Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 15 May 2026, 11:03 BST

Official UK procurement notice

CRM Future State Project Appraisal

Authority: Natural History Museum (Central government)

GoodsAbove threshold
Planned pipeline value£0pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yrends 31 Dec 2027 · starts 1 Jan 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Natural History Museum ('NHM') intends to review its wider digital ecosystem in the future, as the current patchwork of systems may present opportunities for broader consolidation. However, the CRM Future State Project is specifically focused on assessing the CRM and Membership functionality delivered today by Silverbear and Dynamics 365.

The project will evaluate options for this capability, including standalone CRM solutions and the possibility of meeting requirements through a more unified platform. It will also consider whether certain CRM functions such as membership processing may be better placed elsewhere long term.

If the review identifies strong benefits to a wider consolidation strategy, its findings can feed into a future, larger scale digital transformation programme. For now, the priority is to address the immediate challenges and establish a clear, future proof understanding of the Museum’s CRM requirements, whether the eventual solution sits within a consolidated platform or remains a discrete system.

We are seeking understand technology suppliers and solutions with capability to meet the CRM, membership management and philanthropic fundraising requirements of a large museum group.

NHM has identified a number of solutions they would like to explore further and are looking to engage with organisations that provide these solutions. These are:

  • Membership and philanthropy extensions for Microsoft Dynamics 365
  • Enterprise CRM, Not for Profit and Philanthropy solutions
  • CRM extensions for our existing ticketing platform
  • A fully integrated membership, philanthropy and ticketing solution
  • A membership transaction solution as part of an enterprise ticketing system

Suppliers with other potential solutions are also invited to respond to this notice.

To respond to this opportunity, please click here: www.delta-esourcing.com/respond/RAZ4544F89 ↗ . Interested parties should download the instruction document in the aforementioned link to access the MS form that requires completion.

*Please note that the value of this contract is not known at this stage. This market engagement is being undertaken to inform NHM’s understanding of the potential scope, options and indicative costs*

**PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS NOTICE HAS BEEN AMENDED TO: (A) CORRECT THE PROCEDURE FROM BELOW THRESHOLD TO ABOVE THRESHOLD; (B) ADD DETAILS AROUND CONTRACT VALUE; AND (C) PROVIDE THE LINK TO THE DELTA TENDERBOX WHICH INCLUDES INSTRUCTIONS AND THE LINK TO THE MS FORM INTERESTED PARTIES ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE**

CPV: Customer Relation Management software package

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 1 yr

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

How Natural History Museum buys Financial analysis and accounting software package (CPV 4844), and who usually turns up

Natural History Museum’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: Financial analysis and accounting software package (CPV 4844) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerNatural History Museum · all categories
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: 14 of 23 known-size awards · market: CPV 4844 · Greater London, n=19
61%21%

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 Greater London.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 12 of 28 known-location awards · market: CPV 4844 · Greater London, n=19
43%47%

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: 17 decided notices · market: CPV 4844 · UK-wide, n=17
30 days52 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 30 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 11 of 36 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 4844 · Greater London, n=23
31%52%

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 buyer23 lots with bid counts · all categories
9% had one bid
The market7 lots with bid counts · CPV 4844 · Greater London
29% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid9% / 29%
Buyer: 2 of 23 lots with published bid counts. Market: 2 of 7 lots with published bid counts.
2–317% / 0%
Buyer: 4 of 23 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 7 lots with published bid counts.
4–648% / 43%
Buyer: 11 of 23 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 7 lots with published bid counts.
7+26% / 29%
Buyer: 6 of 23 lots with published bid counts. Market: 2 of 7 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 buyer24 lots with estimate and award · all categories
54% below estimate
The market6 lots with estimate and award · CPV 4844 · Greater London
50% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate54% / 50%
Buyer: 13 of 24 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%38% / 33%
Buyer: 9 of 24 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 2 of 6 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate8% / 17%
Buyer: 2 of 24 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 1 of 6 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 484412 monthsNo real estimate
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 53 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet21% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 53 similar lots
1 bid21%
11 of 53 similar past lots received 1 bid (21%).
2–321%
11 of 53 similar past lots received 2–3 (21%).
4–642%
22 of 53 similar past lots received 4–6 (42%).
7+17%
9 of 53 similar past lots received 7+ (17%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 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 real estimate
The buyer published £0 as the estimate (a placeholder, not the contract’s value), so there is nothing to forecast against.

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
15 May 2026, 11:03 BST
Last source update
22 May 2026, 11:26 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-047687
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Customer Relation Management software package
Delivery area
London (UKI33)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0699c8 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

15 May 2026 → 1 Jan 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published164 days ago
    15 May 2026, 11:03 BST
  2. Latest notice published157 days ago
    22 May 2026, 11:26 BST
  3. Market engagement147 days ago
    1 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST

    NHM is undertaking preliminary market engagement to understand the current market for CRM, membership management and philanthropic fundraising solutions suitable for a large museum group.

    This engagement will help NHM understand available solutions, market capability, implementation considerations, risks, indicative costs and potential procurement options.

    The engagement will take place via collection of information via a questionnaire (MS Form document uploaded into Document Library) accessible via an e-tendering portal. The NHM is seeking supplier engagement to validate requirements, explore innovative approaches to outcome-based service delivery, and inform commercial models.

    This notice is solely for the purpose of engaging the market to gather information. It does not constitute a call for competition or form part of a competitive process. Participation in this engagement will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any future procurement, nor will it bind the NHM to proceed with any specific course or action.

    Records relating to this preliminary market engagement will be retained in line with section 98 of the Procurement Act 2023. Supplier responses will be used to inform NHM’s understanding of the market and may be retained as part of the procurement record. Responses will be shared with NHM’s appointed consultant, Rod Barlow Digital Consultancy Ltd, for the purpose of supporting the market appraisal. NHM does not intend to share identifiable supplier responses with other third parties, except where required by law. Findings may be reported internally or externally in aggregated or anonymised form. The response window closes at 12:00pm BST on Monday 1 June 2026.

    NHM will review responses and may invite some or all respondents to a follow up discussion. If the number of responses means that NHM cannot meet all interested suppliers, NHM will prioritise engagement based on relevance to the project objectives, including demonstrated experience of CRM, membership and/or fundraising solutions for museums, cultural organisations, visitor attractions or comparable not for profit organisations.

    Participation in this market engagement is voluntary. Participation, or non-participation, will not advantage or disadvantage any supplier in any future procurement. This notice does not commit NHM to commencing a procurement or awarding any contract.

    Please note that this process may not result in any future tender or procurement opportunity. NHM retain the right not to proceed from this market engagement to any form of procurement for solutions and services.

    To respond to this opportunity, please click here: www.delta-esourcing.com/respond/RAZ4544F89 ↗ . Interested parties should download the instruction document in the aforementioned link to access the MS form that requires completion.

  4. Today
    27 Oct 2026
  5. Contract startsin 65 days
    1 Jan 2027

Notice history

3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 15 May 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    15 May 2026, 11:03 BST
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    19 May 2026, 13:42 BST
    UK2
  3. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    22 May 2026, 11:26 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

Natural History Museum

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PJBJ-4723-MZPX Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London, London, SW7 5BDContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure