Clarification questions byin 7 days
    2 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
  5. Submission deadlinein 21 days
    16 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
  6. Award decision expected byin 36 days
    1 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
  7. Contract startsin 42 days
    8 Dec 2026

Notice history

3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 14 Oct 2026
  1. Tender notice published
    14 Oct 2026, 16:03 BST
    UK4
  2. Tender notice published
    26 Oct 2026, 16:27 GMT
    UK4
  3. Deadline moved to 16 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
    26 Oct 2026, 16:27 GMT
    +7 days · was 9 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
Published amendments (1)

The following amendments have been made to the tender documentation: - The ITT reference has been corrected to 1318 within Annex B1. - Annex B has been issued as a new document. This contains the Social Value questions, which were referenced within the evaluation weighting breakdown but were inadvertently omitted from the original tender pack. To allow suppliers sufficient time to review the compl…

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

Civil Nuclear Police Authority (CNPA) / Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC)

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PTBP-7472-NYGG Building B150, Thomson Avenue, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, South East, OX11 0GDContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender
  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender